All Chapters of Whispers of the Heart: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Owen never looked back but Gary did, blowing me a kiss with a wink. I zipped my bag back, fighting the tears. I wouldn’t let them see me cry, I would not let them see me break.What hurt the most was the confirmation that he saw me the same way I saw myself. It didn’t matter if Courtney paraded me around the entire school. The fact of the matter was, I didn’t belong with them, around them. They were the cool kids, the rich kids, the ones that would run this town in the next fifteen to twenty years. I was a nobody. Less than a nobody, actually. The daughter of a dead prostitute that chose getting high to the point that she caused her own death over loving her two children.I was one of the last ones out the door but found Courtney waiting for me. The smile on her face told me she was oblivious and hadn’t heard anything Gary and Owen had said. Not that it would have mattered but in a way, I was glad she hadn’t. A look of sympathy would have more than likely caused the dam to break and I

“Welcome to Chemistry. I am your professor, Dr. Eric Tomlison. This is my first year at Wood Haven, as most of you probably already know so let me tell you a little about myself. I’m from Chicago but I studied Chemistry at the University of Tennessee and then finished my Doctorate Degree program at Vanderbilt. That is where I met my wife and she is a Rocky Top girl through and through. After we married this summer, I moved here permanently. We have purchased a home here in town. She is a Pharmacist at the hospital so we both have always had a love for chemistry, one that I hope I can pass on to some of you all.”He did the roll call, passed out the syllabus and then opened the cabinet and called us one row at a time and one person from each table to come up and get our textbooks. Owen stood up when our row was called so I remained seated and I mumbled a ‘thanks’ without looking at him as he slid mine over to me across the table as he sat back down.Dr. Tomlison continued once we had o

“It was, actually.” I answered truthfully as I looked up into the eyes of Owen Marshall and watched him smile, happy with my answer. “I had just figured out in my head how to get through the rest of the day without being around you and I was foolishly smiling in triumph. Now, you’ve just ruined all of my plans and I’m back to the drawing board again!”His face fell and I felt bad for a second before I remembered the terrible things he had said. He stood there holding a wrapped sandwich and fries in one hand and his fountain drink in the other. He let out a deep sigh as he shook his head.“Can I sit here beside you?”“You can sit wherever you want, Owen. This is a free country. But I can’t guarantee you I will stay sitting here if you do.”I knew I was being a brat but for once, I was enjoying it. Was this a product of being pushed a little too far? Was this me just being totally honest with someone without any worries of the repercussions?“Fair enough.” He answered as he sat down. I m

I shook my head. “No, sir. I won’t care a bit. I just don’t know if something will be important or not.”He brushed it off with a lighthearted chuckle. “You can ask these knuckleheads in here. They should know if I need to keep something or not. Put them to work, too. Get up and do what she tells you, all three of you.” He said that as he walked past me and out of the office to start the class.As soon as he was out of earshot, Gary stepped over in my personal space as I saw Owen tense up. “What should we do first, BOSS?”I wasn’t about to let him get to me so I looked him right in the eye as I answered.“Well, FIRST. Grab that banker’s box on top of the filing cabinet there and pick up all the papers out of the floor and put them in there. We can go over them and decide if it needs kept or not once we have everything else organized. I will start with organizing the desk.”I strolled carefully through the papers, careful to not slip and sat down in the same chair Mr. Lawrence had just

Danny shook his head with a scoff. “You might have a point there. Gossip is the fuel that heats this place. You’re on her good side right now so we wouldn’t want to do anything to change that.”“I’m on her good side? She has been nothing but nasty to me!”“That’s just how she is until you get to know her. Vanessa has a fierce loyalty to her that is hard to penetrate and she protects her circle like a lioness. But she hasn’t called you a bitch and hasn’t told me that she hates you so yeah, you are on her good side.” He answered as Courtney nodded a confirmation.“I guess I will have to take your word for it.” I answered without looking back at him. I kept my head down, just staring at my shoes.“Listen,” Danny started. “I owe you an apology and I do apologize for yelling at you like that. It was uncalled for but it was as much for your safety as it was to get you out of there so we could get both of them to calm down.”I turned slightly to look up at him. “You called me a distraction. W