CHAPTER 2
The weeks after the lock-in was announced were very hectic. All the adults were planning for the lock-in and so were the teen couples. They were planning things like who was sleeping by whom and where in the room they were sleeping and how many times they were going to say “I Love You” in one night. To be honest it was making me nauseous. You see I’m not a mushy type of person. In fact I was the biggest 14 year old cynic that I know. It might have had something to do with the fact that I had never been in love before. Also possible was the fact that I have this weird hang-up about being left out. I didn’t have a boyfriend and I was sick of everyone rubbing it in my face. See I’m no dog before you even think it…I’m just a below average girl. And the guys at Abbotsville High didn’t seem too interested in me. Then again who am I to judge? I thought the same about most of them. Most of the guys at Abbotsville were immature, snobs or in some other way not my type. Then there were those exceptions but they weren’t interested in me. Oh, well no use crying over spilled milk I could still spend time dreaming about the foreign exchange student who would come and sweep me off of my feet. Before the lock-in everyone was in a frenzy including my friends. All of them were making plans about who was doing what and bringing what and sleeping
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Where. I tried to join in but I felt like an outsider among my friends sometimes and then was no exception. This brings me to the day of the lock-in. I feel like telling you from this point wouldn’t do justice to the story so
I think I need to dive back into my memories and show you that day of infamy for me.
CHAPTER 3
“Oh Crap! I’m late again!” I thought out loud as I hopped out of my mom’s car and scurried through the door into the high school hall. I was late for first block again. I guess I took too much time getting ready. But it was well worth it to me. I looked as hott as I possibly could. I was wearing my black fitted hoodie and a cool pair of jeans. My orange-red hair was perfectly straight for once and doing what I wanted it to. The make-up I was wearing was almost flawless and the mascara I was wearing made my bluish-green eyes stand out. As I typically do I was looking down at my feet while I scurried to Mrs. Cook’s office to get a tardy. The next thing I knew I was laying on my back on the ground! I was about to chew someone out until I looked up and saw the guy I had ran into.
He was holding out his hand to help me up and asking, “Are you ok?”
“I think so,” I replied as he helped me up.
As he did I looked over the guy that I had run into. Let’s just say the expression “easy on the eyes” doesn’t even begin to cover it. He had brownish-black hair, green eyes, and what appeared to be a killer body. From what I could tell he had washboard abs and amazing arms. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt
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(That’s how I knew about the abs) and a leather jacket over it. He looked like the kind of guy that’s a movie star or model, except for
One thing, he was sort of pale. Something else was weird about him. I didn’t know him! I knew almost everyone at Abbotsville
High and I would have definitely remembered him. He had this darkness about him. I’d just met him but I had this weird feeling about him. It was bad but yet it was kind of good. I knew I was going to be late for class but as I looked into those deep green mysterious eyes I just had to know more. Plus I noticed he was staring back at me. So what the hell, I knew I had a tardy anyway.
“Are you new here?” I asked.
“Yes, I am,” he replied.
After a moment of awkward silence I said, “My name’s Niki what’s yours?”
“Stefan,” He replied briskly.
“So what country are you from…I don’t recognize your accent?” I asked desperate for conversation.
“I’ve been raised in several countries in Europe,” He replied.
“WOW! So what are you doing in Mississippi?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“I moved here because of some family business,” He said distantly.
I noticed he didn’t say anything about his family and for some reason that set uneasy with me.
“So what business are your parents in?” I asked curiously.
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“It’s not my parents business. It’s mine. My parents are dead. I’m here because of their last request,” he replied even more distantly.
“I’m so sorry,” I said feeling stupid.
He said nothing.
I was really worried that I had offended him so I decided to make small talk.
“So have you gone and enrolled yet?”
“No as a matter of fact, will you show me where to enroll at?” He asked seeming to soften.
It was almost as if he had sensed my hurt.
“Sure, I have to go to the office anyway to get a tardy,” I replied, “just follow me.”
With that I walked towards the office and he followed behind me. All the intuition I had was sending me signals. Something bad was going to happen. As I walked through the hall I had a random thought about a killer at the lock-in. I shoved it aside and continued walking. Even though I shoved it aside it still scared me because random thoughts had been happening recently. Still I decided to brush off the morbid and try to have a good day.
“So how old are you?” I asked as we walked to the office.
“I’m sixteen,” he replied.
“So what grade does that put you in?” I asked him.
“9th .All the moving around I had to do put me behind,” he replied quickly.
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We walked the rest of the way in silence. As we got to the office I noticed Mrs. Down was on the phone as usual.
“Excuse me,” I said trying to get Mrs. Cook’s attention. It failed. All of a sudden Stefan knocked on the door.
“What?” Mrs. Cook asked annoyed.
“I need to register for my 1st day of school, and she’s late,” Stefan said sounding pissed off.
“Well you two step into my office and I’ll take care of you,” Mrs. Cook said calmer but still annoyed.
We followed her through the door that led to her office.
“Ok, I’ll take care of…”she began and looked at Stefan.
“Stefan,” Stefan replied calmly, “Stefan Delaney.”
“Right, I’ll take care of Mr. Delaney first. Niki you go outside to the waiting area,” Mrs. Cook said.
I walked to the waiting area. I sat there for about fifteen minutes (I know because I was staring at the clock. Then I heard a door shut and then I saw Stefan come out and he motioned for me to go in. I got up and walked in.
“Have a seat, Niki,” Mrs. Cook said motioning to the chair in front of her desk, “I’ll give you an excuse if you show Stefan around today. He has all the same classes that you do so just let him tag along.”
She then wrote the excuse and motioned for me to leave. I then headed to where Stefan was waiting.
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“So you’re my escort?” Stefan asked in a tone that I couldn’t read.
