2: The Time I tempted The Devil

Kali:

I woke up the next morning by four o’clock and it was terrible. That meant I had more hours to think about how sad my life was.

It was going to be my first day in high school and to say I was nervous would be a huge understatement. It was scary to even think about transcending to high school in the first place, with the new classes and teachers and students, not to talk of having to go through all that as a stranger in another school, alone.

To keep myself from thinking unhappy thoughts, I took a long shower and even did the closest thing I could to a skincare routine, drawing my inspiration from DIY YouTubers. I just hoped my skin wouldn’t give out on me on my first day.

I didn’t put on makeup because I wasn’t good at it and didn’t want to end up looking like a clown on my first day and be given a name that would stick with me forever. I settled on a cute fuschia top my aunt had given me, and after several moments of testing and dropping all my pants on account of them being ‘too much’ or too casual, I finally picked my favorite pair of jeans; blue ones that flared at the end.

I looked at myself in every angle in the mirror, fighting the urge to change into something else. I was a little more on the busty side, so the sheer top made my breasts appear so big. This contrast seemed to make my hips look smaller. How come I had never noticed any of this before I came here?

There was a nagging feeling in the back of my head that kept reminding me that what counted as ´good fashion’ in the last state we had moved from, would probably be regarded as atrocious here. I sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case.

When I was done, I groaned when I looked at the time because I still had an extra hour to spare. There was a knock on my door and I hurriedly went to answer it.

“Olive,” I said, scooping my five-year old sister up and twirling her around. She laughed with a high-pitched squeal.

“Drop me, now. I feel dizzy,” she muttered, still laughing.

“So how did you enjoy your new room?” I asked her when she was sitting on my bed.

“It was awesome!” She said excitedly.

Something wasn’t right. My sister had never slept alone in her life and I had left my door open all night, half-expecting her to walk in at some point to sleep next to me because she was scared.

“Olive…”

“What?”

I crossed my arms over my chest.

“How did it feel to sleep alone all night?”

“I didn’t. Mom came in and…” Her hand flew to her mouth but it was too late.

I shook my head and let out a dry chuckle. Of course.

“It’s fine,” I assured her, rubbing her matted hair. “You’ll have plenty of time to learn to sleep alone. That is, if mom doesn’t move us again. Now go and dress up. I’m sure your school will soon start.”

She shook her head. “Mom said it’s a free day. She told me you’re not going to school either, so why are you dressed up?”

I cursed under my breath. “Free day?” I snapped. “We’re already behind on the semester…”

“Please don’t fight her,” Olive pleaded with a sad expression on her face. There was fear written all over her.

I promised her I won’t.

“Where are you going?” My mother asked from the kitchen when she saw me leave half an hour later.

“School,” I said without stopping.

“No you’re not. We just moved in. It’s Friday. I want to be the one to take you to high school for the first time. You can’t go alone. You don’t even know how cabs work here. We have to get all our things in order. I already told Olive she won’t be going to school,” she argued with a spoon in her hand.

“It’ll just be both of you then, because I’m going to school,” I said.

“No you’re not,” mom said, sneaking up behind me and pulling me back.

I took a deep breath. “I promised Olive I wouldn’t fight with you so just let me go, please. You already know you can’t convince me to stay as long as my mind is made up.”

“Who’s gonna eat all the food I prepared?” She asked, using the fake singsong voice that may have worked when I was a child.

“You’ve never had a problem with eating, have you?” I said and pulled myself out of her grasp. Before she could say another word, I was out of the house.

Downstairs, I took several breaths, trying to stop the storm that was building in my chest. Several cars swooshed past me and so many eyes watched me as if they could immediately tell I didn’t know what I was doing.

I decided to swallow my pride and go back upstairs. I wasn’t sure I could do this on my own. Maybe that was why my mother hadn’t bothered convincing me too much. She knew I would be stranded and have to return.

