New Developments

Minus the few glances Damon and I share in passing, it's a very dull day. There are endless assignments that I have to complete for each of my classes.

Procrastination was one thing I couldn't afford. When I got home from school, Melody happened to be unloading her stuff from the car. I watch her swipe a duffel bag up from the ground.

She looks straight at me as she lifts her frame. I catch Melody rolling her eyes when I walk by her. I'm tired of her constant glaring and attitude towards me, so I stop and turn around to walk back up to her. Her eyes narrow to slits before she put a hand on her hip.

"Can I help you?" She asks with contempt.

"You got a problem with me."

"I don't know you, and I don't like you."

A hand scissors into her curls. A look of impatience frowns up her face.

"I don't want you here."

"At least we can agree on something."

She rolls her eyes with attitude then puckers her lips.

"What's your deal anyway?"

"I'm here because I lost the only family I had. I'm not here because I was dying to meet my dearest daddy."

I pull my brows in a deep frown and jut my hip.

"So, excuse me, but the last thing I care about is how much you fucking hate me."

I don't give a damn how she feels as her eyes grow wide. It felt good to release everything I've been bottling up for weeks. I couldn't let some rich kids bully me into leaving this place.

"I didn't know..."

I interrupt her knowing what she was going to say before she says it. "You're sorry. We'll thank you, but that still doesn't make us friends."

She nods, and her voice comes out low. "Touché. Look, maybe we can be neutral. I am sorry."

I ponder over her words for a moment, then lift my eyes to hers.

"Yeah, maybe." I pause. "See you later."

Aaron's stomping down the steps when I walk inside the house. My Dominican heritage came from my mother's side. My father, on the other hand, was pure Cherokee. Everything I knew about him had been from her word of mouth. I found myself mentally keeping track of all the things my grandma had told me about him. She constantly ranted on and on about how mean and demeaning he could be.

He pulls me in for a hug. My arms go stiff at my sides as his arms tighten around me.

Then he steps back. His eyes never leave mine.

His lips curve up. "I missed you yesterday. How was your first day?"

"Pretty average, if I'm honest."

"Well, hopefully, today was better."

I nod. "It was for the most part, other than the shitload of work I have to do."

A frown covers his expression.

"Language." He warns.

I hear the front door clap shut behind me.

"Hey, honey."

He gives Melody a peck on the head before she wraps her arms around his torso. She tilts her head up.

"I'm going up. I got to do some homework before cheerleading practice." She says to him.

She doesn't look my way as she moves between us to head upstairs. With a pat on the back, my father smiles at me then takes off in the opposite direction.

I take off my uniform first thing in my room. I change into a white Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt and plaid pajama pants. I sit on the bed and lay my homework around me. I lean my torso on the headboard and scan the formulas for my trig homework, which will consume my focus for the next few hours. Dread fills my chest as I grab the calculator lying on my nightstand. Next, I grab my phone and launch my apple music. I tap on the first song that pops up on my screen.

◆◆◆

Savannah and I saunter into school that Friday morning. We start talking about our plans this weekend as I spot a guy I remember seeing with Damon. Savannah was rambling about her plans to finish watching this new series on Netflix. Her words went in and out of my ears as I watch the guy approach us.

I start to get nervous the closer he gets to us, but he makes a beeline around us and goes up to a group of guys. Damon's face comes into view when the guy standing in front of him moves. His eyes snap to mine. He keeps his eyes on me as we stroll past them. Savannah is entirely oblivious to the little moment.

I get an eerie feeling that someone's staring at me. Before I walk into class, I look back. Nobody was there. I couldn't deny that it felt like there was a hole in my back.

I was a wreck when it came down to talking to guys. I was a shy person naturally. I couldn't speak to him without yelling out something ridiculous. Once I started mouthing off, it was hard to stop. Grandma always used to say I needed to put a cap on my mouth because I was too smart for my own good. She knew me better than I knew myself. I can't deny that I have a terrible attitude.

I knew Mr. Howard was assigning our paper today. I was banking that it would be due the following Monday. Class crept by slowly. It didn't help when the students in class moan from the 3-page paper dropped on us. There's no mistaking Mr. Howard's enthusiasm over breaking down our monthly read. He was a sweet person, but I hate him as a teacher. He gives endless homework and not enough time to complete the assignments. It was a challenge keeping up with his workload. He made it clear that his class wouldn't be easy. Everyone jumps from their desks at the sound of the bell.

Savannah walks with me to my locker. I notice the guy from earlier leaning on the metal with a charming smile. He was one of those pretty boys. His ginger hair stuck out. Another guy was beside him that I hadn't noticed before. The ginger said something under his breath that made the other guy chuckle.

I give Savannah a look that she catches. I exhale a deep breath. The guy with the orange hair tilts his head as I step up to them.