“I guess,” I replied, “Follow me, you’re first class is English.”
I said this as I began to walk. When I got to class the teacher sent me a look that said I was fixing to get chewed out.
CHAPTER 4
So I handed her the note from Mrs. Cook then with a look a child gives an adult when they know they are beat and there is nothing they can do about it said, “ Miss Cannon go to your seat….and Mr. Delaney you sit behind her. Class is quiet while I go to get Mr. Delaney his books.”
The second the English teacher left the room all of us started talking.
“You are Niki Cannon right?” He asked me.
“Yes,” I replied.
“You are being short with me, have I offended you?” he asked.
“Is that supposed to be a short joke?” I said sarcastically.
I am short before you think it. I’m fourteen and I’m 4’9.
“No, it’s not,” Stefan said seeming genuinely concerned.
“ Well, I didn’t think you wanted to talk since you haven’t said much that isn’t necessary to me,” I replied, “ I thought I might have offended you.”
“No you haven’t offended me. You’ve been nothing but kind. I just have a lot on my mind. Oh yeah, before you say it you don’t get on my nerves either,” he replied.
I was fixing to reply when the skinny brunette on my right interrupted.
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“Hi! I’m Amelia and I was wondering if you wanted to show you around the school.”
“No thank you, Niki is going to show me around,” Stefan said politely.
“Just because the office assigns someone to show you around doesn’t mean you have to stick with that person,” Amelia said smugly.
“I’m not stuck with Niki, I want her to show me around. I’m happy with her,” Stefan replied.
“You couldn’t possibly be happy with…. I mean I could show you around to some of the groups that are here,” Amelia said.
“ Thanks but no thanks, I’m happy with Niki. She’s going to show me around and introduce me to people, and that’s final!” Stefan said obviously annoyed by Emily.
I couldn’t help but smile. Amelia couldn’t stand to be beaten at anything especially by me. So the fact that Stefan was paying more attention to me than to her was driving her crazy. Well that’s just Amelia for you; a self absorbed prep who thinks that everyone likes her and that every guy she meets wants to date her. At that I decided to walk to the other end of the room to talk to Justine. I motioned for Stefan to follow me.
“Hey Justine,” I said as I walked to meet her.
“Hey Niki, hey whoever you are following Niki,” Justine said as she saw me coming up.
“Hey Justine this is Stefan, Stefan this is Justine,” I said.
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“ Welcome to Abbotsville so how do you like it so far?” Justine asked.
“As long as people aren’t like that girl Amelia I think its ok.” Stefan replied.
“Well, Amelia can be a little over confident sometimes,” Justine said.
I couldn’t help but laugh and then I said, “A little, Justine! She is a hypocritical, lying snob!”
“She’s not that bad,” Justine said.
I coughed.
“Ok, maybe she is, but she’s something else too…” Justine began.
“You’re right. She’s a huge flirt that always has to be the center of attention,” I said quickly.
“She’s more than that! She’s our friend!” Justine finished.
“ Speak for yourself,” I said stubbornly. I delivered the words calmly and coolly as I could.
Before Justine could criticize me the bell had rang and it was time to go to break. (For those of you who don’t know what break are, it’s like recess except here we don’t get playground equipment and a lot of time. All we get is a parking lot and a school store where we can buy some overpriced food and hang out with our friends.) I explained this to Stefan as we walked out of the room.
Chapter 5
As I walked out the door I saw the face I had been waiting to see all-day(before I met Stefan) one of my best friends, Joey. We had been raised together
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from the time we were babies, because our moms were such good friends. He was a few years older than me. In fact, he was 17. He had brown hair, he was 6 feet tall. He was really into cars and when we were little I would go to his house and we would use his Connects to make little drag cars.
“Hey Joey!” I said almost forgetting Stefan was behind me.
“Hey Niki!” Joey said opening his arms to give me a hug, which I gladly gave.
“ Is this your boyfriend?” Stefan whispered quietly to me after I had finished the hug.
“ No,” I whispered back, “he’s just a really good friend. … Stefan this is Joey… Joey this is Stefan.”
I wasn’t at all bothered by the question because I’d been asked that a lot. It happened a lot since me and Joey were so close and some people just can’t believe that guys and girls can really just be friends.
“Hi! I haven’t seen you before, are you new?” Joey asked Stefan.
“Yes, I am. How do you do?” Stefan replied.
“So you got Niki here showing you around do you?” Joey said.
“Yes,” Stefan replied.
“Well you are in good company,” Joey said.
“I think so too,” Stefan replied.
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I think I might have blushed a little bit there. As I said earlier, I’m no dog, but I’m also not the kind of girl that a hot foreign guys compliment and like to hang around. And choose me over Amelia.
“As much as I love to hear people compliment me, you’re embarrassing me…I’m kind of hungry, so Stefan if you don’t mind would you like to go to the school store?” I said.
“Sure,” Stefan replied.
“What about you, Joey do you wanna come ?” I asked.
“Why not,” he replied.
So we walked out of the hall-way to the parking lit where we got our meager 15 minute break. I walked to the store with both guys trailing behind me.
“Hey Niki!” A voice yelled from in front of me.
“Hey Jessi!” I replied when I realized who it was.
Joey was one of my best guy friends, but Jessi was without a doubt my best girl friend. Then again we’ve been friends since we were three.
“Aren’t you just the little pimp,” Jessi laughed, “You have two guys following you around like puppies…who do you do it?”
“Just gifted I guess,” I laughed, “Just kidding! Jessi this is Stefan…Stefan this is Jessi, one of my best friends,” I replied.
“Jessi, can you hurry up all-ready. I would like to get out of here before I’m fifty,” Jessi’s boyfriend Forest yelled to her.
