Cinders

Chapter two: Angels Exist?

After our awkward moment this morning, things kept becoming more and more difficult for us. Jade had let us go when it came close to time to be at school. Connor didn’t want to talk to me after what I had said to her. When I tried to explain, I seemed to only make things worse.

“Connor please listen to me!” I was following him around like some kind of stalker. This time I had waited for him outside of the men’s room, in order to pounce on him. Which I did. I clung to his arm like a small child.

“Please!” I pleaded and finally he sighed still dragging me beside him, not bothering to stop. “Connor we’ve known each other forever. For goodness sake we… used to take baths together! You shouldn’t try to kiss someone… well someone like me.” That made him stop. He glared at me waiting for me to finish.

“I’m not good for you Con. I’m sporadic, I dress oddly, I’ve been known to hurt myself, I have a whole mess of unresolved issues. I’m… not… well, I’m not pretty enough, and I’m just… I’m just not good enough for you.” the last part I said so low I could tell he barely heard it. He shrugged me off and turned to look at me for a moment. His eyes flashed a million different things at once. Anger, hurt, and sadness being the ones I was able to pick out. It was enough to make me want to kill myself.

“You never think of yourself in a good way, Gabby. You always think you’re the worst person ever. It’s just not true. No matter how hard I try, no matter how good a friend I am, I can’t get you to see how wonderful and beautiful you are. You always judge yourself by how they see you.” He motioned toward the crowded hall. “When will you learn that it’s what the people who know you best think, that counts.” He pulled my hand to his chest just above his heart, then placed his over mine. I blushed.

“It’s what’s in here that counts. When you figure that out, I’ll explain to you all the other flaws to your logic.” He gave me a half hearted smile and then trudged off to homeroom.

“Gabby?” I heard Jade behind me. I turned around fighting off the tears in my eyes. This was supposed to be a happy day.

“Yeah?” I asked softly rubbing at my eyes. She put her hand on my shoulder.

“He’s right you know.” She said it softly so hopefully only I would hear. I glared up at her for a second and then sighed. “Why does everyone think I’m such a good person?” I thought to myself before nodding and following her off to homeroom.

The three of us had been in the same classes since we were in junior high. This year, though, was different. Jade’s homeroom was two rooms down from mine. Mine was also two whole halls away from Connor. We only had one class in common and that was only in pairs. Jade and I had first period Literature together, and Connor and I had third period History. None of us had lunch together either. This was all so… weird.

Homeroom was about two minutes long. Just enough to hear morning announcements and to pass out the same paperwork that had to be filled out every year since elementary school. I didn’t know anyone in there. But they all seemed to know each other. “Great I’m surround by kids that went to east.” I sighed and jumped up when the bell rang rushing out to try and find Jade so we could at least walk to our class together.

“Jade!” I whined as we pushed through the halls to make it to class in time. “I don’t know anyone in there! I’m the only kid from west Jr. in that entire room!” The brunette rolled her eyes at me while smiling.

“Get used to it.” She said softly as we walked in the classroom. There was a hand written note on the white board that read “Just take a seat.” So we both grabbed desks near the back of the room thankful that, for once, we were the first people there.

“So, Gabby,” she began looking up at me while she bent over to get her notebook out of her book bag. “What were you and Con really doing this morning?” I sighed putting my hands over my face. She just wouldn’t let it go.

“I… I just don’t know what we were doing…”I mumbled through my hands.

“Really? You don’t know?” She asked and I could tell it was a rhetorical question. “ ’Cause you know what it looked like to me? It looked like you were about to… kiss.” I blushed so hard that I pressed my icy hands even harder against my burning face.

“I’m right aren’t I?” She asked a smile in her voice. When I didn’t answer she already knew she was right. “Oh, hey Marion. You look flushed. You feeling okay?” I peeked out from behind my fingers to see Marion Ashes sit down in front of us. I grimaced and hid back behind my fingers. That usually tan blonde and I don’t get along. She had stolen every boy I had ever showed interest in since Elementary school.

“I just didn’t get much sun this summer.” I heard her say in a slightly more melodic voice than normal. What was with her? “There was a lot of rain in Hawaii this year.”

“Yeah rub it in.” I thought angrily as I composed myself enough to stop hiding.

“So what was that I heard about Gabby and Connor?” She asked Jade pretending I wasn’t even there.

“It’s none of your business, Marion!” I snapped at her quickly moving my hands away from my face. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at me smiling.

“Why Gabrielle I didn’t see you there.” She quickly flipped her hair over her shoulders revealing that she wasn’t wearing a bra under her spaghetti strap shirt. “Your looking even more different than usual.” her tone was haughty. More people straggled into the room, and the boy’s who came in couldn’t help but notice her platinum blonde hair, pink spaghetti strap shirt, plaid mini skirt, and thigh high boots.

“And look at you Marion,” I scoffed at her. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look more like a hooker.” I knew I would regret that later. She glared daggers at me and then turned around to wave at all the gawking boys.

