CHAPTER 2

Dante

My breath hitched as he walked close to me. He had this smirk on his face and I could tell it wasn’t a good one. I took a few steps backward till I collided against the wall. Maybe the Latino dude was right.

 I am dead.

Today is my first day in school and I’m already caught up in this.

There was an intense silence and the worst was that nobody was making an attempt to save me from this handsome jerk. They were all standing, looking at the unfolding drama. Just then, his wristwatch beeped, making him stop in his tracks. He let out a little smile and ran his hand through his curly dark hair.

“You are in luck. Catch you later, weirdo,” he said coldly and I felt a shiver run down my spine.

 Why does the ‘Catch You Later’ feel like a threat?

He turned on his heel and walked away, and I let out a deep sigh. I hadn’t even realized I was holding my breath as he got closer. My hands were clutching my backpack tightly to my shoulder. People who had gathered around to watch were beginning to spread out, heading to their different destinations. The walkway returned to normal, but I still felt a bit shaken from the moment.

“Are you alright?”

A kind, soft voice with a Latino accent summoned from behind. I turned back and noticed a handsome guy that looked my age, smiling at me.

“Oh, forgive my manners. I’m Mateo, and I guess you must be the new kid,” he said, stretching out his hand for a handshake.

“Name is Dante. Nice to meet you,” I said, taking his handshake.

“Yeah, I know. I have your files with me.” He raised a blue file, “I can see you have met Asher Lowell. One of the top students on campus.”

“Yeah, except he’s a jerk,” I blurted out, picking up my suitcase from where I had placed it. I was certainly displeased by the information Mateo had just given.

“Here, let me help you with that. I agree with you though.”

“Huh?”

“The jerk we were talking about. Asher Lowell,” he said in a whisper.

“Oh, so that’s his name?” I asked, frowning my brows.

His smile widened a bit and he let out a scoff, “Yeah, I mentioned it earlier.”

He took the suitcase from me and walked ahead of me while I trailed behind. The school dorm was far from campus, but I could manage. We finally got to a door and I noticed that Mateo stopped in his tracks for a while before showing me my room.

“I think my journey ends here. There will be a party tonight for the freshers. I’ll pick you up by eight,” he said, tossing a key to me before leaving.

I’m not the party type, but I have to attend to this one. I reached in front of the room and took a deep breath before pressing the key into the hole. I slowly pushed open the door, but there was no one there. Mateo had mentioned earlier that I have a roommate, but the room looks like it hasn’t been slept on for weeks. It was empty. On the bright side, I’m pretty okay with not having to share the room with anyone.

I unpacked my bags and settled everything in its rightful places. I arranged the room and dusted the whole place. I love my room sparkling. I walked back and started unpacking my stuff, one by one. I guess I can take the closet and shelves on the right as my roommate hasn’t arrived yet. Hopefully, he won’t mind taking the one on the left.

 After I was satisfied arranging my things, I placed my empty suitcase and bags in a corner and took out a T-shirt and shorts from the closet. I walked toward the bathroom to finally take a shower. I stepped into the stainless steel shower after taking my clothes off and turned it on. I shivered a little as the cold water ran down my hair, face, barely noticeable abs, and my legs.

After a few minutes, I stepped out of the shower and threw on the t-shirt and shorts I had earlier taken from the cupboard. I stepped into the room and brought out the food my mom prepared earlier. For some reason, I felt guilty for the way I acted earlier. She only wants what’s best for me.

I pulled out my phone, scrolled to my mom’s number, and hit the ‘call’, but instead of her voice, I heard the annoying robotic tone of the network provider lady. Frustrated, I hung up and tossed my phone onto the study table.

I plopped down my back on the warm, comfortable mattress with my laptop on my stomach, searching for some movie to watch as I had nothing else to do. I ended up watching Deadpool and the Wolverine, again.

Thirty minutes later, I got bored and had to put the laptop aside. With a sigh, I stared up at the ceiling. My mind was a mix of thoughts, the quiet room was making everything feel heavier. Slowly, my eyes began to close, and before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.