“Coming!” She replied heading towards him, “ see you in a minute Niki.”
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I went to the freezers to pull out a bottle of water ( I only drink water because I read in an article that said soda will make you bloat and the carbonation will expand your stomach. You may think it’s bull, but I tried it and it worked. Thank you Seventeen Magazine!)
Anyway, after I grabbed the bottle of water I grabbed a Reeses cup when all of a sudden I felt someone grab my shoulders. I looked behind me to see who it was. No surprise it was Mason.
“Little Niki!” He said.
“Shut up Mason!” I replied.
“awww you know you know you know you want me,” He said.
“In your dreams!” I said.
“That’s right, in my dreams,” He replied.
With that I walked up to the people taking money and started to pay when all of a sudden Stefan slaps down his money.
“I’ll get it,” He said.
I had never had anyone offer to buy my food for me so I didn’t know if I should say yes or no or what I should do.
“Are you sure?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said.
He paid for my stuff and we left the store.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Your welcome,” Stefan replied.
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As we approached the place where my friends hung out I noticed a girl with brown hair and blonde high-lights being bullied by 2 cheerleaders.
“Nose Picker!” They teased.
“Am not,” She cried.
I approached the area as they began shoving her.
“Leave her alone!” I said sternly coming between them and her.
They backed off.
“Are you ok Donna,” I asked her.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You didn’t have to do that,” She said.
“I know, but they had no right to do that to you,” I replied.
I then turned to walk to my friends. Donna was a quiet girl who always stood outside the groups. She never said much so I didn’t know much about her. I walked on, as Stefan followed me. Finally, I got to the area my friends hung out at.
I looked around. Joey had just gotten there; Wyatt was there without his girlfriend Morgan, which meant she was probably in the store. Justine and Brice were cuddled together trying to stay warm on the chilly day. Jessi and Dustin were doing the same thing. Mason was just arriving.
Let me take some time here to describe some of my friends. Jessi has long black hair and brown eyes. She had a dark tan and a nice figure. Justine is about six feet tall, skinny, and muscular with brown hair and blue eyes. Brice was average height, black hair, glasses, and pale skin and skinny, I mean the boy can eat and never gain weight. I was so jealous. Mason had blonde hair, blue eyes, average
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height, muscular body, and glasses sometimes. Wyatt had black hair, brown eyes, tall, and pale skin.
“Hello Motto!” Wyatt said as I came up.
“It’s Niki! Brice said.
“Its cupcake!” a boy named Nick Williams said.
“Cupcake?” Stefan asked puzzled.
“Long story, but I’ll try to make it short. One day we were at lunch and Crawford was being his usual a-hole self, when he decided to tell us which career we were going to be when we were adults. Someone was a man-hoe, Wyatt was a scientist, and someone else was a male stripper. Then he came to me. He said I would be the stripper that comes out of a cupcake,” I explained.
“Ok,” Stefan replied.
I stood silent for a moment taking in my surroundings. I took a look over at Stefan and for the first time I noticed the ring on his finger. It was unusual to say the least. I mean first off, guys don’t wear rings besides sports and class rings. Second off, I had never seen anything like it. I was standing really close to Stefan so I had a good look at the ring. This ring had a stone I had never seen before. It was the color of my eyes. However, inside the stone was another stone. It was the color red, not a ruby but it was the color of fire itself. It simply took my breath away. At that moment I noticed that Stefan had noticed me staring at the ring. He pulled his hand back away from me. I felt the pang of disappoint. Also I felt the pure anguishing feeling of embarrassment from being caught.
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“ I like you ring,” I said loudly enough for only him to hear.
“Thank you,” he said just as quietly.
Then all of a sudden I see Morgan was coming up. I also noticed at the same time that Amelia was hanging all over Wyatt. Then Morgan came up and took one look at Amelia and pulled her away from Wyatt.
“What are you doing?” Morgan shouted at Amelia.
“Nothing," Amelia yelled back.
“Funny it looked like you were hanging all over my boyfriend,” Morgan replied.
“Well then maybe you should get your eyes checked!” Amelia shouted.
With that Morgan bitch slapped Amelia.
“Hey!” Amelia wined like a baby.
“Next time I’ll do better,” Morgan promised.
Amelia then walked up to Brice and Justine looking for some sympathy.
“She slapped me!” Amelia said.
“and your point is? You deserved it!” Justine said.
Amelia then went wining over to Brice and gave him a pleading look.
“Don’t look at me, you brought it on yourself,” Brice said unsympathetically, “you got served!”
She then shot a pleading look at Wyatt.
“You know what I think,” Wyatt said.
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Amelia then looked over in my direction where Stefan and Joey were standing by me. Jessi and Dustin were behind us.
Amelia then walked over in our direction.
“ Don’t look at me Emily, you know I would’ve done the same thing,” I said.
“NO ONE ASKED YOU!” Amelia snapped then turned her gaze to Joey.
“Don’t look at me I agree with Niki,” Joey said certainly.
Amelia gave a cross look then put on a cunning smile and walked over to Stefan. She put her arm around him and then said sweetly to him, “ What do you think Stefan?”
Amelia asked hoping to get some sympathy from the new guy who didn't know here and who she obviously thought was hott. She was hoping that she could throw on some sex appeal and convince him to give her some sympathy and hopefully get him to like her. Too bad for her, her scheme wasn't working.
“ It isn’t my place to say. I'm new here,” Stefan said removing her arm from around him.
“Come on Stefan you can say it,” Amelia said obviously thinking she still had a chance.
“I agree with Niki. I think she was right to slap you, you were flirting with her boyfriend,” Stefan said matter-of-factly.
“What about you Jessi?” Amelia asked desperate for some support.
“I agree with everyone else,” Jessi said.
