Addicted To You

1| Westwood High

I chewed on my french toast while my mom explained everything to me as if I were still in middle school.

"When you get to the school, head straight for the front office, all right?

They'll give you your locker number, your schedule, names of all your teachers, and even the topics that you've missed from your syllabus, all right? "

"Mom, I've missed one week of school, okay? It's the new school year. I'm sure I'll be able to catch up and anyway, I'm sure Kendall will help me." Kendall is my cousin and my favorite one at that.

We recently just moved out here to Coronado, California after living in Miami for the past 5 years.

This is our hometown but we moved out to Miami for my mom's work.

My dad is traveling most of the time, mainly back and forth between New York and wherever we live.

He's been running his business there since he graduated from college and that's where my parents met while my mom was on vacation.

He did move back here a few months later but he flew back and forth to run his business and he still does.

"I love you mom, bye," I sang, standing up and heading for the door, grabbing my keys on the way. I got in and then drove off, heading for the school. I knew the way because we went and saw it earlier when we arrived.

Once I got there and found a spot to park my car, I climbed out of my car, grabbing my backpack from the passenger seat. I sighed, locking the car while throwing my hair up in a ponytail. I lifted my head up to head inside when I noticed everybody that was here, staring at me.

The guy who was parking next to me also rolled his window down just to look at me.

"Is there a show going on?" I asked him. He snapped out of it and rolled his window up. I rolled my eyes, heading inside, spotting Kendall waiting for me at the gate.

"Emma, hey," she sang, pulling me into a hug.

"Hey, um, why the hell is everybody staring at me?" I asked as she took me inside, leading me to the head office. It's a small town and so is the school.

"We don't really get new students around here, that's why everyone's staring. Nobody knows you here," she shrugged.

"Right," I said slowly, observing my surroundings.

We did the boring stuff and got it out of the way, getting my schedule, setting up my locker, all that stuff, and then she took me to my creative writing class which was luckily the first period for both of us.

I walked into class, both of us still standing at the front.

We were a little late because of all the going around, organizing me for my time here.

"Yes?" the teacher asked.

Kendall nudged me forward. "Uh, hi. I'm a new student here, my name is Emma Hayden," I smiled.

"Ah, yes. Ms. Hayden, we've been waiting for you to arrive," he smiled, "I'm Mr. Cole, I'm your creative writing teacher, I'm the only creative writing teacher this school has got so if you take my class, you're stuck with me.

Kendall, please take your seat. Sorry to disappoint, we've got assigned seats in this class.

And you can take a seat next to..." he trailed off, his eyes scanning the classroom.

"Hmm," he fell into thought. There are a couple of spare seats around here, I'm guessing some students are skipping class.

Is that it hard to tell me where to sit?

"Ah, next to Mr. Sterling, please. Mr. Sterling, raise your hand."

I turned to the classroom, looking around a boy raising his hand but nobody was. "I'm afraid Mr. Sterling isn't raising his hand," I said, smiling at Mr. Cole.

"Right, last row, the boy with the black hood on," he smiled. I turned around, spotting the guy.

Whoa.

Uh oh. Whoa is not good. Whoa is- oh my god, he is hot. But he looks kind of... scary? No. Intimidating? Kind of. But he looks... sad.

"Uh, the one staring right at me?" I mumbled.

"That would be the entire class, Ms. Hayden. But uh, yes, the boy staring right at you," Mr. Cole nodded.

"Okay," I whispered to myself, making my way to the back and taking the seat beside his.

The class started and I turned to the guy who was now staring at the blank paper in front of him.

"Hi, I'm Emma," I smiled, sticking my hand out for him to shake.

Everyone was still staring apart from a few who were focusing on their class.

He didn't respond, he didn't even look at me.

And uh, ouch.

I poked his shoulder. He turned to me, his eyes taking me by surprise. They were really... green. But cold. Colder than they were green.

"I'm Emma," I introduced myself again.

"Nathan," he said before shooting out of his seat and walking out of the class. I stared in confusion, looking at Kendall for answers.

"You can just ignore what just happened," the guy sitting one seat down from me said. "I'm Brandon," he introduced himself.

"I'm Emma," I replied, "But um, he seemed a little off, is nobody gonna go check on him?" It's a little worrying when a guy sees me and then runs out of a room. Nor is it good for my self-esteem but that's another issue.

"Nobody checks on Nathan," he retorted, "It's just best to leave the guy alone."

I eyed him quizzically. Why would you leave someone going through a moment alone?

"No, it's not. It's best to help him," I said.

"Oh, you're one of those people, go ahead, help him. By all means," he smiled.

"Brandon, zip it," Kendall hissed.

"Is there something wrong?" Mr. Cole asked.

"May I please be excused to go to the bathroom?" I asked.

He sighed, "Go ahead." He's probably letting me go because I'm new. How can you be creative in this depressing classroom?

I went outside, looked left, and then right.

"Pick your poison, Em," I mumbled, deciding to go left.

I eventually wound up in the back of the building, seeing an emergency gate.

I eyed the door quizzically. "Whatever, if the guy isn't out there then I'm going back," I said to myself before pushing the door open, immediately choking on cigarette smoke.

I coughed, waving my hand in front of my face. I looked around before looking down, seeing him sitting against the wall. I cleared my throat, squinting down at him, my eyes burning a little. "Let's try that again, I'm Emma," I stuck my hand out once again.

He rolled his eyes, shaking my head, "I'm Nathan. You can go back to class now," he said, looking straight ahead. At the gorgeous dumpsters, I assume.

I sat beside him, eyeing him suspiciously. "That class is a little too depressing for my taste, so um, I think I'll pass." I don't wanna go back there.

I have to say, I have balls being the new girl and talking to the guy nobody talks to.

I stared at the cigarette in his hands. "Can I try that?" I asked.

"No," he answered sharply. We then proceeded to sit in silence.

"Do you wanna be friends?" I asked bluntly.

"No," he repeated.

"Okay," I nodded, "Can I ask you something?"

"No," he said again.

"Okay, I'm gonna ask you anyway cause you just keep saying no," I sighed, "Are you always brooding in misery?" He stared at me blankly. "I'm just curious," I shrugged.

"Yes, I'm always brooding in misery," he nodded.

I hummed in response, staring at the dumpsters as well. There's nothing else to look at here except a freaking brick wall. "Why does nobody speak to you?" I inquired.

"I don't like speaking to people," he answered.

"What do you do to shoo them away?" I questioned. I turned to him when he didn't answer and then he turned to me, blowing the smoke in my face. I looked the other way, cursing him in my mind. "You're a fucking asshole," I said, looking up at him while he stood up.

"Welcome to Westwood High," he smirked before wandering off, heading inside the building.

I stood up, dusting myself off before heading inside as well, going back to the classroom. When I walked in there, he was sitting there, staring at the door as if he were waiting for me to come back in. "Sorry, I got lost," I lied, going back to my seat.

I sat beside him, kind of instantly hating him. I tried focusing on class after that but I couldn't do that with him sitting beside me. He's so... pessimistic. I should cleanse my aura after this. You know how Phoebe Buffay does?

The bell rang after a while and the class was dismissed. I grabbed my things and turned around to leave but crashed right into him. I rolled my eyes, at him.

He tucked a pencil behind my ear, smirking at me. "Enjoy Westwood High," he said before leaving.

I groaned, pulling the pencil out flipped off his retreating figure.

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