Hey guys :) Sorry for keeping you waiting for a while, I just didn't know what to write. I hope it's good :) Enjoy!
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The photo on the side is of Jessica :) You'll be meeting her briefly in this chapter.
Chapter 13- John’s POV
I followed Edward out of the corridor, and we started going up the stairs, the destination being his art room, I presumed. I swore my heart was pounding three million times a second at that moment. Edward’s silence was making it worse. What had happened?
“Hey, Ed?” I called. He turned to look at me. “Are you gonna take me all the way to the art room? I have a class at eight, in the other block.” Thank goodness I had that as an excuse.
He looked at his watch. It was around 7.30am, too early for Edward. He usually didn’t get to school until later, sometimes even being late for his own lessons.What can I say, Edward’s one of a kind.
“If you want we can talk here, but for your sake,” he grinned, “yeah, I’d go up to the art room. Besides, it’s still early.” He waved my protests away and continued walking, turning to me once again after a couple of seconds. “Where were you this weekend, anyway? You didn’t keep in touch.”
“I, um, was grading Shakespeare essays,” I said with a stutter. Him looking at me made me feel so uneasy. Damn, I was such a bad friend.
Edward raised an eyebrow once again as we kept on walking up the stairs. “Really, all weekend?” I nodded and he continued, as some students filed past us. “Are you still thinking about Friday afternoon?”
I flinched. Friday afternoon... the time when I was with Ella. Damn, did he know?! How did he know? Did she tell him??
“What?” I croaked out.
He chuckled. “What’s up with you? Friday afternoon, when I called you and you came over and I showed you my dining table with photos, and then you stormed out. Are you still pissed?”
Oh, that. Right. I shook my head. “No. I’m not.”
“Good.” Edward smiled as we stopped in front of the classroom. He took out the keys and opened the door, entering into the room immediately. I walked in after him.
“So what’s this about?” I asked nervously. Man, I was such a coward when it came to talking to people.
Edward sat at his desk and retrieved a file from his bag. I looked on in interest as he seemed to search through it, and finally took out a couple of printed pages. He handed them to me. I took them into my trembling hands and regarded them.
Shit. Someone had taken photos of me with Ella and printed them out. But Ella’s face had been blurred out, so that only I was recognisable. I sighed in relief for that, but obviously was still concerned about who’d taken the pictures. I looked up at Edward, feeling my face redden. He was already looking at me, probably waiting to see my reaction.
“Where did you get these?” I asked.
“They were posted in an envelope. I found them in the letter box Saturday morning. I’m guessing you had a good Friday night?” He smirked. I didn’t reply so he went on. “I know it’s Friday because of the clothes you were wearing, but I don’t understand why I can’t see the face of this mystery lady.” He winked, clearly teasing me. I held on to my serious facial expression, even though I wanted to die on the spot.
“So, who is she?” he asked., his face full of interest.
I shook my head. “That’s um, not important. What’s important is that someone’s been following me, and is taking photos of me and threatening.” Crap, this really was awful.
Edward chuckled for the second time. “Join the club, John. At least no one was spying on you when you were smoking pot and injecting heroin.” He said this calmly, like it wasn’t a big deal. I gaped at him, mouth open.
“WHAT? You do drugs?” Unfreakinbelievable.
“When I was like, seventeen, yeah. Not anymore, now. Been clean for,” he seemed to count on his fingers. “Eleven, twelve years? Something like that.” He laughed. “I can’t believe you didn’t know.” Damn, he seemed so calm about this. What else did he do in his twenty-nine years of life?
I shook my head. “You never mentioned it.” I shuddered. “What else is there to know about you?”
“Closed chapters of my life... they’re uh, well, closed,” he said, looking away from me, somewhat shyly. “I won’t be talking to you about this. I already had to live it again last Friday in all those photos. Now I’m scared that they’ll send them to the school or something, and I’ll end up without a job, and heck, possibly in jail..”
“Jail? Why?”
“Relationship with a minor.” He met my eyes and I knew he was talking about Ella. I looked away, unable to hold his gaze. “I’m not in a relationship with her, but that’s what it looks like in the photos.” He sighed. “Look...what I’m trying to say is that, if someone posted these photos of you, it’s mostly likely that you’re doing something wrong right now.” He paused. “Who’s she, John?” I could tell that he was dying to know.