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“I agree too!” said Dustin.
“Mason, what about you?” Amelia tried one last time.
Until then I didn’t even realize that Mason was standing by me too.
“Sorry Morgan, but I agree with them,” Mason said.
Everyone could tell Amelia was disappointed because of the look on her face.
Then for the first time Morgan spoke up, “You shouldn’t have done that. I thought we were friends. I knew you had your flaws but I didn’t think you could stoop this low. I mean if you wanted him you shouldn’t have broke up with him. I think the only reason you’re flirting with him now is because you know you can’t have him. And what about your boyfriend Charles?”
“What about him?” Charles asked. No one had noticed him come up.
“Charles…uh…eh…hey…,” Amelia stuttered nervously.
“What’s going on?” Charles asked.
“Nothing,” Amelia said innocently as she could.
“Nothing except she’s flirting with her ex boyfriend Wyatt,” someone said.
“Flirting with her ex Wyatt,” someone said.
“Is that true Emily?” Charles asked.
“Of course not,” Amelia lied.
“Liar!” Brice said through a fake cough.
“That’s not all she was flirting with the new guy Stefan too!” Wyatt chimed in.
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“I’ve had it Emily! Ever since we’ve started going out you’ve been flirting with other guys. Practically every guy except me! There are other girls who like me and I’m going to ask one of them out! I’m through with you Emily!” Charles said angrily.
“But Charles,” Amelia pleaded.
“ Don’t even try to act like you care about me now! I’m going to go out with someone who cares about me as much as I care about them!…Goodbye!” Charles said storming off.
Amelia then looked at Stefan, “well I’m single now…do you wanna go out next Friday?”
“No thank you,” Stefan replied.
“ What about you Joey?” Amelia asked seeming almost desperate for some male attention.
“Sorry, no thank you,” Joey said politely.
“Fine!” Amelia said angrily and then walked away.
As she walked away I noticed Shane Kelly walking up.
Brice did too.
“Shane!” Brice said as he ran up and tackled him.
“Oww,” Shane said.
The rest of us were rolling with laughter. Then I heard the sound I dreaded most…the bell. I knew I had to go to Family Dynamics. I knew I would be the only
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one in there that I could stand. None of my friends were in there. Then I looked up and I saw Stefan. I remembered he had the same classes I had.
“You have Family Dynamics with me next right?” I asked him just to make sure.
“Yes I do,” he said looking at his schedule.
“I’m so happy I could hug you!” I said happily.
He gave me a look I couldn’t decipher. I don’t think he even knew what he had done to make me so happy.
“None of my friends are in there with me so I was all-alone and felt lonely,” I said to explain myself.
Even though I wouldn’t have minded if he had hugged me.
“Well I’m glad I could help,” he replied.
“Its my little leprechaun!” someone said giving me a tight hug.
“Dakota!” I said turning around to except the hug.
“Who’s that?” She asked me looking at Stefan.
“That’s my new friend Stefan…Stefan this is my friend Dakota.” I introduced them.
“Hi!” Dakota said.
“Hello,” Stefan said.
“Sorry we have to go, we’re going to be late to class,” I said to Dakota.
“Ok, bye!” Dakota said.
“Bye,” I said walking off.
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We then walked to family dynamics. I think all the girls in the room turned their heads to look at him as we entered the room. I walked to my usual table and sat down. He sat down in the seat closest to me. The other girls at the table with us were completely drooling over Stefan. Then again, what can I say, I was drooling too!
Mrs.Hellbee gave us the assignment we had been anticipating all semester…raising an egg. We blew the yolk out and then decorated it in the style of a baby. It was fun making the baby and hanging out with Stefan. Before I knew it the hour and thirty minute class was over! I looked at Stefan who was pulling out his class schedule. I saw he had my next class too!
“So, do you want to walk with me to our next class?” I asked him.
“It would be my pleasure,” he said in that wonderful mature foreign accent.
CHAPTER 6
Then we walked into the overly crowded hall. The second we stepped out the door all the preps were all over Stefan. That didn’t surprise me. I knew the second they saw a guy they wanted they didn’t stop until they got him. Most of the time the guy couldn’t resist and didn’t want to. I knew any minute he would ditch me and go hang out with them. He was too good to hang out with me anyway. Then the most amazing thing happened. He didn’t ditch me!
“Will you eat lunch with us,” The preppy girls asked him.
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“Sorry but I all-ready have a place to eat lunch,” Stefan replied and then leaned over to me, “ May I sit with you?”
All the preps gasped that he was asking me.
“ Sure,” I said trying not to sound too happy.
“What! You’d rather eat lunch with her than with us!” One of the preps said.
“Sorry but I would be more comfortable with Niki,” He said calmly, “ You see I met her this morning and I think that we have a lot in common and I think it would be really fun to sit with her because I like her a lot. It was a pleasure meeting you but I would hate to be late for my next class. Niki, will you show me the way?” Stefan said in a mature polite way that I could tell was forced.
Then still running on auto-pilot from the big shock I began to walk to class.
“WAIT!” one of the most popular preps said running and grabbing Stefan’s arm, “You can’t do that to us!”
“ I can, I will, and I am now goodbye!” Stefan said shortly.
Then he began to walk and so did I. After we got out of earshot I couldn’t resist the urge to ask him something.
“Did you mean what you said about me?” I asked him.
“Of course,” He said.
“I can’t believe you didn’t ditch me to go with the preps. I mean no guy in the history of Abbotsville has been able to resist them,” I said in shock.
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“Well, they’re not my type,” Stefan said looking me in the eyes.
