"The darkness inside me is taking over. I wonder how long I can hold on, until I'm completely consumed by all these sinister thoughts and give into them"

❃ B l a z e ❃

As soon as the bell rang, I darted out of the class to avoid Rafael. I pushed my way through the hallway to make it to my locker. Luckily Rafael was nowhere in sight. After the stunt he pulled in class, I needed to stay away. 'Yeah you've been saying that ever since you met him' I muttered to myself.

As I turned around after taking my books, I crashed into Bree. She had a huge smile on her face. She looked like a model out of a fashion spread. What was she doing hanging out with a nobody like me?

"Hey!" She screamed, attracting the attention of half the students. They all glanced our way and I pulled her aside. "Hi. Do you want something?" I asked Bree as calmly as I could. "Yeah nah. I just want a friend that's all" she smiled. Okay Then.

"Okay, Well I have AP Biology right now. Are you in that class?" I asked her. She nodded eagerly and we started walking towards Room 245. "So.." she sighed. Without hesitating I asked, "Okay I'll cut straight to the chase. Why do you suddenly want to be friends with me? It's Junior Year. You must have made some friends of your own".

I hated how blunt and rude I sounded, but it just flew out of my mouth. She scrunched her eyebrows at my question then went on to answer. "No actually I never did. I never really got along with anyone. I don't know why but I feel like you'll be a good friend." she genuinely answered.

"You only saw me today morning" I frankly stated. She stared at me but didn't recoil at my bluntness. "I can sense when I'm around nice people" she smiled and I reluctantly smiled back.

I thought over it. Aiden was a Senior, and most of his friends didn't even care about me, so basically I had no friends. He would graduate this year, and I'd be alone then. Every lunch I would either sit alone or just go to the bathroom to think over stuff. Sometimes, I wandered out to the benches outside and had my lunch whilst pondering over my day.

Aiden didn't bother to invite me over to his table. He sat with the populars. The jocks and the cheerleaders, along with people ranking high in the social hierarchy. As cliche as it sounded, it was true. I could use someone to be with me. Eating alone was stressful.

That was a lot of calculating for such a simple question.

I gave her a small smile and nodded, indicating that I had no problem with being friends. It felt like I was in primary school all over again. 'Can we be friends?'

As we reached the class, I noticed there were two empty seats in the middle row. We made our way over there and started talking. She told me she had a twin brother, but he was annoying as heck.

Funny, I never saw him around. Courtesy of me roaming the hallways as a ghost, not bothering with my peers. She told me that her parents were divorced and her dad worked most of the time and was never home. She never mentioned much about her mum.

"What about your parents?" She asked me. I felt a sharp pang at her words. "Well, Umm...They died in a car accident when I was nine" I choked out and tears welled in my eyes. I pushed them back, not wanting to seem weak. You need to stop crying. It's getting out of hand.

She gave me a sympathetic look but was cut off by Mr. Harris walking in. I looked ahead and continued to ignore her throughout the remainder of the class. I just needed time to compose myself. It was still a touchy subject, even after 7 years. Wow, talk about being over dramatic.

As soon as the class was over, she got up and gave me a tight hug. I was surprised at first. I barely knew her, and I wasn't used to this type of affection. But then I hugged her back. I needed the reassurance. She gave me a small smile and then glanced at my schedule. "I guess this is the only class we have together" she said. "Well, then maybe I'll meet you at lunch?" I asked her. "Sure" she smiled.

We went our separate ways and I attended both of my classes before Lunch in a daze. I was tired and my entire body was sore. As soon as the bell rang, indicating lunch, I made my way over to the cafeteria. Surprisingly, Bree was waiting outside for me and there was still no sign of Aiden or Rafael. Not that I cared.

As we walked into the cafeteria, I felt many pairs of eyes on me. Well maybe on the both of us together. People were was used to me being a loner and known simply as Aiden's girlfriend and the girl whose best friend died.

I had my fair share of rumours at that time. When I glanced around the cafeteria, I found Aiden staring intensely at me. I just looked at him and he stared right back. To my surprise, he cracked a small smile. What was up with him?'. I looked beside me to see that Bree had seen our exchange.

We took our lunch and made our way over to a table in the corner. "Who's he?" Bree asked me. "That's my boyfriend, Aiden" I mumbled. Okay well, not everyone knew he was my boyfriend. I didn't want her prying into the matter too much either though.

She scoffed. "Yeah, he totally deserves an award for being the best boyfriend. You should probably go over and give him a kiss as a prize." she sarcastically scowled while glaring at Aiden. I looked over at him, finding a girl clinging onto his arm.

But it wasn't just any other girl. It was Summer Evans. She was pretty popular and in the cheerleading squad. However, I hadn't interacted with her ever, so I stopped myself from commenting on her.

"They're just friends" I lied to Bree. The truth was I never knew that Aiden and Summer knew each other. This was the first time I'd noticed them together. I figured maybe they had some mutual friends.

"Well if he's your boyfriend, shouldn't he be sitting with you?" Bree asked me. I caught the mean undertone to her voice. "He's invited me before. It's just that I don't feel comfortable sitting with everyone at that table" That one wasn't exactly a lie. He had invited me over initially, when we started dating, but Kiara and I had our own set of friends. I wasn't ever invited over after her death.

She gave me a look that clearly meant 'Yeah As If I'm gonna believe you'. We ate the rest of our lunch in silence and I felt myself glancing over to Aiden's table, time after time. I could swear I saw Summer's hand snaking onto Aiden's lap a few times. Just friends, I internally thought.

