Scarlette
Thereweredaysthat I completely loathed being invisible.
I was always that girl hiding in the back of the classroom. Or, the quiet kid who never dared to speak up when my parents had their business clients for dinner. I had spent the majority of my life feeling as though I didn’t really exist. While I never would have admitted it to my parents or anyone else, it always brought on a great deal of sadness.
But today, being invisible was exactly what I was happy for.
As I walked through the halls of my high school, I felt the prying eyes of my classmates on me. Never before had they even noticed me. I was the ghost that walked the halls among them. Not today, though. No, today all eyes seem to be cast on me. I was the girl who had been mysteriously carried out of a party by Ason Antoni. The girl who no one really knew, but I was making waves in the small pond of my private school. Or so, I had been told by Macy.
From the moment I stepped through the doors of school today, Macy had bombarded me with all of the talk and rumors being spread. I wanted to go back to being the girl that no one cared about.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Macy asked, as she walked up to me while I was at my locker.
I had seen the exchange between Ason and Talon. Everyone had. I didn’t mean to stare, but for some reason, when Ason or the Elites were around, I couldn’t tear my eyes off of them. There was something different about Ason today. I didn’t know what it was, but his vibe was different.
“Nothing,” I stated, slamming my locker door closed.
“Everyone is watching you,” she began, her eyes narrowing on me.
I tried to act as though the attention didn’t bother me, but Macy knew me too well. Rolling her eyes, Macy glanced around the crowded halls. “People are talking about what happened last weekend. They...”
Before she could finish, I held my hand up to stop her. “I don’t care what people are saying. Nothing happened and I don’t walk to talk about this,” I stated, before storming off.
I moved through the sea of people and they all parted for me, in a way in which had never happened before.
When I walked into my class, everyone stopped talking and turned to look at me. Keeping my head down, I tried to ignore their stares, but it was hard not to notice how everyone turned their heads my way. Slumping in my seat, I made sure to not look up the rest of the class.
By the time school was over, I had practically felt like I was running from monsters.
I didn’t listen to the rumors, but the hushed voices were like raging screams. The suspicious glares, the narrowed eyes, the way everyone looked at me like I was a criminal... none of it made any sense. Dread consumed me as I walked toward the library. Part of me hoped that Ason didn’t show up for our tutoring session, but another part of me secretly wanted to see him. I had so many questions for him.
As I stepped inside of the library, Mrs. Miller waved me over. “Hey, I’m glad you decided to show up again,” she said, laughing nervously.
I wondered if she had been a witness to the way people were treating me today. Even though Mrs. Miller had always been kind to me, she also knew that I wasn’t popular at school.
“Well, I signed up to do a job,” I said, shrugging.
She smiled, the creases at her eyes seeming to age her. I walked to the back room and sat down at the large table. My phone buzzed and as I pulled it out, I spotted a text from Macy.
Macy: You better tell me everything that happened last weekend!
Sighing, I typed out a text to her, knowing that she would eventually get me to spill the details.
Me: There isn’t anything interesting to tell, but I will call you tonight when I get home.
Macy: I will just come over; this conversation needs to take place face-to-face.
Just as I went to type a rebuttal, a large bag fell beside me with a loud boom.
Jumping out of my skin, I let out a little scream as I turned to see Ason walk into the room. He had thrown his baseball bag next to a chair and now his metal bat was clanging against the walls of the room.
He sat down across from me, not speaking, and an angry scowl across his features. His folder sat in the center of the table. I carefully put my phone down, afraid of what to do next. I swear, Ason was like a wild animal. He was wild and dangerous and you never knew what he was going to do next. A heavy tension filled the room as we just sat there, staring at one another. His chest rose and fell rapidly as though he were out of breath.
Reaching across the table, Ason grabbed his folder and began inspecting the assignments inside. After a few minutes, I finally mustered the courage to speak.
“Do you need help with anything?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Not even bothering to look up, Ason shakes his head. “No, I don’t want to bother you.” He roughly ran a hand through his hair, his eyes still skimming the pages.