We finally got to Technology Discovery and I saw it was going to be very interesting. Amelia, Justine, Brice, Shane, Mason, Wyatt, Morgan, Jessi, Joey, Crawford, and my least favorite person in the world….Lisa Banner. Lisa is and probably always will be my least favorite person on the face of the Earth. I believe she is the creature from hell. Then again I’d be insulting hair if I did that. The previous year she stole about one hundred and fifty dollars, pictures and a bunch of other things from me. She had lived with me and she hadn’t even been there a week when she started causing trouble. She was living with us because she didn’t get along with her mom and my mom and her dad were and is currently living together. However, you couldn’t tell any of this by looking at her. Blonde hair, blue eyes, average height, skinny and very pretty. You’re all American girl. By looking at her you could never tell that she was a thief and a teen mom.
As Stefan and I walked through the door I couldn’t help but notice her throwing a jealous look my way. The kind of look that said go to hell you lucky little (you know what I’m not going to say she called me)
I kept thinking to myself; What is she doing here? I could feel the anger rising in me. No matter how hard I tried to stop it kept coming up.
“What has she done to make you so mad?” Stefan asked jerking me out of my thoughts.
“How did you know she made me mad?” I asked in disbelief.
Some of my friends couldn’t even tell when I was mad.
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“You just look upset,” Stefan said in his smooth sounding accent this time sounding almost uncertain.
At that time Joey was coming in. He saw the direction of my gaze and followed it. He walked briskly to my side.
“What is she doing here?” he said angrily and then looked at me showing genuine concern, “are you ok?”
He then put his arm around me to comfort me.
“I’m fine,” I said aware my voice sounded terribly tight and controlled, which it was.
“You’re lying,” Joey said but he said nothing else since other people were gathering in the room.
I noticed Wyatt, Mason, and Jessi were coming in. They saw what Joey had seen. Jessi rushed to me and gave me a hug before I knew what was going on.
“Are you ok,” Jessi whispered.
“I think so,” I said trying to convince myself as much as her it was true.
Then it seemed to be Wyatt’s turn. He walked up and asked the same thing Jessi asked. I told him the same thing. He patted me on the back and walked over to where the desks were and grabbed his usual seat. Mason came up behind me and got me in a headlock/hug. While he was doing that he asked, “ Are you ok little Niki?”
Having all I could take of this sympathy I snapped, “ I’m FINE! What is with you people!” Then realizing what I had done I added, “I’m sorry Mason.”
“It’s ok,” he replied and then walked to his seat.
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Morgan walked in followed by Crawford and Brice. Crawford came up and slapped me upside the head. I kicked him in the shin. Brice came up and asked if I was ok and I told him I was. , then came Amelia. , and Justine. They were walking side by side, talking and laughing. I felt the bitter pang of being left out like a knife in the chest. Then I felt Stefan’s arm around my shoulder. I felt shocked and I guess I gave him a weird look because he seemed to sense my astonishment.
“ I thought this is what you people do around here?” Stefan said.
I couldn’t help but smile and say, “It is….I’m just surprised you did it.”
“Ok,” He said keeping the arm around my shoulder which oddly enough made me feel better, “ So where do I sit?”
“ You could sit by me if you want,” I replied.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.
He removed his arm and I walked to where the desks were and looked for two seats. I finally found them. The only problem is that they were right behind Lisa! Reluctantly I took my seat and Stefan followed me. All of a sudden I heard this noise. I looked up and saw two football players locking our Technology Discovery teacher Mr. Guyton in the closet! I looked around. I saw Stefan to my right. I saw Wyatt and Morgan. behind me. I saw Joey on my left looking at me as if trying to determine if I was ok. I saw Justine and Amelia. in the back of the room on the right side of the room. I saw Brice sitting by Justine. I saw Jessi on the second
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row to my left. I saw Mason on the backside of the room on the left side. Shane was in the middle of the room. Crawford was in the middle row on my right side. Lisa was of course right in front of me.
This is going to be a long day, I thought to myself.
It was about that time that the class seemed to notice that Mr. Guyton was locked in the closet. Everyone was getting up and moving around. Some of the football boys were tossing around a football. The preppy girls were adjusting their make-up and no doubt coming up with the latest gossip they were going to spread around. A couple of people were playing on the computers. Some other people were listening to their cds. I was about to get up and talk to people when Lisa got out of her seat too! She blocked my way. I tried to get around her and she just moved again.
“Will you please move?” I asked her as nicely as I could.
“NO!” Lisa said rudely.
“What’s your problem?” I asked her.
“ You ruined my life you little bitch!” She yelled.
Everybody had stopped what they were doing and were looking at me and Lisa.
“No I didn’t!” I said trying not to yell.
“Because of you everyone thinks I’m a no good common criminal, and you get to live the perfect little life and I get no breaks!” Lisa wined.
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I was so mad I could hit her and I was going to but I had promised myself I wouldn’t give her something to complain about unless she hit me first.
“ First off you ARE a criminal. You stole MY money using My ATM card. That’s identity theft incase you didn’t know, and identity theft is a felony in Mississippi. Second off I work my butt off for the money I get, and you know good and well my life is no where near perfect….and by the way you ruined your own life!” I replied angrily.
We stood there a second staring each other down. The whole room was quiet waiting on our next move. I was standing my ground and not moving as the taller girl glared at me.
Finally, Lisa broke the tension by slapping me hard across my face. Not hard enough though because I quickly rebounded and I had her on the ground hammering into her with hard right hooks. Then she got on top and was getting a couple of punches in before Justine, Wyatt, Joey, Jessi, Brice, and even Stefan were pulling her off of me and holding her back. Brice, Justine, and Jessi were holding Lisa back. Wyatt, Joey, and Stefan were holding me. I wasn’t going to let her win under any condition. So I summoned all my strength and tried to break away from the guy’s strong grip.