“Howdy there neighbor,” someone said with the worst Texan accent I had ever heard. It was a boy that looked close to my age. He was taller and wore a varsity jacket. From the backpack that was slung over his shoulder, I could tell he was going to school as well.

“Hi,” I said back but my voice came out as a croak.

“I’m Josh, and you?” He said, extending an arm which I took gratefully.

“Kali.”

“Like the city, or…?”

“No, as in with a ‘K’.”

He nodded. “I’m going to Sunrise Valley High, and you?”

“That’s my new school too,” I said with excitement. “I just don’t know how to get there.”

“Then you’re in luck.”

***

We got to school sometime later and Josh, my new friend helped me meet the principal and get my classes started. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any classes together that day so I was on my own for the day. He led me to the first class I had that day which was Chemistry, and when I got in, everywhere went silent.

Oh god.

I walked down to the last seat in the back and sat down, hoping that would conceal my presence, but everyone just turned back to me and began to whisper in hushed voices.

Maybe it was what I was wearing. I knew I should have changed! How was I supposed to survive the day and the rest of my stay here when I was going to be forever known as a clown?

Where was our teacher when you really needed him?

“Did you see the mountains on her chest? Isn’t she too young to get implants? They must be real…”

Oh god. I sank deeper in the chair, wishing my ears didn’t work.

The voices I had heard came from a group of girls that were all blond like me, but the kind of blond that meant they were mean cheerleaders. Too early to assume, but judging by how they spoke about me like I wasn’t there, they were probably just as mean as they came.

“She’s looking at us,” one of the girls said and I immediately looked away.

“She’s hot,” another one said. “But why is she so shy?”

“I’m going to talk to her,” the first one said.

Please don’t, I cried within myself.

“Yeah do, because if Aiden gets here, things are going to get ugly,” another one said.

Wait. Who was Aiden and why would things get ugly if he showed up? What did he have to do with me?

“Hi,” said the girl who had decided to come talk to me. She looked every bit like a cheerleader, with a small top and a skirt that was way too short for school. She was pretty, with baby blue eyes and when she smiled, dimples spotted her cheeks.

“Get out,” she said to the boy sitting in the chair in front of me and he did. Definitely mean.

She turned the chair to face me, and smiled. The class became quiet and I could tell all eyes were focused on us. I swallowed. I hated this.

“Hi,”I said nervously.

“You’re pretty, I like you,” she said.

“Uh, thanks…” I couldn’t tell if she was hitting on me or if she just meant it as a compliment.

“And because I like you, I can’t let you kill yourself on your first day.”

“What?”

“You’re sitting in Aiden’s seat,” she said as if that was supposed to explain things. “Sure he might like you because you’re new, but the fastest way to get on his nerves is to sit there. Come, let me show you somewhere else to sit.”

I crinkled my brows. I don’t know what it was. The fact that some guy who I hadn’t even seen was supposed to scare me, or the fact that the same things that had happened in middle school seemed like they were about to repeat, but I didn’t move.

“There are no assigned seats in this class. I can sit wherever I want,” I said and pretty much everyone in class gasped.

The girl in front of me smiled.

“You’re a feisty one, but that will only get you in danger,” she said.

“He’s here,” someone whispered and I noticed the girl freeze.

“Let’s go, before it’s too late,” she said, pulling my hand, but I didn’t move. She sighed and walked back to her own seat.

When the tall, brooding and extremely handsome guy with his bag flung over one shoulder walked into the class, it was just as if the principal himself had walked in. I immediately knew it was him. The atmosphere in the room became tense times more intense than ever. It was quiet and I noticed some people giving me pitiful glances.

Aiden’s green eyes shot to me, and the intensity of the glare made me temporarily forget what I had been thinking. He didn’t look real. He was just too perfect to be real.

He cocked his head to the side and started to walk toward me, each step making an echoing sound as he did.

I swallowed.

“I haven’t seen you before, so let’s just make this quick,” he said in a voice that sounded just as deep as I imagined his voice would sound like. “Get out.”