I narrow my eyes. "Excuse me." I pause to make sure that I had his full attention. "you're on my locker."

I point at the locker behind him. Detaching his body from the metal, he stands up to his full height. He steps away from my locker. The twisting noise of my master lock takes hold of the atmosphere.

I hear another deep voice coming from behind me.

"What's good, Bruh?" I heard him say.

"You get my text."

"Yeah, we'll talk later." The other voice sounds far away.

Savannah releases a disgusted ugh sound under her breath.

"They're assholes just for still being here."

I laugh and nod my head in agreeance. They could've taken their conversation elsewhere, but they had to paste their bodies on my locker.

"Sorry, I'm interrupting but is something funny." Came a voice from behind us.

Turning my head slightly, I caught Damon peering straight into me. He was looking down at me, waiting for a response.

I turn to Savannah as her voice rises.

"Do you have a problem?"

When she starts walking away, I close the locker and catch up with her. Damon comes around us and blocks our path. His eyebrows raise before he glares at Savannah.

"Last time I checked I wasn't talking to you whore."

His voice echoes through the hall. A few people walking our way slow their pace. The name-calling was unnecessary and insulting.

Savannah's expression was blank.

She glanced at me, then turned to sneer at Damon.

"Come on, let's get out of here. I think I smell asshole."

Damon's nostrils flares. I close my mouth and pin my lips together when I hear chuckling. We step around him. I looked over my shoulder and caught Damon staring at my butt. I twist my head forward when our eyes lock.

He has a lop-sided grin on his face. "Watch out, sweetness. Don't surround yourself with that bitch."

At lunch, we sit at our regular table. Savannah takes a swig of her juice then clears her throat. She punched her chest until a burp escapes her mouth.

I twist my mouth.

"Can you believe that asshole?"

She was talking about Damon. I was getting tired of hearing his name. Can I go one day without bumping into him or his friends?

I roll my eyes.

"Girl, that was like five hours ago. What's the deal with you two, anyway?"

"There was a situation back when we were sophomores, and it's just followed me ever since."

Savannah looks around to make sure no one is eavesdropping.

"Do I want to know or...?"

"I..." She pauses and looks around. "Don't want to talk about it here. That's a story for another day."

My shoulders pull upwards in a shrug. Savannah takes another bite of her salad.

"Cool. I was curious, is all."

Out the corner of my eye, I see a girl approaching our table.

"Hey! I'm Anna." She waves from the end of the table.

"Can I sit here?" Her eyes glaze across the empty table.

"Yeah, it's no problem with me." I shrug my shoulders.

Anna takes it as an invitation to take the open spot next to me. She slides her tray on the table and fiddled with the corners of the plate.

"Sorry to be weird..." I face her. "but I'm Rome."

My vision flows to Savannah on the other side of the table. Her lips stretch into a bright smile.

"What's up? I'm Savannah."

She stabs the fork into her salad.

"Cool. I was hoping to meet people here that didn't act like the world is supposed to fall at their feet."

She looks like one of those Spanish princesses. The long, wavy black strands whisked down her back, stopping just below her buttocks.

Anna pushes some hair behind her ear and starts eating some rice.

"So, are you guys from here?"

Savannah nods then gestures with one finger to give her a moment. She had a mouthful of food.

"I'm actually from D.C. I'm new around these parts."

"Where are you from?"

Minus the couple bites of spaghetti, I’ve eaten so far, my plate was still full of food.

"I was born in Virginia, lived there for a few years. We moved from Texas. My parents decided they wanted to move to California during my senior year." She shakes her head in wonder.

Savannah leans against the edge of the table. "Wait, your parents are retired?"

"Oh no... well, yes. My father was in the military. He recently got stationed here upon his request."

"Oh, cool. So, working and living on a Military base seems kind of fun."

I glare at Savannah as she shrugs her shoulders. I roll my eyes before talking over her.

"What Savannah meant to say was... what's it like to live on a military base."

My eyes flick Anna's way, her mouth's wide open as she laughs. I notice a small gap between her two front teeth.

"No, I've never lived on base. It was just my mom and me for years."

Savannah blurts out, "I bet the guys are hot as hell."

She fans herself like she has hot flashes. I frown at her then burst out laughing.

Anna stares between us like we're crazy. Savannah says stuff without thinking about it first. She was random, which made it funnier. You can never predict what would come out of her mouth. I grab my stomach when it starts to ache. Anna shakes her head, probably wondering what she got into when she asked to sit with us.

It turns out that Anna was a dancer. Besides our consensual love for film, she was the most athletic in the group.

The three of us banter and go our separate ways after lunch.

The rest of the day flashes by before back home. I drop my bag beside my door and ignore the mess on my floor. I go straight to my bed. As much as I want to clean, it probably won't get done anytime soon.