“Why do you two always have to fight?” Jade asked me, annoyed.

“Do I have to tell you?” I asked back. She nodded. Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair. This was really going to be a rough day. I held up my hand to start counting off as I named my reasons. “Eric Thomas, Joseph McKinley, Randy Holmes, and she stole all my drawing books out of my locker in the fourth grade.” I said this all very low hoping Marion wouldn’t hear me. She did.

“I never stole anything of yours!” Marion nearly shouted as she turned to stare at me. There was a glow in her eyes that was frightening. So I let it drop. It wasn’t worth getting sent to the office over. “You’re right. It’s not.” She said softly. Jade and I looked at her confused.

“I’m right about what?” I asked. Before she could answer our teacher entered the room.

“Alright settle down now.” He walked gracefully into the room coffee in hand and tossed a thick folder onto his desk. Marion looked upset. I don’t see why she would be. The man was actually quite good looking. He was pale, thin, had a slight muscular build, dark blue eyes, and sandy blonde hair. He wore a dark blue button down long sleeve shirt tucked into a very nice looking pair of black slacks, with some very shiny black loafers. Jade was biting her lip as she looked at him. “Yup he’s hot.”

“My name is Malcolm Laile and I am going to be your teacher for American Lit.” He leaned against the desk and folded his arms looking out across the room. “Is everyone in here a sophomore?” He asked raising an eyebrow. Everyone in the room nodded.

“Good so you’re all as new to this as I am.” he smiled and every girl in the room stifled a gasp, except Marion. His voice was like silk as his words escaped the confines of his lips. It was strange. “My family and I just moved here over the summer.” he continued, but now he was looking over at a small girl in the front left hand corner of the room.

“Now since this is our first day what I want to do is take the chance to get to know all of you, and for you all to get to know each other.” There was a low groan rolling through the room. Mr. Laile just smiled wider. He had such a beautiful smile. “So this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to call out your names like I’m calling role, but when I say your name please stand up and tell everyone a little about yourself, and what you did over the summer. Okay? So let’s see…” He grabbed the book of names that was underneath the folder and looked at it briefly. “Ms. Marion Ashes?”

“Hi there. I‘m Marion.” she stood up slowly, making sure to flip her hair back over her shoulders. I didn’t want to hear anymore. Apparently she had gotten over whatever had upset her about him. I took out my notebook and a pen then started doodling absent mindedly on the outside cover. I wasn’t paying attention until Jade poked me hard in the side with her pen.

“Ow!” I gasped under my breath as I glared up at her. Then I felt everyone staring at me and my face turned bright red.

“Finally joining us Ms. Gabrielle Cinders?” I heard Mr. Laile say a laugh in his voice. When I looked up at him his face was serious for a moment. His look made me shiver. I quickly stood up.

“It’s Gabby.” I said softly trying to calm down. “Shit! Don’t freeze up! Don’t Freeze up!” I yelled at myself. The small girl in the corner looked at me quizzically as my knees started shaking.

“Alright. So Gabby tell us about yourself.” Mr. Laile tried to sound reassuring but it came out sounding more like a command.

“Well I like to read, and draw, and write. My favorite movies are Abbot and Costello movies. I love Monty Python and Broadway musicals. My favorite food is anything Asian. Ummm…” I was panicking while searching for things to say. He interrupted me and I was momentarily glad.

“Wow. Not many kids your age know Abbot and Costello.” he was smiling at me approvingly. “What did you do over the summer?”

“I hung out with my friends Connor, and Jade.” I answered simply.

“Where at?” He asked trying to keep me on the spot.

“At the mall in Asheville or my house, or their houses.” I shrugged and played with the purple ribbons keeping my skirt together.

“Okay thank you very much Gabby. Now Mr. Chandler Epps?” I sat down quickly and stared at my notebook. I cursed under my breath. I had doodled a cartoon version of Connor all over the cover. I stopped berating myself, and started paying attention again by the time he got around to Jade.

“Ms. Jade Kaine?” He called out and Jade stood slowly, calmly.

“Hi I’m Jade. I like to read. I like to watch Nascar.” Several girls in the room snickered and I glared at each of them. “I love old cars. My favorite food is pizza. And I spent most of my time this summer hanging out with Gabby and Connor.” She sat down before he could ask her anything else and went back to biting her lip.

“Thank you Jade.” he smiled warmly at her. I looked over and smiled at her too and she let out a deep sigh and smiled back at me. Without barely moving Marion passed two notes to Jade. We both looked at the back of the blondes head confused. Looking down at her desk their was a note also addressed to me. Jade tossed it to me quickly and opened hers. I opened mine and stared at Marion’s beautiful hand writing. I already wanted to rip it up.

Hey!
Gabby listen I’m sorry about earlier. I haven’t been feeling well this morning so it was easy for me to snap at you. I’d like you and Jade to come with me to this really cool new place just outside of town. You both still like Vampires right? It’s like this all human coven thing. I found it when I got back from Hawaii and they let me join! We get cool stuff if we bring new people to the meetings! Meetings are every Friday! You should come! Seriously! Well let me know your decision after class!
Ciao,
-Marion

I looked over at Jade and then we both glanced back at the pale blonde in front of us. Marion was acting so weird. We weren’t her cool friends, why was she inviting us? Then we both turned our attention back to Mr. Laile.