I shook my head once again. “You wouldn’t know her,” I lied. “But I’m not doing anything wrong, okay?”
Edward shrugged. “Fine, I believe you. But be careful. Why the heck would this person send these pictures to me, anyway? And blurred?”
“I wouldn’t know. Hey, I have to go. Thanks for telling me about this. Can I keep them?” I motioned at the papers I still held in my hand.
He nodded. “Sure thing. They’re yours, anyway.” He grinned. “Good luck with her, eh? Say hi for me.”
I attempted a chuckle and mumbled a goodbye, and started walking out of the classroom. I folded the photos, so that no one would see them. I was in deep crap right now, and I could think of nothing in order to fix it.
Ella’s POV
The first few lessons of the day rushed by, and the break soon arrived. These days, I’d spend all of my breaks with Jessica, the new Scots girl that I’d met during Physics. She was a great person, and although I didn’t know her much yet, I really liked her, and I felt that I could trust her. Not that I’d told her anything about my family- no one I’d met was that special to break that shell yet.
The meeting place for us two was next to my locker, so I hurried along so I wouldn’t be late. On the way there, I started thinking about how wiser it would be if I had a few more friends to hang out with. Not that I’d tell any of them my secret, but it would be nice to have a laugh with a few more people. Jessica was really awesome, but what would happen when she was sick or absent from school? It was hardly likely that I would hang out with Nathan and his annoying friends. I’d just end up being on my own again.
I arrived next to my locker and stopped, leaning against it. My lunch buddy wasn’t here yet, so I had to wait, on my own, something which I hated doing. It made me feel so... lost and lonely. All my memories and fears start haunting me when I’m on my own. That’s why I try to keep myself busy all the time... that’s basically why I paint.
Breaks were short, so I hoped that Jessica would arrive within a few seconds. I started tapping my foot impatiently, watching other students walk by, most of them in groups. I looked down, realising that I must look like a loner right now. And right then, my light was blocked by a shadow, which stopped in front of me. I looked up in surprise to see Mr James stopping right in front of me. This guy’s always blocking out the light for me, isn’t he? I smiled automatically.
“Hey, Ella,” he said, as something seemed to flicker in his eyes. He too smiled.
“Hi,” I replied.
“How’s that portrait getting on?” he asked, holding on to my gaze with a smile still playing on his lips. More people were walking behind him, some of them bumping into him in the process. He moved to the side to avoid them, and therefore was standing closer to me.
“Um, great. I finished it. The older brother I told you about posed for it,” I said.
Mr James raised an eyebrow. “Oh, that’s great,” he said, and smirked. “You know what’s funny?” He looked at me and I shook my head curiously. “I rarely walk in the hall, and only go to the canteen occasionally. Yet when I do, I always manage to bump into you. It’s a coincidence, isn’t it?”
I shrugged. “I don’t mind at all,” I said.
He grinned. “Neither do I. I wish I could see you more, actually.” His eyes gleamed in the semi darkness of the hall.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Well, I-“ He stopped suddenly, looking at the side. I looked to see at what had stopped him from continuing to speak. Jessica was walking towards me, with John by her side.
Wait, what? Why was she with him? I felt a blush creeping to my face as I remembered last Friday. I didn’t really know why I had given in to him so easily, and I didn’t know where it really left us. I was so torn between him and Edward, though I knew it was Edward that I really liked. But John’s kiss was... powerful. And I had to admit that if he kissed me again, I wouldn’t stop him.
“I guess we could talk later about it, eh?” Edward said, looking at me once again. I nodded.
“Sure.” I turned my eyes to look at John and Jessica, but I couldn’t see them. Ah, okay, there they are. They had stopped near the door, still engaged in conversation. She seemed to be laughing at something he was saying. I tore my eyes away, looking at Edward, whose eyes were focused on them as well.
I cleared my throat. “Is uh, your friend, a flirt?” I asked. He chuckled as his eyes landed on me.
“John?” He shook his head. “No, not at all. He’s just nice.”
Yeah, maybe a little too nice.
“Why?” Edward asked, biting his lip. “He didn’t... do something to you, did he?” I could see the worry in his eyes as he looked at me, anxious to find out. I so wanted to tell him the truth about Friday, but I couldn’t. Not with the way he was looking at me.
