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by S J Crabb
Chapter 3
As the day wears on I settle down into life at the school. Luckily one of my new found friends is in every class with me and they have well and truly taken me under their wing. I feel relieved to have met such a great bunch of people and feel optimistic about my new situation.
Mostly I am ignored by everyone else and I soon realise the hierarchy of the school. There are the cool kids who apparently are presided over by the mysterious Ash and Skylar. Their friends are mostly avoided by everyone else as they appear to intimidate the others. Then there is the sporty set which Gabe sits at the head of courtesy of being the Captain of the football team. They are the Jocks and their group also consists of the Cheerleaders and any other sporting groups. The group that I appear to have joined is the Brainiacs. These kids just try to blend into the background and not draw attention to themselves.
This clique suits me fine as I am not searching for any more drama in my life. Pushing the thoughts away of my turbulent year at my last school I vow to keep my head down and not to draw attention to myself.
When the final bell rings I make my way to my locker with Piper and Cally. As we put our books away they shout over to me. “Hey Grace do you fancy getting a coffee at Violet’s?” Looking interested I say, “What or who is Violet?” They laugh and come over. “It’s our local diner. Most of us head there after class to catch up and arrange our study sessions. Are you in?” Nodding happily I suddenly remember that Aunt Sarah is picking me up. Sighing I say, “I would love to but my Aunt is picking me up. Maybe tomorrow though.” Cally smiles. “No problem. We go there every day so it won’t matter.” I walk beside them to the main entrance and wish that I could go with them. It would be much more fun than going home with my Aunt.
As we go to leave somebody pushes past us sending Cally flying. Her bag falls to the ground and she lands with a thud on to the concrete step outside. Looking up in surprise I see a large body clad in a leather jacket turn around and laugh at us. His lip curls up in a sneer and his eyes flash as he laughs. Feeling extremely angry I shout, “Hey watch who you’re shoving.”
I hear Piper draw in her breath and see Cally pale in fright. Turning around the leather clad brute moves towards me menacingly. “What did you say?” Piper pulls on my arm and says fearfully, “She didn’t say anything Jace, its ok no harm done.” From the look on his face I know that I’m in trouble. He moves until his face is within an inch of mine and hisses, “Watch who you’re talking to nerd. I don’t like kids like you thinking they’re something they're not. Talk to me again and you’ll suffer much worse than a push to the ground.”
Before I can respond I see his eyes narrow as he looks at me. He stares as if trying to place something. Then almost immediately I hear a deep voice behind me say, “Come on Jace, Principal Adams is coming. She’s not worth it and the others are waiting.”
Throwing me another evil look he storms off and I turn to see who intervened. I watch as Cally’s face lights up and then as I turn I see an extremely handsome guy behind me. He has the most velvety brown eyes that I have ever seen and his dark hair curls up at the ends as it hit’s the collar of his leather jacket. He looks at me with a worried look and then turns to Cally who has struggled to her feet. “Keep her away from him for all your sakes and I’m not just talking about Jace, understand?” She nods and he walks off after his friend.
As I watch them go I can see that they join a similar group of guys all wearing leather jackets congregating around a bunch of motorbikes. I can also see Skylar and her friends waiting for them and one by one they jump on to the backs of various bikes and soon the hum of exhausts fills the air as they move away.
Leaning back against the doorframe Cally sighs. “That was lucky.” Piper nods and I ask, “Who was that?” I detect a slight flush in Cally’s face as she says, “Jacob Cole. He’s my next door neighbour and we grew up together. The trouble is he fell in with that gang and hardly says two words to me now. He goes out with Teagan Hicks, Skylar’s best friend so I daren’t be seen even talking to him.”
As I help her grab her bag from the floor I can tell that she likes this Jacob guy. We head outside and I can see my Aunt’s station wagon waiting for me. Saying farewell to my new found friends I rush over.
Once I get in Aunt Sarah looks at me worry etched all over her face. “What just happened?” Shrugging nonchalantly I say, “Oh nothing, it’s fine.” Starting the engine I can tell that she is not convinced. Shaking herself she plasters a smile on her face. “So how was it, good day?” Settling back into the seat I smile at her. “Yes, good actually. Cally and Piper gave me a make under as they put it and then introduced me to their friends. Gabe found me and agreed that it was best that I stayed with them, so all is good. They did invite me to Violet’s for a coffee but maybe I can go with them tomorrow instead.” Looking a little happier my Aunt says, “Good, they seem ok and Violet’s is a decent place to hang out. There’s never any trouble because the owner is good friends with Mr Knight so nobody would dare try and start any trouble there.”
I look at her with interest. “Who is Mr Knight then?” Aunt Sarah looks grim. “He owns most of the town. He is very unscrupulous and doesn’t care who he upsets to get what he wants. People are afraid of him and anybody that crosses him soon knows about it.”
Feeling confused I say, “How does Violet fit into it?” My Aunt grins. “Violet is a sexy woman who Mr Knight adores. Her husband died and she opened the diner with the Insurance money. She doesn’t tolerate anything bad in her diner and because he worships her he would go after anyone who tried. Needless to say, the rougher element avoids her place at all costs for fear of upsetting him.”
Laughing I like the sound of Violet already. As we carry on my Aunt looks at me sheepishly. “I hope that you don’t mind but I’ve sort of found you a voluntary job on Saturday mornings.” Surprised I ask, “Where?”
“The library. Mr Watson is in dire need of some help and can’t afford to pay anyone. The library is in a terrible state and nothing is where it should be. I figured that you wouldn’t mind helping him out re-arranging the shelves into some sort of order.” I smile at her. “Of course not. I’d be glad to help him poor man.” Smiling softly my Aunt says, “I knew you wouldn’t mind. Also if nothing else it will keep you occupied in some of your spare time, away from harm.”
As we head off home I feel quite excited at the thought of a job, even an unpaid one. This day hasn’t turned out too bad after all.