“Abigail, It’s your turn now.” He smiled at the girl in the corner and she smiled back standing up gracefully. Everyone turned to stare at her. She had long beautiful light brown hair that spun into random ringlets in places and cascaded down below her waist. Her skin was as pale as our teachers but her eyes were an icy blue. She wore a baby pink peasant top with tight flare jeans and strawberry printed converses. She was adorable.

“Hello my name is Abigail Laile. Mr. Laile is my father. You can all call me Abby though.” She smiled out at everyone. Her voice was like her fathers, silky smooth. “I like old James Dean movies, and I am very into romance novels. My absolute favorite things to eat are strawberry parfaits. I love to shop. This summer I spent all my time with my dad and my twin brother Anthony as we moved here from Maine.” She turned back to look at her father. “Was that good enough?” She asked him sweetly and he nodded chuckling at her. She sat down almost as gracefully as she had stood.

“Thank you Abby. Mr. Jonathan Marrow?” I wasn’t paying attention again. I was staring back and forth between Abigail and her father. They barely looked alike. His hair was gold and hers milk chocolate. His eyes were dark blue hers ice blue. What did her mother look like? Maybe she looked more like her. Abigail hadn’t mentioned her mother though. Just her brother and her father. How interesting. I continued throughout the rest of class comparing father to daughter and imagining what her brother could look like. Then I was brought out of my musings when Jade poked me again.

“Well class I feel like I have really gotten to know you all. I hope you have a great rest of the day but before you all leave I want you to come up to my desk and take a reading list.” He opened up the thick folder and took out a handful of papers. Another groan ran through the class. “I know, I know but if you don’t read the material you won’t get through the class.” The bell rang and everyone rushed up to his desk to grab a reading list except for Abigail who stayed in her seat smiling. Marion turned to look at us before running up to get her own list.

“So will you come? It’s a lot of fun you even get to pick what you want to be!” She grinned at us as we both nodded. “Great I’ll call you both later with the details! Your numbers haven’t changed right?” we both shook our heads at a loss for words. “Awesome! See ‘ya later!” Then she grabbed her list and ran out the door.

“How weird is that?” Jade asked me.

“It’s so weird. There’s not even a word to explain how weird it is.” I sighed and picked up my notebook shoving it in my messenger bag then slinging the strap over my shoulder. “I’ll see you after school then?” I asked as we made our way up to get our lists.

“Duh.” Jade said grinning as she took her list. “Bye Gabby.”

“Bye J.” She rolled her eyes. She hated when I called her J, but it was fun. Mr. Laile handed me my reading list but didn’t let it go.

“Gabby, do you live on Snow Marsh drive?” He asked me tilting his head to the side. My eyebrows knit together.

“Yes. Why?” I asked. Had he read my file for some reason?

“I was just wondering. It seems we’re neighbors. We bought a house just up the road from you.” He motioned between himself and Abigail. “We had been meaning to stop by your house to introduce ourselves, but we’ve just been so busy. It’s nice to finally meet you neighbor.” he let the paper go and held out his hand for me to shake it. I quickly folded up the list into a nice thick little square and then took his hand. It was as cold as mine.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Laile.” I said softly. “It seems you have poor circulation too.” I giggled and he took his hand away from mine looking at me questioningly. “You know cold hands?”

“Oh, yes poor circulation. Feel free to call me Malcolm outside of class Gabby. Right now were just friendly neighbors, not teacher and student. My kids and I may be dropping by your house sometime soon so we can all officially meet.”

“That would be nice.” I said softly. I strangely wasn’t afraid to talk to him anymore. “Maybe if you let me know in advance you can all stay for dinner. You would also have to let me know what I can fix for you, and I would have to let my parents in on it. They don’t really like to be dropped in on.” I gripped the thick square in my hand tightly.

“Dinner would be nice. Please let them know. It would be good for us all to know each other, and I’m not the one you have to worry about, it‘s Abby and Anthony who are the picky ones.” He looked over my shoulder at his daughter.

“Dad.” She groaned and was beside me almost instantly. “If you don’t stop talking we’re both going to be late for class.”

“I almost forgot. This is my planning period.” He laughed at himself. “Let me go ahead and write each of you a note. What’s your next class Gabby?”

“French 1.” I said softly and Abigail looked at me grinning.

“Me too!” She sounded happy about this and I was to a degree too. At least I would know someone in there now.

“Cool!” I said smiling back at her. Malcolm handed us our late slips just as the first bell rang.