Then somehow, I got loose. Somehow in the back of my head I knew that by the laws of nature I shouldn’t have been able to do that. Three strong guys were holding 115 pound 4’9 me and I got loose!
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However, at the time I didn’t think about that. All I could think about was getting back in the fight with Lisa. I rushed Lisa. I jerked her away from the arms of my friends and dragged her into the center of the circle of on looker and started hitting her again with my right hooks. This time I noticed Mason running down the stairs to the fight. Then Jessi and Brice started kicking her.
I let this go on for a minute and then I said, “ thanks for the help but I want a fair fight.” Jessi and Brice backed up. Then Lisa used my momentary distraction to gain control. She pinned me almost effortlessly and then began to hammer into me the way I had into her.
She went for my face and then into my stomach. I was gasping for air and then she started choking me. Then somehow I reached my arms up and then pulled her hands away from my throat. I then shifted my weight and got on top. I finally got a couple of swings in on her. I still believed in fighting fair. So I stuck to good face blows and nothing else. After a while I could feel all the anger I felt over the past year flowing slowly out of my system. I slowly let up on my swings. It was then she pulled a glass Dr. Pepper bottle out of her backpack that was by her head and before I could react she had hit me over the head with it.
I felt the pain on impact. I still kept fighting, swinging wildly now trying to get a blow in. Now she was blocking well and getting some damaging blows in. The fight had become even. Then I vaguely felt Stefan’s arms trying to pull me off of Lisa. He had me standing. I then became aware of Joey, Mason, and Wyatt holding me with Stefan. I saw Jessi at my side trying to determine if I was ok. I saw Justine,
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Brice and Morgan trying to hold Lisa back. I was feeling kind of dizzy but I was determined to fight it. Even though I was weak I instinctively tried to lunge at Lisa but I couldn’t move. I was weaker than before and I was being held back by more guys. Then I didn’t care anymore. All I wanted to do was sit down. But I still kind of wanted to finish the fight.
I vaguely heard Stefan telling me to relax and calm down. I saw Jessi walk over to where Lisa was.
“You Bitch!” Jessi said punching her in the stomach.
Mason let go of me and quickly walked to where Jessi was and pulled her back.
He then said, “ She’s right, and if you were a man I’d do exactly what Jessi did! You hurt little Niki!”
Wyatt and Joey were asking me if I was ok.
“Someone get a first aid kit!” Joey was yelling.
I then saw Amelia. scurry off to get one.
“I’m fine,” I told Joey.
“NO your not,” Joey, Wyatt, and Stefan had said at once.
Brice had walked over to where Justine, Mason and Jessi they threw Lisa in the audio visual room.
Wyatt had gone to see Morgan. Joey ran to get the first aid kit from Amelia. Stefan loosened his grip.
“I want to go to sleep,” I said to Stefan.
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“Let me get something for you to rest your head on and then you can go to sleep,” he said.
“Ok,” I said weakly.
The room began to spin. I saw the outline of Joey with the first aid kit putting something on my cuts. I then couldn’t fight anymore. I felt my knees buckle and then I fell into Stefan's arms unconscious.
When I woke up I saw Joey on one side holding my hand on the other side I saw Jessi holding my hand. Stefan was sitting with by my head.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Thank GOD you’re ok!” Joey exclaimed.
“Amen to that!” Jessi said hugging my neck.
“If you pull a stunt like that again I’m going to kick your ass,” Justine said.
“I thought you were a goner,” Mason said.
“I didn’t think you were going to die, you’re too stubborn,” Brice said.
“You had us worried,” Stefan said.
“Yeah,” Wyatt said.
“So what happened?” I asked again.
“ You and Lisa got into a fight,” Joey began.
“And she hit you upside the head with a bottle,” Jessi finished.
“You lost a lot of blood,” Stefan said.
“You’re lucky to be here,” Wyatt said.
“Well thanks for being here,” I said.
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Then I heard the bell ring.
“But now it’s time for lunch,” I said trying to get up.
“You’re not going anywhere but to the nurses office!” said the nurse coming into the room.
The preps left the room to go to lunch.
“ Come on Nurse Julie, I feel fine,” I pleaded.
“Just let me check you out,” She said.
“Fine,” I said.
“You have some good friends here. They did the right thing.” She said as she helped me stand.
She then checked my pulse, blood pressure, heart rate, blood pressure, and various things like that. She then put some more stuff on my cut that made me flinch. She then wrapped it up.
“I guess you’re ok. Just drink plenty of fluids and if you start feeling bad go to a doctor or if you’re at school come to my office. Your friends told me how that girl attacked you unprovoked….do you want to file charges?” The nurse asked.
“No I don’t…can I go now?” I asked.
“Sure. Have a nice day,” Then she left the room. Stefan and Joey helped me up.
“Let’s pick her up and carry her,” said Mason.
“What?” I said.
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“Sure why not?” Wyatt said.
Before I could say anything else they had picked me up! Mason got one leg and Brice got another. Joey and Wyatt got my sides. Then they proceeded to carry me out of the classroom and to the cafeteria.
“ I am so heavy it takes all of you to carry me?” I tried to joke.
“No, but we all have nothing better to do than to torment you so we all decided to carry you,” Mason said.
“Ha Ha Ha ,” I said sarcastically.
CHAPTER 7
Soon we got to the lunch room and the guys sat me down at our usual table.
“What do you want… They’re serving crap, crap, or more crap?” Joey asked.
“ Whatever you pick out and a bottle of water, “ I said.
The guys then got up and waited in the long lunch line with everyone else.
“You’re not going to get any food?” I asked Stefan noticing he was beside me and not off to get food.
“I’m not hungry, “ he said, “ besides someone has to stay with you in case you pass out again.”
