Chapter Three: Dejection

Georgia couldn’t have told a soul what went on around her that day. For the first time in her life she played truant at school. She was physically present through every class but her mind couldn’t have been further away. From class to class, wherever Georgia went, she felt the back of her neck burn. Hayden Ryder always managed to get in before her and sit at the back. Every class she entered, she tried to make eye contact with him as she walked to her seat. Each time she wanted to speak or say something to him, she lost the nerve once it came time to actually let out the words. 

Frustratingly, he always kept his head down and never once looked up to see her. It might have been easier if he did. He could have spoken first and broken the tension Georgia felt. Homeroom was the worst. Hayden had taken the seat directly behind Georgia. Her eyes were fixed on his face as he passed, as were every girls’ in the class. Some of them even giggled unashamedly and openly catcalled him which Mrs.Jordan was not pleased about.The boys also seemed entranced by him. Hayden appeared immune to everything around him. He kept his head fixed ahead and never blinked as he walked to his seat without acknowledging a single person.

Knowing that he was behind her made her hyper aware of every inch of herself. The back of her neck felt so exposed. She had never hated the back of her neck more. It was so small. Maybe the skin looked bad? Was she hairy there? These questions plagued her mind as she felt like Hayden’s eyes were on the back of her head throughout the class. Benny picked up on her daze. He became sulky soon after and the two never spoke much. Georgia didn’t notice or care. Benny suddenly didn’t exist. No one else did. There was just one person on her mind and everything else melted away. 

With each bell, Hayden woke up robotically and was out of the classroom in a flash. At the next class, he was already there each time; sitting in the last row, head down, and refusing to look up or talk to anyone else. Georgia had so many infuriating questions on her mind and not a single answer.  

What the hell is he doing here? Where’d he go after leaving the street that morning? What happened to him? Why did he look so dirty and banged up on the street?

He had obviously cleaned himself up. He had on a plain black t-shirt and indigo denims now. His hair was still long but it was tamer, falling over his forehead in neat, silky rows. It wasn’t just that he was cleaner and not dressed in clothes anymore. Somehow, he looked tamer too. Still a beautiful specimen of a boy, but not as edgy and wild looking. He didn’t seem remotely as frightening now. Still, there was something deeply intense about his eyes. He seemed to only ever wear one expression— smoldering. 

“Earth to Georgia?” Benny’s voice broke through her muddled thoughts.  

“What?” she asked more bluntly than intended.  

“I get it. He’s good looking.”  

Benny’s tone was casual but Georgia could sense a slight edge of bitterness.  

“Who, the new guy? He’s not my type.”  

Liar. He’s everyone’s type!

Benny snorted dismissively, like he could read her thoughts.  

“Please. No need to be coy. You’re not the only one that’s noticed him.”  

Benny motioned around the cafeteria with his head. As he did so, it felt like the sounds and colors of the place had been on pause and suddenly switched on again. Now that she was paying attention again, she realized what Benny meant. The cafeteria at Beldon High was the one saving grace that kept the school from being engulfed by mediocrity. It was an expansive room, brightly lit, with brand new aluminum tables and multi-colored soft touch seats. The buffet-style menu offered well cooked meat, fish, vegetarian, and vegan dishes, and a halal menu. 

Even the buzz of the students that filled it out each day wasn’t enough to make Georgia dislike this one feature of her school. Looking around it now, she found herself hating it for the first time. Why’d so many other students have to like it too? If they didn’t, there would be less wandering female eyes around the place all staring surreptitiously at Hayden. Georgia had never been this way before. 

Get it together Pearce. What the hell?

Some of the other girls weren’t even trying to hide it and checked him out openly. It wasn’t just his looks that got to her. Everyone there with eyes could lay claim to them. Yet, she felt connected to him in some weird way. Plus, she’d seen him first. She’d known of his existence before any of them. He sat on a single seater table, eating a sandwich with a look of pure disgust for every bite. His eyes were downcast, refusing to acknowledge anyone around him. Georgia was awed by his ability to simultaneously magnetize everyone’s attention while ignoring them all at the same time. 

Finally, a group of girls summoned the courage to go up to him. Of course it was Penelope Jenkins and her posse. They always had to be the object of every boy’s lust at the school. They were too far away for Georgia to hear but she could see that Hayden had shut them down. The way they slinked away from his table wearing expressions of shock and outrage was priceless. 

That will teach you. Skanks!

Georgia realized she couldn’t keep it in anymore. She had to tell someone about the morning. Benny was droning about something again. 

“Benny, shut up for a moment.”  

He stopped mid-sentence, looking affronted but paying attention anyway.  

“I gotta tell you something.” 

As Georgia launched into the tale of how she had first seen Hayden that morning, Benny’s face wore all the expressions of shock and confusion she’d felt herself. When she was done, Benny openly stared at Hayden with his lip curled into a smirk. Georgia could almost see the wheels turning and the satisfaction he gleaned from knowing there were chinks in Hayden’s seemingly perfect armor. He turned back to Georgia and when he spoke, his tone was more serious. 

“That’s crazy. Where the hell could he have been coming from looking like that?” Georgia shrugged. 

 “That brown stuff you said was all over his shirt. Do you think it could have been blood?”   

“Most of it looked like dirt…or mud. Some of it did kinda look like blood when it starts to turn brown…I guess.” Benny’s face turned grave.  

“Do you think he’s a serial killer?” 

“Benny!”  

“What?”  

“I’m being serious here. A serial killer? Really?”  

Benny wasn’t laughing or exhibiting any of his usual silly antics.  

