Chapter 6 #2
As we head down the main hall, I feel the weight of eyes on me. Looking around, I see people are staring. The attention weirds me out, so I hurry to catch up with Axel, suddenly craving the safety of his indifference.
“Everyone’s looking at me,” I murmur, just loud enough for him to hear.
“What’d you expect? You’re officially the new girl.” He says it like it should be the most obvious thing.
I anxiously pop my knuckles and try to ignore the looks, but they make me feel like my skin’s crawling. I’m beyond relieved we reach the door to the front office.
“Grab your shit, and I’ll show you to your first class.” Axel leans against the wall outside, furiously typing away on his phone.
I step into the room, where a middle-aged secretary is mid-call. Patiently, I look around the quaint space while I wait. It’s a little cluttered, but welcoming all the same.
Upon ending the phone call, she offers me a warm smile.
“Hey, hun! What can I do for you?”
“Hi! I’m new. I need my schedule.”
“Name?”
“Carolina… Harrington.”
My new last name almost trips me up, feeling foreign coming from my mouth. I’m definitely going to need to practice saying it.
She swivels in her chair and rifles through a stack of papers behind her.
“Carolina, Carolina, Carolina,” she chants to herself. “Ah! Here we are!”
She hands me a single sheet with my name at the top and my class schedule printed below.
“We’re on a block schedule,” she explains. “Two classes in the morning, and two in the afternoon. Your locker number and combo are there at the bottom,” she points. “Do you need a tour?”
“I’ve got her covered.” Axel’s smooth voice comes from right behind, making me jump.
When did he come in?
The secretary beams at him. “Lucky girl, having Axel Harrington as your personal tour guide!”
Axel gives her a wide grin, showcasing perfect white teeth and an even more perfect set of dimples. I stand there like an idiot when he winks at her. He winks! And who knew he could smile?!
He guides me out the door to the tune of her calling, “Happy first day!”
Back in the hall, I start skimming over the paper—only for him to snatch it right out of my hands without missing a step.
“Hey!” I protest, trying to grab it back. He, infuriatingly, holds it just out of my grasp, flat out ignoring me. This is becoming too typical for my liking.
“Let’s see… Calculus, AP Language Arts, AP World History, Art… Jesus. You really are a nerd. Aside from art. Cool people take art,” Axel teases. “Your locker’s this way,” he notes, suddenly veering left.
I hurry after him as he points out different halls and classrooms, but the school layout seems straight forward making me doubt I’ll get lost.
My attention begins to waver when other students start greeting him. He bumps fists and jokes with a few guys, but moves on quickly when they notice me lingering behind, like a shadow. It makes me think he doesn’t want to explain our situation. Can’t say I blame him.
We weave through the crowd until Axel stops in front of a group of lockers. He scans my paper again, then taps one.
“Here,” he announces.
“Well, thanks for helping me this morning,” I say, suddenly feeling shy. “I know you didn’t have to.”
“Actually, I did.”
“What?”
“Mom said I had to,” he shrugs.
“Oh.” I pause, suddenly feeling very stupid. Of course he wouldn’t actually want to help me. “Well… thanks anyways.”
Axel hands me back my schedule but doesn’t automatically release his hold on it, waiting until he has my full attention.
“Hang onto this. Once you’ve got everything memorized, shred it. If someone gets ahold of your combo, you’re screwed. People are petty around here,” he warns.
He’s already walking off before I can reply, and I stare at his back until he’s out of sight. Shaking my head, I turn back to my locker.
“Axel, huh?”
A voice at my side startles me. A tall, pretty redhead leans against the locker next to mine. Her sleek, straight hair is a perfect shade of copper, and her green eyes pop with a sharp wing of eyeliner.
“Just so you know, he’s taken,” she adds casually, but I can tell she means it.
I snort before I can stop myself, causing her expression to harden.
“No,” I say quickly, waving my hands. “You’ve got it all wrong. Axel’s my… cousin. His mom’s my aunt.”
I tack on, “he’s all yours,” in hopes of placating her.
It seems to work and her features relax at my explanation.
“Oh, he’s not mine. He’s Rachel’s.” She flips her hair off her shoulder. “I’m Jessie.”
“Lina.”
Jessie eyes me critically. “You don’t look like cousins.”
And there it is. Dammit. I didn’t think of that. Axel and Johnny are both tall, dark, and brooding, while I’m average, blonde, and… stunning, I guess. Whatever that means.
“We’re… stepcousins,” I amend. “No blood relation.”
Shit, shit, shit! I mentally slap myself. Are we stepcousins in our story? I don’t know. Thinking about our fake family tree is already making my head hurt. I mentally note to ask Ben and have him add that detail, just in case.
Why can I never just stick with the plan?
Jessie nods, oblivious to my inner conflict.
“Ah, that explains it. Well, see you around, Lina.” She hesitates. “Oh, and good luck. Hazing new students is kind of a thing around here,” she adds quickly with a wince.
Her parting words make me blanch, but before I can spiral the warning bell rings, signaling I need to get my butt into gear.
No time to panic.
I slam my locker shut, deciding I’ll figure it out later. A quick glance at my schedule has me retracing my steps back to one of the halls Axel showed me earlier. Thankfully, my memory holds up, and I find the right room on the first try.
Sliding into an empty desk, I type out a quick text to Ben about the whole stepcousin debacle, and with some obvious amusement, he tells me not to worry. We’ll roll with it.
I exhale, half-laugh, half-nervous groan, and slide the phone back into my bag, just as the teacher enters the room.
Day One: chaos evaded. For now.