“Oh no! We’d better hurry Gabby!” The dark haired girl grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the classroom and down the hall shouting a “later dad!” over her shoulder. Her skin was as cold as her fathers. “Wow. I thought. Well I’ve found one similarity between her and her father.” She continued to drag me down the hall until we were both safely inside the light yellow walls of the French room. Luckily there were two empty seats in the back of the class, side by side. She let me go and we both took a seat. The late bell rang almost two seconds after we sat down.

“Whew! That was close eh, Gabby?” She asked me taking out her notebook and pen. “Atleast we don’t have to use these now!” She crumpled up her late slip.

“Yeah thanks Abigail!” I was grinning at her as I took out my doodle covered notebook.

“Abby.” She corrected me. She must of caught sight of my notebook, because she started leaning forward to look at my doodles. I blushed and tried to cover them up. “No. I’d like to see them. Even from this angle they look very good.” I sighed and let her take my notebook. She stared at each little inked character. Most were Connor, a few were Jade, and there was one very large, very bad depiction of the black Porsche from this morning. “You are very good!” She smiled at me tracing her fingers over the indented cover.

“I’m guessing the boy is Connor, and the girl is Jade?” She had a good memory. I nodded. Then her fingers skated over the Porsche. She handed it back to me quickly when our teacher entered the room.

“Bonjour!” The older woman said in an overly happy tone. I rolled my eyes. After all I was only taking French because I hated Spanish, Latin was entirely too hard, and they didn’t offer Japanese. “Je ma pel Madame Smith. Now you will all have to try and learn very quickly, for you will be talking in only French as soon as you set foot in my class room.”

“Great…” I muttered under my breath. I’m a fast learner but not fast enough to be able to speak a language in under a day. I ran my fingers through my hair to ease my stress away.

Abby passed me a small note. Her handwriting was gorgeous, flawless. Don’t worry, it said, I’ll help you Gabby. I’ve had to take French before. It was an online class, because dad was taking us to Paris two summers ago. I wrote back to her a quick thank you and drew her a smiley face.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. The class passed by quickly after Madame Smith called role, and passed out our books plus a thick workbook. We were supposed to have chapters one and two in the workbook done by the beginning of the next class. Abby had already passed me another note with her cell phone number so I could call her later if I had questions. I really liked her. The bell rang and everyone gathered up their things and headed out the door. I waited for Abby.

“So what lunch do you have?” I asked as we both stood up. She grinned over at me as she tossed the strap of her bag over her shoulder. She moved her hair so the strap wouldn’t pull on it.

“First.” She said as we walked out and I laughed and twirled around for a second.

“Yay! We have lunch together!” I squealed at her and she giggled at me. “You’ll have to tell me all about yourself!”

“You too! I’m glad to have made a friend on my first day. You’re a really interesting person Gabby.” We wound our way through the halls massed with people, to the stairs that led to the commons area. We went straight to the lunch line and I grabbed my wallet out of the zipper pouch on the front of my bag and she took a small wad of money out of her back pocket.

“So when exactly did you all move in? I haven’t seen any cars on our road in weeks.” we grabbed our trays, and reached for a chocolate milk carton at the same time. We both laughed and then her eyebrows knit together in thought.

“My brother and I got here really late at night like two weeks ago. Dad came down early with the trucks to try and set everything up. It didn’t work.” She laughed softly. “He needed me there. I’m the only one who knows where everything is supposed to go! No really I swear! I’m also the only one who knows how to do any housework.” She looked at me grinning when I giggled. She grabbed a bowl of soup while I grabbed a grilled cheese and an apple.

“I’m used to cooking. I don’t really clean that much unless it’s my room. I have an older brother and he’s… well let’s just say when you guys come over you won’t be meeting him.” We paid for our food and went and sat at a small table on the far side of the commons.

“Why wouldn’t we meet your brother?” I sighed and took a bite of my grilled cheese. She quirked an eyebrow and started eating her soup. We sat across from each other so it would be easier to talk.

“Jeff got married a year ago, and his wife is a real, well… let’s just say she’s really mean, and I haven’t seen my brother since my last birthday and that was for like ten minutes. He pretty much handed me a present then left, because she said she wasn’t feeling good. It’s all about her. If she’s not the center of attention then she has to leave.” I bit into my apple angrily. Abby looked at me apathetically.

“That has to be terrible. I don’t think I could deal with it if someone took Anthony away like that. I mean he’s my twin, we know what each other are thinking so if one of us disappears then our connection temporarily splits. It’s tough.” She opened her carton of milk and took a small sip. I nodded and took another bite of my sandwich.

“So what about your mom?” her eyes turned dark as soon as the words left my lips. “I’m sorry. Um, we can talk about something else…” She shook her head.

“You were going to find out eventually. Since we’re friends.” She scooted her tray away from her, and ran her fingers through her dark curly hair. “Our mother died years ago. She was really sick and there was nothing anyone could do. Dad say’s I look more like her than Anthony does. We’re identical twins, I guess it’s because I’m the girl.” She sighed softly and played with a small strand of her hair. “How about your parents?” I looked at her not knowing anything to say. I shouldn’t have brought up something so painful, but how could I have known?