“I am being serious. Dude shows up out of the blue looking like a freakshow and covered in what might be blood and you’re not concerned? I mean, he’s sitting right there. We have a right to know if he’s dangerous.”     

“Geez…okay. I don’t know. It’s just, we don’t really know anything about him right now so maybe there’s a valid explanation for everything. Maybe he was….just….mugged or something.”  

Benny’s eyes lost their fire for a moment. 

“Look, until we know what we’re dealing with, I just think we should keep our distance from him”.  

He threw in the last part nonchalantly but it still irritated Georgia. She’d known for a long time that he nursed a secret crush on her. She didn’t want to think about the implications if he ever actually tried to act on it but moments like this made it harder to ignore the truth. 

“I’m not afraid of him.” Georgia said.  

And it’s not your place to tell me who I should stay away from.   

“That’s because you think he’s hot,” Benny shot back.  

Georgia rolled her eyes dismissively. 

He’s beyond hot actually!  

Happy that Benny couldn’t read her mind, she quietly watched Hayden for the umpteenth time that day. His head was down as usual but his nose twitched, almost like he had smelled something in the air. Before Georgia could react, he lifted his head and looked straight at her. His dark pupils were piercing and they locked eyes for a moment. Georgia was frozen, his expression unreadable. She felt herself start to perspire from the anxiety the moment was causing her. Hayden’s nose twitched again. It was weird and made her feel more uncomfortable. 

He can’t possibly smell me from all the way over there can he? 

The thought alone caused her forehead to sweat a little more. 

Perfect. Just perfect! Sweat away, Pearce. 

If Hayden’s glare went on much longer, its intensity might have caused her to look away, or scream, or jump up, anything to dull the hypnotic effect it had. He looked down again and Georgia was grateful to be released from his rapture. Benny fell silent. Georgia remembered he was there and looked back his way tentatively after realizing she was still frozen. 

Benny shook his head softly like a disappointed father. “If he ever comes to school in a black trenchcoat, I’m calling the cops,” he said  

Georgia was emotionally spent by the end of the day. The feeling of Hayden staring at the back of her neck was worse after they’d locked eyes in the cafeteria. She willed herself not to sweat from the anxiety of knowing he was behind her. Each time she thought this, it was like her body deliberately betrayed her. She felt like she heard Hayden’s nose gently sniff the air at these inopportune moments. 

A more disconcerting thought was that she usually never perspired or smelled bad. When the last bell sounded, Georgia grabbed her bag and scooted out of the class. The usual rush of scraping chairs and chattering students followed her out into the hallway. Outside the windows that lined the walls to the left, she noticed the weather hadn’t improved.  

Great!

Reaching her locker, she was busy repacking her bag when she heard a commotion from the other end. 

“Tyler, just let it go. Stop being such an idiot!”  

Georgia turned and fear began welling inside her. Tyler Norton’s girlfriend, Lucy Vale, looked livid as she was pushing him back. Hayden stood in front, pressed up against the wall. All the other students stopped what they were doing and watched the scene unfold. Joey Swinton and a few other cronies stood in front, blocking any chance of escaping.

“I just asked him a simple question.” Tyler was saying.  

Only Hayden wasn’t like their usual prey. If he felt any fear of them at all, he gave no indication of it. In fact, the look on Hayden’s face was frightening. Most guys that got picked on by Tyler and his crew were usually trembling by now. Georgia recognized the same wild eyed expression from that morning flash over Hayden’s face and something inside her felt compelled to act. She pushed her way through the crowd.

“I think this dickhead needs to be taught a lesson” Joey was saying as she reached them. 

Georgia could sense that something wasn’t right. Hayden was shaking a little, only it wasn’t with fear. It felt menacing somehow, more like he was bristling with rage the way a vicious dog did before it attacked something.  

“STOP!” Georgia yelled as she saw Joey advancing on him. 

Just as Joey reached Hayden, his eyes darkened further and his expression squashed up into a look of pure aggression. His chest began heaving with loud breaths and a deep, guttural sound emanated from his mouth. It was the weirdest sound Georgia had ever heard, except she had heard it before. It was the same sound he’d made that morning when the man he knocked down tried to grab his shoulder. It wasn’t loud but the density of it was a sound no human should have been capable of registering. Georgia almost felt the sound vibrate in her chest. 

There was no other way to describe it. It was like the warning snarl of an animal. The sound, combined with the feral look in Hayden’s eyes, caused a few people to look nervous and actually stopped Joey in his tracks. For a moment Georgia clearly saw in his eyes what she and everyone else there were feeling—fear. It crossed Joey’s eyes and was enough for him to reconsider trying to fight Hayden. The momentary pause was long enough for Mr Pickford, the biology teacher, to show up.  

“What’s going on here? Tyler, Joey, get away from him!” he barked. 

Joey seemed to recover from his momentary lapse in bravado. The two trouble makers glared at Hayden like he was lucky he intervened. Georgia couldn’t help but feel like they were lucky Mr Pickford showed up when he had.  

“We were just messing around.” Tyler said as he wrapped his arm around Lucy’s shoulder and walked away with her.  

The rest of the crew followed and Hayden finally seemed to start relaxing again. His face softened back into his default scowl but the rage was gone. Mr Pickford dispersed everyone. He asked Hayden if he was okay.

Hayden just grunted back, “I’m fine”.  

Taking two deep breaths, he grabbed his bag off the floor and walked towards the exit. Every eye was on him but he didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he stared directly at Georgia.

  

“I can take care of myself. Stay out of it next time!” he said as he pushed his way past her and left.