I sit up, gasping and crying. Olivia shifts above me as I hiccup, so I go out to the hallway and sit against the wall, crying into my knees. Why am I crying? I don't know, I don't even remember the nightmare. All I know is that it was horrible.
My side aches as I hiccup and shudder, but I don't care. You know that feeling you get when you fall in a dream? The one that makes you feel like you have a hole in your chest and not your stomach? Mmyeah, I have that times a thousand.
At some point Tate comes out of his room, looking concerned with tired eyes. He holds his arms out, standing in front of me, but I shake my head.
"Rue..." He sits down and hesitates with his right arm, so I lean into him, crying silently. His arm slowly wraps around me, providing comfort and safety. "Shh... It's okay, Rue."
I nod, but still cry into his shirt. "Why did you help us?" I whisper.
"You needed it. You still do. Just for one more year until you're eighteen..."
I look up at him, sniffling, "I have to ask you a favor, Tate.."
Tate looks down, eyes as thoughtful as ever, "Anything."
"Will you... Will you adopt Olivia?"
He's surprised, "What?"
I look down, "I.. I want to get a steady job before I take her in.. I don't want anything to happen and get her taken away from me.."
After a few seconds, he nods, "Okay. I won't adopt her, but I'll take care of her."
I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and I hug him. "Thank you so much."
"But..." I look up at him as he speaks. "You're gonna owe me." A smile is on his face, so I know it won't be anything bad.
"Anything."
"A--"
"Don't tell me tonight," I cut him off quickly. "I want to be able to sleep and not worry about how I'll pay you back."
He chuckles and carries me to the couch, laying me down and sitting on the floor with his back against it.
"Oh, trust me, Rue. It doesn't involve money."
When I wake up, the sun's filling the living room, announcing that it's around ten in the morning.
"TATE!" I scream and bolt off the couch into his room.
"What?" He glances up at me from his computer screen.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" My hands are firmly on my hips.
Tate only smirks, "It was about three in the morning when you woke up, and you didn't get to sleep until around four. There's an early out today, so I'm sure it'll be okay if you skip today."
"It's only my third day of school!"
"Do you want to go to school for two hours?"
"Actually." I jut out my chin. "I do."
"Hurry up, then." He glances at his watch. "It's 9:30, and it'll take about ten minutes to get there. You have ten minutes to get ready, or you aren't going. I have to go to work today."
Tate is a physician's assistant at the regional hospital the next town over, and it takes about a half hour to get there. He likes to be about a half hour early when he gets there so he can flirt with the female nurses..
I run to my room and throw open the closet door. I'm not satisfied until my eyes land on my Hollywood Undead shirt, and a plain grey hoodie. Tossing on my torso articles, I settle on my Dollhouse jeans and my Converse. My makeup is simple and I throw my hair up into a ponytail.
"Tate! Let's go!" I grab his keys off the table and a yogurt from the fridge.
After about a minute waiting by the door, he finally follows me out to the Jeep, going on about how unnecessary this is.
"Shut your mouth," I finally say nonchalantly, getting into the passenger side. "Why did you take Olivia to pre-school and not me to the high school?"
"You needed the sleep," he says simple and pulls out of the parking lot.
"Where did you sleep?" A lone string sticks out of the seam on my jeans, so I pull it out.
"Against the couch," he informs me as he takes a right.
My head automatically snaps towards him, "What?"
"Against the--"
"No," I hold up a hand slightly. "I heard what you said. Why?"
"You kept saying something about not wanting to be alone, so I stayed there."
"You didn't have to," I say quietly.
"Actually," Tate clears his throat as he pulls up to the school. "When I tried to go back to bed you grabbed my hand and begged for me to stay," a smirk is played on his lips.
A blush occupies my cheeks, so I open the door. "Thanks for the ride," I say quietly and shut the door behind me.
He honks once and drives away, leaving me to this enormous school.
What was I thinking? Just yesterday I didn't want to be here, and now I'm dieing to get back? What's the sudden change?
Was it... Was it what happened after school yesterday?
I shake the thought away quickly and make my way up to the front door.
"Why are you blushing?" A voice comes from behind me.
When I turn around, I see Stephanie stalking towards me in black heeled boots. Why was she jsut arriving?
"I'm not," I lie and open the door.
Oh, but she's tailing me like a hawk. "Yes, you are. I have eyes, stupid."
I shrug, trying to ditch her as we walk through the crowded commons.
"Why are you blushing?" She raises her voice. "'Cause if it's because of Jaeger, he doesn't like you."
"Oh?" I swing around, causing her to nearly run into me. "Did he tell you himself?"