“I’m so sorry Abby.” I said softly reaching across the table to touch her hand. When I did it was like a jolt of electricity shot through me and I could feel her pain. She jerked away from me and smiled softly.

“Static.” She mumbled before repeating her question about my parents. I nodded and took a sip of my milk.

“Well my mothers name is Sarah and my Dad’s name is Gordon. I look a lot like my mom the older I get and it drives me bananas. We don’t get along most of the time, differing opinions and all that jazz. My dad, though, is awesome! He and I have the same quirky personality. Like me and mom fight over my clothes and stuff, but dad doesn’t care. Clothes are how I express myself. I don’t lack a sense of style I just lack the strength to conform.” Her eyes had brightened back up at the talk of clothes. She began running her eyes over my odd outfit.

“Really? You should let me go through your wardrobe sometime. Is everything you own this… interesting?” Abby smiled mischievously at my clothes. A feeling of slight terror ran through me as I wondered what she would do to my clothes.

“I will as long as you promise not to touch my stocking collection!” She quirked an eyebrow at this.

“Stocking collection?” She asked picking up her tray and standing up to go and toss out what was left. I followed suit.

“Yeah it’s a hobby. I love stockings.” After dumping our trays I noticed every boy in the area was staring at Abby like she was the most gorgeous girl they had ever seen. I’d hate to know what they were all thinking.

“Okay I’ll keep that in mind.” She giggled at me as we walked back to our table.

“So what do you like to eat?” I asked and she quirked an eyebrow at me. “You know so I can plan what to cook when you all come over?”

“Oh! Um, tell me what you would like to fix and I’ll tell you if Anthony and I would eat it.” She shifted around so she could reach in her pocket and get out her cell phone.

“Uh… how’s Italian chicken with spaghetti and home made bread sticks sound?” I asked shoving a strand of hair behind my ear. That’s when she noticed my hair. She wasn’t even looking down while she texted someone.

“Who cut your hair?” She asked me and when she was done texting she put her phone down on the table and came over behind me. She started running her hands through my hair and I stiffened slightly.

“I cut it.” She dropped a strand of my hair.

“Why did you chop it up? Your hair has such wonderful potential. Oh no and is this dye? It is! What is your natural color?” She reached across the table to grab her phone as it vibrated.

“Blonde.” I said simply.

“Did you dye your eyebrows too?” The keys on her phone clicked softly under her fingers.

“No my eyebrows have always been black.” Jade hadn’t ever paid attention to my hair this much, and she had been my friend for much longer. Connor was the only one who ever really cared about my hair. Abby placed her phone in my hand while she played with my hair some more.

“Interesting. I bet you look better as a blonde though. I can give you a chemical solution that will take all the dye out. There’s also some very good shampoos I can give you to take care of the damage you’ve caused your hair. Would you be interested?” My head was spinning. How did she know so much about hair? Her phone vibrated I looked down. The name Anthony flashed across the small front screen. I handed the phone to her as it vibrated again.

“Sure. It would make Connor a lot happier. He hates what I’ve done to my hair about as much as you do. Why do you care about my hair so much anyway?” I turned to try and look at her. She smiled and turned my head back around.

“Hair and clothes are my little quirks. Oh, Dad says we’ll be by on Thursday, if that’s fine with your parents, and that he’s looking forward to testing out your cooking. Anthony’s… Well he’s fine with it too. So Italian food it is!” She went and grabbed her bag right as the bell rang and so did I.

“What’s your next class Gabby?” She asked me as we walked towards the closest exit.

“U.S. History. You?” I ran my fingers through my hair. It felt like there was gel in it but I hadn’t put any in it this morning.

“That’s too bad I have Art two.” She said and pouted as we walked out the door. We both squinted when we made it outside. It was really bright. I saw her wince slightly and allow her hair to fall into her face a little, like she was hiding. “Well I’ll talk to you later Gabby!”

“Alright bye Abby!” We both rushed off in opposite directions toward our classes. I sighed and started cursing under my breath. It was time to face Connor. I trudged up the stairs to get to class. Good thing I came here on open house night.

As I walked in the classroom I tried not to look at him. He already had a seat waiting for me. The butterflies attacked my stomach as I went to sit down next to him. I didn’t look at him I just kept my head down. His words from this morning rang in my ears. He coughed softly clearing his throat and trying to grab my attention.

“So Gabby, how was your morning?” He asked me softly bringing a hand out to sweep my hair behind my ear. I put up a hand to stop him. His hand dropped on to his lap. He sighed and leaned back his head resting against the wall. “Why didn’t you sit with me at lunch? I saved you a seat.” That took me by surprise.

“What? You said you didn’t have lunch with me.” He rolled his eyes and chuckled at me as I brought my head up to glare at him. He closed his eyes.

“Could I have this class with you if I didn’t have the same lunch as you? I was joking when I said we didn’t have the same lunch. Who was that girl you were with? I’ve never seen her before.” He turned to look at me his eyebrows knit together as I opened my mouth to speak.