I shook my head. “Of course not. I don’t even know him, I only see him during your lesson.”
Edward’s jaw relaxed. “Great. Anyway, you shouldn’t be worried about him, he’s harmless.”
Damn harmless he is. I smiled at Mr James. “I’m not worried. Just curious.”
His eyes gleamed as he looked on at me. He leaned against the lockers too. “Could I like, be curious as well?” he asked in a lower voice. I felt a blush creeping on my face.
“Sure,” I said plainly. Ugh, how stupid of me. Where’s the clever comment I’m supposed to always have ready?
“Well,” he said, inching closer to me and ignoring the fact that we were in a hallway, where students pass frequenty, “you see, I’m curious about whether you have a boyfriend.”
I just stood there, staring at him. Did he really just ask that? And what the hell was I supposed to say? I mean, making out with John didn’t mean that I was in a relationship with him, right?
Actually, to be honest, it kind of did. I’d probably given him that idea when I kissed him. Ugh, how stupid. I was actually in a relationship with the wrong teacher. I looked up at Edward, who was still looking at me questioningly.
“Why do you ask?” I found myself saying.
He smirked. “You don’t want to tell me, do you? I don’t blame you, that was a bit personal.” He paused and glanced at John and Jessica, who were now walking towards us once again. Edward moved closer and whispered in my ear, “Just saying that if you do have a boyfriend, he’s one heck of a lucky guy.”
I resisted the urge to just grab him from the collar of his shirt and kiss him right there, and only watched as he inched away from me slowly. His breath felt funny on my ear, and it gave me goosebumps. He slowly straightened, ignoring the weird looks he’d gotten from a couple of students who’d been on the other side, talking, when he’d moved so close. I didn’t comment, and waited for John and Jessica, who were almost next to us now.
As soon as they arrived, John saw me with Edward, and looked a bit annoyed. I looked back at him curiously, still wondering why he had been walking through the hallway with my friend, and what they had been talking about. Of course, I was going to interrogate her during lunch. That is, if we got any lunch. Time was trickling by fast.
“Hey Ed, ready for lunch?” John said, looking at him, whilst looking at me from the corner of his eye. I couldn’t help but smile at his attempt to be subtle. When he saw me looking at him, he nodded at me, and said, “Hey, Ella, nice to see you again.”
“Er... hi,” I muttered, feeling Edward’s eyes boring into me. Shit, he knew I had been lying about not knowing him.
“I thought you said you didn’t know each other,” he said, looking directly at me. I shrugged and opened my mouth to say something, but he raised his hand to stop me. “You’re unbelievable, do you know that? And I actually thought you were different! Oh my God, you’re such a liar!” He muttered something else which I believed was a rude word, and walked away in a huff. I watched him leave in awe, feeling hot tears prick my eyes. A second later I felt John’s hand on my arm. I looked at him, surprised, trying to blink away my tears.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Listen, can we talk about this? Privately,” he added hurriedly, glancing at Jessica, who seemed even more bewildered than I was. I didn’t blame her, honestly.Too much had already been said in front of her.
“Um, sure. Now?” I said.
“Yeah, now please. Come with me to my staff room?”
I nodded. “Okay.” I turned to Jessica. “I’m sorry I’m gonna have to bail out on you. I’ll see you in Physics, right?”
“Yeah umm, sure.”
She looked a bit troubled as I walked away with John. I was sorry for having to leave her on her own, but there wasn’t much that I could do. I looked at John, who seemed to be anxious to get to his staffroom. Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and pushed me into the entrance of an open door, closing the door behind us. When he turned on the light I realised that we were standing in a closet, and around us were brooms, buckets and detergents. I looked at John in disbelief as he fumbled with the lock. This closet was tiny.
“Are you serious?” I bellowed.
The look that he gave me was intense, but he didn’t reply. Instead, he started opening his bag, and from it he took out two sheets of paper. He handed them to me. I took them, mildly interested.
What was on them was what shocked me.
“What the hell is this?!?”
Thanks! I hope you enjoyed that! Please vote and comment :3
This chapter is dedicated to my cousin, whom I always force to read my stories :P thanks :3 xxx