“Stefan…eh….uh…. it’s not normally like this here. What I mean to say is…” I began to tell Stefan how badly I felt about loosing my temper.
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“You don’t lose you temper often,” Stefan interrupted, “ You shouldn’t feel bad because she did start the fight. She didn’t fight fair. She hurt you badly…and don’t feel bad for fainting either it’s not a sign of weakness.”
“Thanks for trying to make me feel better but I still could’ve been the bigger person and turned the cheek,” I replied.
He put his arm around my shoulder.
“ Niki,” He said looking into my eyes with deep emotion, “ there’s something I have to tell you about the reason I came to Abbotsville. I came to….”
“Foods here,” said Joey sitting on the other side of me. Stefan quickly removed his arm. Wyatt sat down on the other side of the table. Then everyone started coming in. Brice sat on one side of Wyatt while Morgan. sat on the other side. Justine sat on the other side of Brice and Amelia. on the other side of her. Mason sat by Amelia. too. Jessi sat by Joey and Dustin by Jessi.
I gave my pizza to Brice who always ate pizza. I hadn’t had much of an appetite in the previous months and today was no exception. I ate a couple of French fries before I handed them off to Justine. I noticed Stefan was watching. The usual chatter went on as I pondered why Stefan came to Abbotsville and why he looked worried when I didn’t eat.
Before I knew it the bell had rang and lunch was over. I took one last swig of my water and then asked Stefan what he had next. He said he had chorus. So we walked up to the band hall where the Chorus room was. The whole way he stayed close to me as if he was afraid I was going to pass out. When we got to the band
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hall the first thing I did was go to the bathroom to see how bad my cut was. When I looked into the mirror I couldn’t help but wince.
When I came out I saw Stefan patiently waiting.
“The chorus room is over here,” I said pointing to the chorus room.
“Thank you,” Stefan replied.
“You’re welcome,” I replied, “You’ll need to have your schedule out to show Mrs. Mansing so she’ll let you stay.
“Ok,” I replied.
I started walking into the Chorus Room where there was tons of chaos. People were running around everywhere. Rock music was playing and people were having a good time. That could only mean one thing….Mrs. Mansing wasn’t there!
“Mrs. Mansing isn’t here!” Brice said picking me up.
“I figured, who do we have as a sub?” I asked.
C HAPTER 7 LOCKED IN PAGE 38 “That’s the best part!….there is no sub!” Wyatt exclaimed happily.
Crawford jumped on my shoulders.
Mason came up behind me and gave me a big too tight hug and said, “Mrs. Mansing isn’t here, Mrs. Mansing isn’t here, Mrs. Mansing isn’t here.”
“I know, I’m happy too, but can you let go of me I’m having trouble breathing,” I gasped.
“NO!” he said as he let me go.
“Thanks,” I said.
“You’re not welcome,” Mason joked.
I saw one person who wasn’t having any fun, Donna. I felt bad for the girl. So I decided to say hi to her, but I wasn’t going to ditch Stefan if he didn’t want to be ditched.
“ Stefan do you want to go meet Donna?” I asked.
“Sure,” He said.
“This has been the weirdest day. I mean Lisa showing up in one of my classes; Mr. Guyton getting locked in a closet; Mrs. Mansing not being here, and me of all people being picked to show you around; not getting a tardy when I was late and you being in all my classes; plus I had the weirdest dream last night that has been exactly like today,” I said to myself and to Stefan as we walked over to where Donna was.
“Weird things happen,” He said almost distantly.
“Yup,” I said to Stefan as we arrived at where Donna was.
CHAPTER 7 LOCKED IN PAGE 39 “Hi!” I said cheerfully to Donna.
“Hello,” She said in a not rude but not nice voice.
“ I just thought that I’d introduce you to Stefan. Stefan this is Donna. Donna this is Stefan,” I said.
At that moment I had this horrible feeling. I couldn’t explain I just knew it. There was something about Donna that was just sending chills up my spine.
“ It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Stefan said in a forced polite tone.
“Like wise, I'm sure,” Donna said in a cold bitter tone.
The tension that flowed between the two felt like a strong, artic, wind, on a bitterly cold winter day.
I wondered why they hated each other so much when they didn’t even know each other, did they? I couldn’t stand the tension or the horrible feeling I was having. I had to break this tension.
“Stefan will you come take a walk with me?” I said in an attempt to break the tension.
“Sure,” He said sounding relieved to get away from Donna but a little bitter as if to show her it wasn’t over.
Stefan and I turned and walked away from Donna. I decided that maybe I really did want to take a walk. It might be good to get rid of the bad feeling I had.
I walked to the door. Stefan followed and we walked outside. It felt good to be outside even if I had no idea where I was going.
“Niki, I really need to tell you what I tried to tell you earlier,” Stefan said in a voice filled with stress.
“Go ahead,” I replied.
“ Like I said earlier it’s about the reason I came to Abbotsville. I came to find….”He continued.
“Hi Niki!” Collin replied.
“Hi Collin!” I replied a tiny bit annoyed that Stefan was interrupted yet again. I really wanted to know why he came and why he just had to tell me, “ So what were you going to say Stefan?”
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“Nothing, I’d rather wait anyway,” He said seeming strangely relieved that we were interrupted again.
“ So are you coming to the lock-in tonight?” I asked changing the subject.
“Who are you asking? Him or me?” Collin asked.
“Both of you,” I replied, “By the way Collin this is Stefan. Stefan this is Collin.”
“Nice to meet you,” Collin said pleasantly and then holding out a hand for Stefan to shake.
Stefan shook it and said, “ like-wise.”
The tension had left his voice and I for one was glad.
“So what about the lock-in?” I asked trying to keep the mood loose.