“That was very mean Connor.” He rolled his eyes waiting to find out about the girl. “Her name is Abigail Laile. She’s my first period teachers daughter. She also has French class with me. Abby is very nice. She also lives on my road. Her family bought one of the abandoned houses near the hill.” He looked at me his eyebrows raised.

“She was playing with your hair. You only let me play with your hair…” he was mumbling but I heard it. I made a funny face at him.

“Yeah you are the only one I let play with my hair. She was telling me what I could do to get my natural color back and reverse the damage I did with my pocket knife. But if you like my hair better this way, I can always tell her I changed my mind….”

“No!” He almost shouted. “No I want your old look back. If you want it back.” He was mumbling again.

“Con you know I don’t really care about my appearance. If you liked it better the way it was then I’ll let Abby help me change it back.” I poked his arm and then he looked up at me angrily grabbing my wrist.

“What’s this?” He asked angrily running a finger over a small scab on my forearm. I knew what he was thinking but I hadn’t done anything like that in months.

“Connor you know I’m off cutting.” I said angrily trying to pull my arm back as the teacher came in the room. He dropped my arm and turned towards the front. Anger was still etched on his face. The late bell rang and I took out my notebook flipping it open before he could see the cover. I didn’t even hear anything the teacher said I was so upset. Connor poked me when my name was called and I muttered a loud here. Then I was back in my own little world.

I doodled through the rest of the class, angry doodles. I didn’t know where my book was, if we had homework, or if I was supposed to be taking notes. “How can he even think I’d go back to hurting myself?!” The whole class was a blur. I didn’t feel the tears running down my cheeks and I didn’t feel myself shaking with frustration. The thing that brought me out of my anger filled little world was Connor’s warm hand on my cold arm. I glared up at him and he let go of me.

“It’s uh, the bell just rang.” He said looking away from me waiting for me to get up. I shoved my notebook into my bag roughly and stood up nearly running out of the room. He caught my arm before I could get to far and held me close as he dragged me off toward a more secluded part of the hall.

“Connor let me go!” I said through grit teeth. I was not in the mood to be lectured to.

“No not until you tell me why you’re crying.” He only let me go after he placed me in a corner with him blocking the way out.

“Because you make me angry!” I tried to push past him. He put his hands on both sides of me keeping me in place.

“Why because I like to know if your doing something unhealthy?” He asked me trying to remain calm. I pushed at his chest.

“No because you know better! You’re the one who got me to stop in the first place! What reason would I have to start back up?!” I wanted to smack him for even assuming I had started again.

“I’m sorry that’s what your cuts used to look like. It scared me. Gabby I don’t want to ever have to see you that depressed again…” He placed his forehead against mine and my last angry tear slid down my cheek. My breath caught in my chest. “I don’t think I could deal with that again, Gabby. I’m sorry. I jumped to conclusions.” The first bell rang and he jerked away from me as light foot steps echoed along the hall toward us.

“Get to class now kids.” came a familiar silky voice. Malcolm came into view as Connor stepped away from me. The blonde man stopped in his tracks looking from my tear stained face to Connors now calm face. This had to look worse than it was. “Gabby are you alright?” He asked me and motioned for Connor to stay. I nodded and wiped at my face and ran a hand through my hair.

“What is going on here?” He asked not believing me.

“We were having a small fight between friends sir.” Connor said with a shrug and I nodded my head in agreement. Just then the late bell rang.

“Then I suggest you run off to class Mr. Downes.” Malcolm said softly yet commanding and Connor looked back at me before he turned and slowly trudged down the hall turning to look back at me every few steps.

“Are you really alright?” He asked me coming to put an arm around me. He smelled really good. Like the beach after a storm, and some other strange sickly sweet scent I couldn’t place.

“Yeah. Connor was just upset about something he thought I’d done.” I said still wiping at my face. He started walking us forward while rubbing my shoulder.

“Well as long as your okay I won’t report this.” I nodded, he really did look quite concerned. He let go of me but still continued to walk beside me. “Come back to my classroom and I’ll get you a late note, okay?”

“Sure but…” I tripped over my own feet and stumbled, he caught me but my left leg slipped out from under me and got sliced by a small piece of metal jutting out from the doorframe. “Ow, Frick!” I groaned as I looked down at my now bleeding leg. Malcolm looked at my leg and if it were possible he became a little paler. His eyes narrowed and turned slightly darker.

“How about we go to the nurses office instead?” He asked trying to smile at me.

“Great… my stockings are ruined.” I muttered under my breath. Malcolm chuckled at my comment and helped me limp up the hall and down the stairs to get to the nurses office.

“You’re a good bleeder Gabby.” He said carefully looking down at my leg. His eyes were still getting darker. Was he squeamish at the sight of blood or something?

“You don’t have to help me… Malcolm. I can manage the rest of the way I think.” he shook his head and smiled at me.

“I’m your teacher right now Gabby it’s my duty to make sure you’re taken care of.” We passed through the door to the nurses office and he helped me get up on the examination table. Then he went to stand by the door as the nurse rushed over to me.