Stephanie shrugs, "He doesn't like anybody. He's a player, and you're just his new game."
"Ha," I turn around and head towards the office. "Great story."
"You don't really think he likes you, do you?"
I stop, thinking. People brush past me, some going to get drinks, or go to the bathroom, I suppose. Of course he doesn't like me. Why would he? But... then again... Why did he dance with me? I didn't mean to dance with him.. Not like that.
He wasn't even supposed to be there! I should have known he was following me! I didn't even hear him come in! But... But why would he dance with me likethat? I don't even know what had come over me... It was like I was taking my anger out by dancing.
"Of course not," I mutter and slip into the office.
Ms. Hattie looks up from her computer, "Yes?"
I pick at the sleeve of my sweatshirt, "Um, yeah, could I have a late pass please?"
"Sign in first," she sighs. What, is she disappointed?
I look around the counter before finding a small battered clipboard with a sign-in sheet attached. The first sheet is filled out, I notice when I grab it, so I flip it up to only find the second one filled out too. The third one has one slot left, so I quickly scribble my name into it, the time on the clock, and my reason for being late.
After I set the clipboard down, Ms. Hattie asks me what class I'm going to.
"Um," I rack my brain, staring at the clock. The time is 9:57. Third period didn't start until around 10:30. "Anatomy."
Ms. Hattie scribbles on a pass slip and hands it to me.
As I walk out the door, Stephanie is waiting outside, shooting me daggers before going in to get a pass herself.
WELL, I think. I'm obviously her favorite person.
Slowly trudging to my locker, the thought of seeing Jaeger creeps into my mind. Butterflies suddenly settle themselves into my stomach, but suddenly they're all shot down by a Stephanie-bug inside of me.
Why should I be excited? All we did was dance. He didn't like me, Stephanie made that perfectly clear.
After walking upstairs and all the way to the other side of the school, I reach Mr. Deeds' room. Yeah, I know, my first thought was, "The rich dude is a teacher?" But no, this guy is clinically insane and old.
The door creeks wretchedly as I open it, causing the whole class to swing their heads over to me from their lab tables. A blush settles on my face as I hand Mr. Deeds my slip. He shoots daggers at me too, and fear arrives until he smiles and shoos me over to my lab partners' table.
Ironically, Warren and Jaeger are my partners, considering they both ran up to me and asked to be my partners while everyone else stared. Amy Pritchard look disappointed... Along with every other girl in the class.
I set my bag on the floor next to my assigned desk and quietly make my way over to Jaeger and Warren.
"Hey," Warren nudges Jaeger, and Jaeger snaps his head up to me.
"I knew you'd show up," he grins, holding out a pair of goggles to me.
"Thanks," I say quietly before slipping the goggles on. Right now everybody is in the process of dissecting snacks, but ours looks more like roadkill.
"What did you guys do to it?" I gape at the chopped up creature in front of me. Using the blunt side of the knife, I poke the body. "You completely massacred it," I accuse.
Warren and Jaeger slap palms, which makes a reallyloud clap, and everyone's staring at me again. Why me?! What did I do?!
"You guys, stop it," I shoot and look over the paper Warren'd slid over to me.
"You guys didn't even answer any of these."
Warren shrugs while Jaeger slides on the table next to me, nudging my side, "Where were you this morning?"
Should I tell him about last night/this morning? Nah, that can wait for another time.
"Slept in," I mutter while filling out the questions.
Jaeger smirks, "Not a great way to start school, kiddo."
"Shut up," I frown, but a small smile tugs the corners of my lips.
He chuckles, "What are you... What are you doing after school today?"
I look up to find him studying the paper, but when I look up, he does too. His piercing green eyes search mine, but I avert my gaze back to the paper, a blush settling on my cheeks.
"Not what I did yesterday, if you're wondering," I quietly inform.
A short pause, "Why not?" His voice is quiet and curious, not like the annoying, prying voice from yesterday.
"I--"
"What are you guys talking about?" Warren asks, suddenly across from me, totally butting into my personal space.
I back up, "Nothing."
Warren looks up at Jaeger for information, but Jaeger only shrugs. I sneak a grateful look at him when Warren looks away.
He smiles in return and whispers in my ear as he walks around me, "It's okay, it's our little secret."
I smile, nodding and whisper back as he pushes Warren further down the table, "Thanks."
He winks, leaning over the table on his elbows. Oh yes, I'm fully aware of how close we are, but I'm not sure if I care yet..
"So, later--"
The bell cuts him off, so I slide the snake away from me, unsure what to do with it.