“What lock-in?” Stefan asked.
“Pretty much every teen went rolling yards and a bunch of other stuff last year. So the adults decided we need to be supervised. So they decided to have a lock-in. Its co-ed, chaperoned, and in the most secure building in town, and we all have to go,” Collin explained to Stefan.
“ I’ll be there,” Stefan said quickly.
“You probably don’t have to go if you don’t want to. Since you just got here and all,” I said so he didn’t feel like he was being forced to go.
“That’s ok, I’ll go….unless you don’t want me too…” Stefan replied uncertainly.
“Of course I want you to go,” I said trying to reassure him.
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“You need to bring pajamas and a sleeping bag,” Collin said.
“Thanks for telling me,” Stefan replied.
“You ready to go in?” I asked.
“Sure,” Stefan replied.
“What class do you have right now?” I asked Collin.
“Band, can I walk with you?” Collin asked.
I looked at Stefan who nodded.
Stefan, Collin, and I walked back to the Chorus room. When I got there Mason’s older brother noticed me and gave me a hug. Then Sean followed suit.
“Anyone want to play magic?” I heard a voice ask.
Instantly Brice, Wyatt, Joey, Charles, Crawford, Shane, and Mason were moving towards the voice. The guys LOVED Magic. They would ditch their girlfriends if there was a good game going on. Magic wasn’t just a game to some of them, it was a way of life. You traded cards, bought cards, sold cards, made decks, re-did decks, and came up with a new strategy. It was a constant cycle.
I like to watch the guys play magic. (very few girls I knew played magic.) I knew how to play (kind of sort of but not really.) but I didn’t like too and it was fun just to watch the guys get really into it. I also liked looking at the cards.
As the guys walked to go play magic I decided to do what I usually do when the play, go watch.
“Stefan do you want to go watch them play Magic?” I asked.
“Sure, why not,” Stefan replied.
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We watched the Magic game until the bell rang for us to go home. I started realizing that I was developing a tiny crush on Stefan. So I knew I had to try to get a hug or something out of him before we left.
He was standing beside me as the bell rang.
“We can go home now,” I said to Stefan.
“Ok,” he said.
“ Are you riding the bus?” I asked as people filed out around me.
“No, I’m driving home,” he replied.
“Oh well, I have to go to my bus so I don’t get left here,” I said.
“ I could give you a ride home if you want,” He said shocking the heck out of me.
“ That would be cool, I hate riding the bus, but my mom would go ballistic if I were to ride home with a guy,” I said wishing my mom was more liberal.
“Ok, I’ll walk you to your bus,” he said.
We left out of the band hall and headed to where the buses were parked. We finally got to my bus. I couldn’t resist the urge to ask Stefan one last thing, “ Hug?”
I saw him considering it. Just as he was opening his arms I saw him look at the wrapping on my head. He had this weird look on his face. Then he closed his arms, much to my disappointment.
“ Maybe some other time, you have to go,” He replied calmly.
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I couldn’t but be a little hurt. I mean I knew I shouldn’t because he had been snubbing girls all day, but still. I wondered why he had changed his mind. He had hugged me earlier. Was it my bandage? Was he really that squeamish? Was I too forward? I didn’t know. However, I wasn’t going to let him see that he had hurt me.
“Ok, see you tonight at the lock-in,” I said.
“See you there,” He replied.
We lingered there for a moment and then I began to turn slowly. I didn’t have anymore time to feel rejected because I saw Joey walking up with Jessi behind him. Those two could see right through me in a New York minute. I waited patiently for them to arrive. Stefan didn’t leave.
Joey arrived and I turned to go to the bus.
“ Are you going to the lock-in?” I heard Joey ask Stefan.
“Yes,” Stefan replied.
“I’ll see you there,” Joey said.
“All-right,” Stefan responded.
I saw Stefan turn and start to walk away from the bus. I then saw him cast one last look at the bus from the window of the seat I was taking.
Joey got on the bus and took the seat in front of me.
“So how are you feeling?” Joey asked.
“A little tired, that’s all. I can’t believe that happened,” I replied.
“It’s ok, she did start it,” Joey said.
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“He’s right,” Jessi said as she slid into the seat next to me.
“Thanks,” I said to the two of them.
“So what do you think of the new guy?” Jessi asked.
“OH GOD! Here comes the girl talk,” Joey sighed.
“ I think he’s pretty hott,” I said, “ but there’s this sadness about him. But it doesn’t matter because I don’t have a chance. What do you think about him?”
“ I think he’s totally dreamy,” said Joey making fun of us.
“Shut up!” I said laughing.
“ I think that he has a crush on you,” Jessi replied.
“Are you kidding?” I said laughing.
“No!” Jessi replied quickly.
“First off he just got here. Second off no one and I mean no one likes me except for second best!” I laughed.
“ I think that she’s right,” Joey butted in, “he followed you around like a little puppy today and is it so outrageous for someone to like you! Come on you’re not exactly ugly. As far as you’ve only just met, you have a crush on him!”
My cheeks turned red.
“I don’t know what to think. Part of the time I believed it and the other part of the time I think he couldn’t stand the site of me. Did you see the time I asked him for a hug in front of the bus! He snubbed me like he did the other girls!” I argued.
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“Yeah I did see it! Maybe he was just squeamish…Don’t underestimate yourself…. Unfortunately as much as I love this girl talk I have to get off the bus. See you at the lock-in!” Joey said.
Then the bus stopped and he got off.
“ Well our stops out next so I guess we need to get up front,” I said to Jessi.
Joey lived on my right and Jessi lived to my left. I guess that could be why we were all such good friends. Jessi and I made our way to the front of the bus as it came to a stop. I got off the bus and stepped onto my driveway. I checked the mail then headed home.
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