“Oh my goodness gracious honey! What has happened to you?” She wore a name tag that said Saundra and her thick golden red hair was done in pleats with her snazzy white nurse uniform to accentuate it, she looked like someone out of an old black and white movie.

“I got snagged on a door up stairs.” I said calmly. She grabbed a pair of scissors to cut off my stocking and I stopped her right there. “Those aren’t necessary.” I started to reach under my skirt for the garter loop and Malcolm turned around. I couldn’t stand it if my stocking got even more torn up. Though she was sure to throw it away.

“I’m going to go get you that late note Gabby. I’ll be right back.” He said over his shoulder.

“Help me pull off my shoe?” I asked the nurse once he had left, and she complied. With some more help I got the garter loop off and from there my torn and blood soaked stocking.

“Oh my word!” She said looking at the large gash. “You’ve had your tetanus shots right?” I nodded and she ran and got a bowl, some gauze, and some antiseptic wash. She held the bowl under my calf and started pouring the antiseptic over my wound dabbing at it with the gauze every now and then. It burned so much that I could barely stand it.

My finger nails dug into the side of the examination table. Once the antiseptic stopped bubbling she placed the bowl on the counter and grabbed a needle and thread for stitches, a large adhesive gauze pad, some adhesive tape, and her scissors. I braced myself when she started sewing me up but I was already in so much pain that I didn’t really feel it. Once she finished up my stitches, she gently placed the adhesive pad over my wound, it had a large gob of thick ointment on it, then wrapped the white tape around my leg making sure the pad would stay on.

“All cleaned up now?” Malcolm asked me as he came back in the room. I nodded and smiled at him. The nurse turned to look at him for the first time and had the same reaction most of first period had. She snipped the tape and let my leg go. It was so very sore. “I’m Malcolm Laile, Ms. Cinders’ Lit. teacher.” He said and she nodded slowly trying very hard to take her eyes off him.

“Thanks for helping me out Mr. Laile!” I said still smiling at him. When I tried to get down the nurse snapped out of it and kept me where I was.

“Not so fast now honey!” She went and grabbed a small note pad. “You’re gonna need something for the pain that leg is gonna be giving you later. This should help.” She tore off the page she had been writing on and handed it to me. I read it quickly.

“You really think I’m going to need something as strong as vikadin?” I asked her confused, she smiled and started helping me down. I winced when I put weight on my leg.

“That’s the reason why. It’ll be worse later. Trust me. You‘ll need to come back tomorrow during lunch so I can see how your healing. I‘ll give you more instructions from there.” I nodded while gritting my teeth. Malcolm had grabbed my bag and was ready to help me go to what was left of my last class.

“Thanks Saundra.” I called over my shoulder as I limped towards my teacher.

“No problem sugar! It’s what I’m here for.” Malcolm took my left arm and placed it over his shoulder while wrapping his right arm around me securely.

“You ready Gabby?” He asked me and I nodded grimacing at the pain that shot up my bare leg. “So what class am I helping you get to?”

“Art one.” I said through grit teeth. I tried not to think about the pain. It was a very hard thing to do. He nodded at me as we hobbled down the hall toward the Art room. His eyes were a little brighter now. We stayed in silence either because he knew it would be hard for me to talk, or because it was awkward having to half carry me to my fourth period when he had a class he needed to take care of.

He knocked on the door of the Art room when we finally reached it. There was a slight shuffling of chairs. Then the door opened to a bright room with dozens of paintings lining the walls.

“Yes?” The lady asked her gaze on Malcolm.

“This is Gabrielle Cinders. She got hurt on the way here so I helped her make it to class after I took her to see the nurse.” I gazed around the room as he talked to the rather rude woman. The paintings on the walls were all copies of paintings I had seen at a gallery one summer with Connor.

Then I saw someone turn sharply toward the door. My gaze drifted to him and the breath was knocked temporarily out of my lungs. He was beautiful, angelic looking. He was pale like Abby, and his hair was light brown with small hints of gold, and gorgeous icy blue eyes. He looked like a painting sitting there all alone, wearing a black jacket over his dark red shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. An angel in a modern painting, and he was staring at me. Our eyes met and something inside of me snapped. His eyes narrowed and became darker. Then Malcolm’s voice entered my world.

“Can you make it to your seat?” he asked me and I nodded furiously as he knocked me out of my daze. He let me go, then placed my bag over my right shoulder, and said a goodbye to my teacher as I slowly limped over to the only seat left in the whole class. The seat next to the angel.

“Well Gabrielle thank you for joining us.” the rude woman said as she went to go sit back behind her desk. “We were all just sketching something from our day that we thought was interesting. When you make it to your seat ask Anthony to explain the guidelines to you.”

“Anthony?!” I thought frantically. “This angel, this God, is Abby’s twin brother?!” My heart skipped a beat. He was more beautiful than his father, and his sister combined. I shook the thoughts out of my head as I sat down. Anthony tensed and was sitting as still as a statue. I clenched my teeth and gripped the table as hard as I could. My leg felt like it was burning. Once the pain settled I got my sketchbook out of my bag and turned my head to look at the angel once more.