Jaeger's right behind me as I pick up my bag and make my way to the door, "Later--"
"Rue!" Warren screams, so I turn around and duck right before a mauled snake hits me in the face.
I stand back up, looking from the snake to Warren several times, "What the hell?!"
Warren slaps me on the back, "You have better reflexes than I expected."
"You're an ass," I mutter.
Somebody grabs my hand, pulling me out the door. When I pull my bangs away from my face I find Jaeger attached to me, dragging me through the hallway.
"Jaeger," I pull my hand from his, stopping in the middle of the hallway. People shove past me, almost sending me to the floor.
But Jaeger catches me, smirking, "Come on." And he continues to drag me through the hallway to the Family Consumer Science room.
I dig my heels into the tile, pulling on his hand.
But he keeps tugging me, "You are so slow!"
Of course, me being me, I let go and laugh... Which only causes me to fall onto my butt. Right in front of Jaeger, the cute, dark, and sensitive boy. I instantly blush and stop laughing.
But he rolls his eyes, exaggerating, and pulls me up, smiling. "You know, for a dancer, I figured you'd have better body balance."
I stick my tongue out and enter the classroom just as the bell rings.
Jaeger follows me, chuckling, and I can't help but to do the same.
"Alright, guys," Mrs. Tague says, standing up. She's a little on the larger side, but she has a great attitude and doesn't constantly scold us. "Today we're going to be making fall sugar cookies."
Everybody cheers, but I sit, listening.
Mrs. Tague points over the the large counter where we all get our supplies, "Ingredients for the cookie dough and frosting are over there. You can also choose leaf-shaped cookie cutters, or use any of the others."
Jaeger turns around--he sits in front of me--and wiggles his eyebrows, a grin on his face, "Kitchen partners?"
"Aren't we already?" I joke and follow everybody else's example as they hop out of their chairs.
He playfully punches my arm, but not too hard, "Of course!"
Warren takes a while picking out cookie cutters, and he reminds me of a little kid with the frustrated look on his face.
After exchanging glances with Jaeger, we both burst out laughing, causing the other kitchens to murmur and gossip about us. For once, though, I could give a damn. I was enjoying myself.
"Rue," Jaeger stands to my right side while I pull the cookie cutters off the counter and pop the dough out onto a cookie sheet.
"Yeah?" I concentrate on fitting them on the sheet while making sure I have room for about six more.
"Look up."
"One sec," I postpone, kneading the dough again and flatting it for Warren.
"Rue!"
"What?" I swing in his direction only to get a spoonful of frosting on my face.
I stand there, my face all crunched up, eyes squeezed shut while the guys laugh. He did not.
I scoop some of it off with my finger and try it, "Tastes good, Jaeger." Then I scoop almost the rest of it off with my hand, "Wanna try some?"
But, of course Jaeger was too busy talking to Warren, so I took the chance and smeared frosting all over his face.
Jaeger gasps, while Warren starts laughing louder than he did before, pointing at Jaeger's face.
All of the other groups look too, and join Warren in laughter.
Jaeger, blinking, looks up at me, "Oh, you are so going to get it."
With a horrified look on my face, I almost scramble to get away from Jaeger. But, much to my dismay, he grabs me and presses his cheek to mine, smearing the frosting all over the right side of my face and into my hair.
Mrs. Tague walks over while Jaeger is busy covering my face with frosting and stands in front of us, "You guys, what are you doing?"
Jaeger stops, and I stop laughing, and we both look up at her. Suddenly, I'm very aware of his arms around me. He stands behind me, his arms wrapped carefully around my stomach.
"Uhh..." Is all I can say, obviously blushing like a mad woman.
"I was just trying to get her to try the frosting," Jaeger says confidently.
The teacher shakes her head and rubs her temples, "Just..." She sighs audibly. "Just go to the office. You both have a detention."
"For what?" Jaeger asks.
"For... For making a mess! I don't know," Mrs. Tague walks around the corner and drops into her chair.
Slowly, I notice, Jaeger lets go of me. Warren hands us both wet paper towels, and we quickly try to clean our faces before we trudge out the door.
"Thanks," I say sarcastically, lightly pushing Jaeger into a locker.
"If I'd known you wanted frosting on your face that badly, I would've done it sooner," he smirks, pink frosting still covering most of his face.
"Shut up," I push him again, but this time he grabs my arm to keep his balance. I quickly pull my arm from his grasp. "I meant thanks for the detention. Third day here and I get a freaking detention."
Jaeger grabs his chest, looking shocked, "Don't use that language with me, missy."
I roll my eyes and open the office door, "Of all colors, why did you pick pink?"
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