I had History, Maths and AP Chemistry. Bree wasn't in any of them and after her comments at lunch, I was glad that I didn't have to continue the conversation with her.

When I reached my locker, I saw Aiden and he walked over to me. "So who's your new friend?" he asked in a monotone voice. I thought of asking him about Summer but thought better of it. "Her name's Bree. We have Biology together." I informed him.

He nodded curtly and spoke in a low voice "Replacing Kiara so soon?" I fearfully shook my head. "Maybe I'll make an exception this time. She's not going to stay anyway after seeing how worthless you really are. Nobody likes baggage" His words made my breath quicken and he walked away. Aiden was right. I didn't deserve this. I took a few minutes to calm myself and the late bell rang.

I rushed over to History and quickly mumbled an apology to the teacher. I hadn't attended the last three classes yesterday due to my breakdown. I should avoid being tardy.

I looked around the class and was startled to see Rafael staring back at me. I internally groaned and made my way over to the last row. I sat down and took a deep breath. I heard shuffling next to me and my eyes widened as Rafael sat next to me. How was he even moving about when Mr. Duncan was right there? I was tired of him following me around.

I thought maybe he'd get the hint that I didn't want him near me, but he didn't seem to get it. "What do you want?" I glared at him. I hated being rude, but I tried convincing myself that it was for the better. "Nothing. I just want to know you, Sweetheart" I felt myself smiling at his nickname. Even though, I had heard it tons of times in movies and books, but it didn't sound cringey at all coming out of his mouth. It rolled off his tongue like margarine. What was wrong with me?

I quickly masked it with a scowl. I could be hostile if I wanted to. Aiden had just worn me down. "Don't call me that" I grimaced. "Well what do you want me to call you Princesa?" He smirked. God, this boy was pissing me off. Yet, he was still making my heart race.

"Don't call me anything. In fact, stop talking to me" I angrily stated. His face betrayed no emotions, but he stopped talking after that. I felt bad for a moment but then he spoke up "Yesterday was the first day I saw you Sweetheart. And can I say that boyfriend of yours is an asshole to hurt you" He gritted out angrily and I felt slightly frightened as he clenched his fists. "He's never hurt me. He's an amazing boyfriend." I lied easily.

"You're not fooling me. I saw you crying and trust me when I say, I would've punched him back and beat him bloody if you weren't there" he gritted through his teeth. I felt my heart flutter at his words but I quickly replied. "You're no one to judge me or my boyfriend. Also, I wasn't crying because of him and if it weren't for you suddenly taking an interest in me and interfering in my life even though you barely know me, we wouldn't have fought and you wouldn't have been punched." Venom was dripping from my voice and I gasped at how bitter I sounded.

Rafael looked hurt by my words and I felt worse. "I'm sorry, but I think you should stay away from me" I whispered. Rafael gave me a sad smile and leaned in, "It's only been a day, but I'm sticking around. And that punch didn't even hurt". He grinned towards the end. My breath hitched and I felt myself smiling but remembered Aiden's words. 'Stay away from him'.

Aiden would do it again and I was scared how worse it could be. I couldn't let him in. I wasn't. "I'm serious. Stay. Away." I glared at him with all the force I could muster. He gave no expression but just grimaced. I ignored him for the rest of the period and was quick to avoid him when the bell rang.

When I reached Math, I was glad to find that Rafael wasn't in it. I tried to focus on the topic being taught but honestly speaking, Math was never my cup of tea. When the bell rang, I was glad to know that only AP Chemistry was left.

Chemistry was one of my favourite subjects and I kind of regretted skipping the class yesterday. Call me a nerd, but Chemistry ranked high on my list of favourite things.

I rushed over to Chemistry and there were only a few people there. Slowly, the rest of the students trickled in. I was sitting at the back, like always, but no one noticed me.

And once again, I locked eyes with the person I wanted to avoid. Great. Rafael was in this class as well. I looked around me to see that there was an empty seat beside me. I expected him to come over, and I was ready to move seats just to avoid him. But surprisingly, Rafael sat in the middle, avoiding me completely.

I felt hurt at him suddenly ignoring me but then realized it was better this way and I had brought this upon myself. Indecisive much?

Just then, Mrs. Reynolds made her way into the class. She was by far one of the most amazing teachers I had encountered. She knew how much I loved Chemistry and never asked too many questions when I didn't talk much. That was my image of a perfect teacher.

"So Class, Yesterday I gave you all a planner for this year and the curriculum. I hope you all have noted it down. For those of you who haven't, they can take it later on" she glanced towards me and I slouched down in my seat. I didn't want to spoil my image in front of her. I most certainly wasn't a Teacher's Pet but it was important for me to be upfront with my work.

She continued, "Today I'm going to assign all of you partners for the rest of the year. I've kept the partners in such a way that they can help each other with their weak areas, so do not try and argue with me. I'm going to announce the names so please make your way over to the workstations, one by one". She began calling out names and I zoned out.

I suddenly heard my name being called out "Blaze Davis and... Rafael Hernandez ". My eyes widened at her words. Oh. No.

Hey Babes! How are you all! Gahh I've been dying of boredom in quarantine but I've got more time to write.

This is suchhhh a long chapter I know. But we get more of Rafael and Bree. Soooo what do you guys think of them? Was Blaze too rude or was she defending herself? Let's see what happens next. It's gonna be fun. Give me your thoughts.

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Love,
A❤️