“So… My name’s Gabby.” I said softly. The pairs at all the other tables were whispering things to each other. I figured it was okay for us to talk then. My mouth felt terribly dry though.

“Yes. The same Gabby that my sister met today?” He asked me trying very hard to keep his voice calm. It was an even smoother silk than his fathers. Deep and soothing. His hands were gripping the table tightly like he was angry or in pain. “What’s his problem?” I thought to myself. I was the one that should be freaking out about talking to him!

“Yeah.” I flipped open my sketchbook to a blank page. He took a deep breath and then slowly let the table go.

“I’m Anthony Laile.” His silky smooth voice informed me of what I already knew. I nodded and turned my head slightly to look at him. He was still very tense but he was at least no longer griping the table.

“So what’s this thing we’re supposed to be drawing?” I asked him softly. He grabbed my sketchbook and started writing down all the guidelines for our sketches. Being nervous, I reached up and gripped the small shark tooth on my necklace fingering it gently so as not to prink my fingers.

“It’s supposed to be the most interesting thing that has happened to you today.” His handwriting was beautiful and flowing. It looked more amazing than his sisters. I was glad I wasn’t writing it all down. He would have laughed at my handwriting. “It can be anything at all. Like who you met in your first class, what you had for lunch. As long as it’s interesting to you.” He placed my sketchbook back in front of me. Just staring at his hand writing made me feel self-conscious.

“Thanks.” I said and smiled at him which apparently startled him a great deal. He looked away for a moment clenching and unclenching his hands. “I’m looking forward to seeing you and your family at my house on Thursday!” He nodded knitting his eyebrows together and starting to draw.

“So what happened to your leg?” He asked me. I started drawing too.

“I started to trip and your dad caught me, but my leg still slipped and got caught on a piece of metal sticking out of a door frame.” I decided I was going to draw the black Porsche I had seen this morning.

“Why were you with my dad?” He asked now turning to look at me. I continued to draw.

“He was taking me back to his classroom to write me a tardy slip.” I winced a moment as I moved my leg into a new position.

“Oh.” he started drawing again. I could tell he was still curious but I wasn’t about to tell him what had happened.

“Why don’t you ask him about it later.” I stated softly and he nodded. We were both silent the rest of the class. Just before the bell rang he was bounding for the door but then he turned back around. I stood up slowly gripping the table again. He’d left his book bag behind in his hurry to leave. Then he looked at me as I started to hobble towards the door. After he grabbed his things he was at my side staring at me.

“Can I help you get to where ever it is you need to go?” He asked and I blushed.

“I think I’m able to manage as far as the stairs. But there’s a path so I can go around.” He wasn’t listening to me he took my left arm and placed it over his shoulder and he carefully placed his right arm around my waist. I blushed even harder. “Thanks.” I managed through grit teeth as we started moving.

“Am I hurting you?” He asked worriedly and I shook my head.

“It’s just my leg. The nurse had to stitch it up it was so deep.” He nodded as we made it to the stairs. This was going to be the hard part. With each step the pain grew worse. I looked down and blood was starting to leak from under the bandage. Anthony tensed when he saw the blood. His eyes grew even darker. Was the whole family squeamish?

When we made it to the top step he let me go. I temporarily lost balance but he caught me. This time he made sure I was balanced before he let me go.

“I’m sorry but this is as far as I can help you. I have to go talk to my father.” I nodded at him unable to talk for fear of sounding like I was in too much pain. He watched me hobble a few steps before he disappeared into the crowd. I got as far as the next class room when I felt a large hand on my shoulder.

“Hey Con.” I muttered. He turned me toward him.

“Jeez I leave you with that teacher and you get hurt.” He was staring at the blood trickling down my leg.

“It wasn’t his fault Con. I tripped.” I said trying not to grit my teeth. He shook his head, placed both his hands on my waist and picked me up so that my feet were dangling maybe a foot off the ground. He carried me slowly out to the student parking lot and set me down next the Maverick.

“Did the nurse give you anything for the pain?” I took the prescription out of my bag and handed it to him. He nodded and then helped me get in the car. His dad was a doctor so he knew a lot about how these things worked. He sat me to where I was leaning against the passenger door and my bleeding leg was almost in his lap. “I’ll take you by CVS to get this filled and to grab you some more bandages before I take you home.”

“You don’t have to do that Con.” He twisted the key in the ignition and the car roared to life.

“Someone’s gotta look after you doll.” I rolled my eyes at the nickname.

“Thanks.” I said smugly as I looked at the grin plastered on his face.

“No problem hun. After all what are best friends for?” He chuckled at his own joke. I laughed lightly as he sped off through the parking lot. Then I noticed it. The black Porsche was parked in the very back of the lot. Abigail stood next to it talking to the angel, Anthony. The Porsche was theirs!