ELLIOT

I stood outside the principal's office while the yelling inside just got louder and louder.

Each time the principal replied with a calm and soft voice, the apple red haired girl retaliated with lots of yelling and complaining. She spoke in such a rushed manner, I couldn't seem to put her words together and find a proper meaning for them.

The only thing I was able to hear was the word "detention".

She punched another student and only gets detention for that? When I got into fights with the guys at my previous school, I was suspended for a whole week.

I scoffed. And mom said this school was strict?

For the next few seconds, there was complete silence and I heard angry footsteps nearing the door I was staring at. When it swung fully open, the devil stepped out.

Her expression quickly turned from angry to annoyed. Or maybe both.

Folding her arms across her chest, she walked towards me, closing the small gap between us and glared at me, her face nearly an inch away from mine.

"I. Hate. You," she mutters, every word coming out in a sharp whisper.

"I've noticed." I grin.

I couldn't resist staring into her hazel eyes. Something I knew about hazel eyes was that they changed color when people were overwhelmed with emotions and when the sunlight reflected on them. Hers had a greenish color with a touch of brown in the center.

"Stop staring, shithead," she snapped before she turned around to leave.

"Shithead. A fan of that word or just addicted?"

She spun on her heal and shot me a deadly look.

"You really can't shut up, can you?" she questioned, the redness of anger spreading out on her face.

"Sorry. I'll stop," I held my hands up in surrender.

I never had any interest in teasing girls, but she was kind of fun to mess with. The way her face turned red of boiling anger was the funniest thing I had ever seen.

"Are you always this charming?" she questioned, ironically.

"Are you always a wild snake?" I snapped, smiling.

Shoot. I did it again.

"You,-" she snarled, but I quickly cut her off by shushing at her.

"If you don't want your detention to be doubled, I advice you to keep your voice down."

"How'd you..?" she furrowed her brows in confusion.

"You speak very loudly. Even the walls can't hold your voice inside the room," I replied, flatly.

She sighed of irritation before giving me a sharp look. I wondered if she ever smiled. Maybe happiness suited her better, because the anger on her face didn't look that good on her.

"Just stop talking. You're giving me a headache," she muttered.

She tried to turn around and leave, but my next words froze her in her position.

"I like your hair."

She rapidly turned around, leading her dark red hair with curls on the ends to swing in front of her shoulders. I managed to catch a glimpse of an extremely brief smile pass her face before she stared at me with an expressionless face.

"It really compliments your apple red face when you're angry," I added.

And then, as expected, anger boiled on her face before she took heavy steps towards me.

Before she tightened her fists, turning them pale, I noticed the black nail polish and ink of a blue pen covering her skin. Drawings of little moons, suns, and stars covered both of her hands.

However, before she could approach me, the principal stepped out of her office, instantly shooting a warning look at her.

Exasperated, Rachel threw a one last scowl at me before storming off.

"I hate you!" Were her last words, but not sure to which one of us before she walked away.

I transferred my gaze to the principal who sighed of exhaustion.

The tall woman before me was slim with a red simple dress and a grey cardigan. Her milky white skin was in contrast with her silky black hair pulled into a bun. According to me, she seemed to be in her early thirties just like mom.

However, unlike mom, I didn't see any trace of a broken fracture in her dark brown eyes.

"Come in, come in," she said while heading into her office and waving me inside.

I stepped into a professionally tidy, big room. The left side of the room was covered with a large bookshelf, filled with books. The right side had a blue couch with a brown wooden table placed in front of it making the room cozier to spend time in all day.

What fascinated me the most was the huge window covering the whole wall in front of me. You could literally see the whole country through it.

"You must be Elliot Waters. The new student of this semester with a free scholarship, correct?" she sat down in the chair behind her big desk with her back against the wall of glass.

"Yes, that's me," I replied, reluctantly peeling my gaze away from the amazing view. For some reason, I felt the slightest of nervous.

"I'm Isabelle Wilson. The principal here."

"Picking a fight with the other students is strictly forbidden here. You broke a very important rule. I'm sorry, but I'm going to take back your free scholarship."

My heart stopped. It literally stopped. I stopped breathing and the world around me froze.

"I...I didn't pick a fight with anyone. I stopped her from a-almost breaking the...the other guy's nose," I stammered, my heart beating painfully fast and my palms sweaty.

"You pushed her on the floor a little too hard. I saw the marks on her legs and even wrists. She said it hurt. Especially when she already," she paused, sighing.

I opened my mouth to say something, but instead I was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Mrs. Wilson said, sighing.

I glanced behind my shoulder and found a familiar tall guy dressed in black pants and a white buttoned shirt along with a maroon red tie and blazer.
His dark brown hair, was a little wavy on the top and complimented his dull blue eyes while his cheeks had a hint of constant red color on his cheeks. Additionally, his freckled nose seemed to be dominated by the bluish bruise on his nose.

With a troubled expression, he quickly walked towards us and met the principal's gaze.

"Rachel got detention for punching me and he loses his spot here just because he hurt her a little while trying to pull her away from me? That's not fair, Mrs. Wilson," he told her.

"I know you're just trying to help out someone who helped you, but eavesdropping isn't the correct way to do that." Her voice sounded strict.

"I need you to leave so I can handle this manner properly. I'll make sure to respect what you said, but for now, please wait outside," she ordered, politely as possible.

He sighed before nodding and turning around. We exchanged a brief smile before he exited the room. A flutter of hope grew in me.

"What he said sounds convincing," she admitted.

"T-that's fine, j-just please tell me you're not taking away my scholarship," I said, sounding desperate. I was desperate. My heart pounded, uncontrollably fast.

Suddenly, a fine smile broke out on her face. "It's okay, I'm not taking it away from you. Calm down," she assured, trying to speak as gently and calmly as possible to dial down my high-stress level.

Relief burst through me and I let out a deep breath. That was close. So close.

"You are a bright student with excellent grades. You didn't pay to get in here, but because of your hard work. That's amazing. Well done," she congratulated after skimming through my admission papers in her hands.

"T-thank you," I said. still trying to calm myself from an almost heart attack.

"I knew you were trying to just stop Rachel from hurting him, but pushing her down on the floor wasn't a fair way to do that. So you are getting punished just like Rachel is," she informed.

I swallowed hard. My gut feeling was always right. And now my gut feeling was telling me that whatever was about to come out of her mouth would destroy me.

"Rachel is failing in almost every subject. Since you are such a bright student with excellent grades, I want you to tutor her for the rest of this semester in the evenings."

And when that was said, I exploded.

"What the what?!"

"You want me to tutor that redhead snake?!" I didn't know what sound was the loudest. My voice or my heart.

"Excuse me?" Flustered, she knitted her brows.

"I-I mean, Rachel." I was in such deep shock, I couldn't even choose the right words to use.

"I know you two aren't exactly fond of each other, but she isn't as bad as she looks or sounds. She has just been through a lot the past four months. I feel like you can help her with her grades and maybe even become friends," she admitted.

I tried to think of something to say but failed. I never won an argument with mom. Guess the same thing had to happen with the principal as well.

"Okay, but I don't think she wants to work with me," I sighed.

"Don't worry. She's my niece. I'll convince her," she assured, smiling.

Niece? Wow. Didn't see that coming.

"Okay," I said, before pressing out a faint smile.

Yep. I was destroyed. I was completely destroyed.

Tutor the apple red haired girl who literally hated me. This was going in a very bad direction. A slippery and unsafe direction. And something was telling me I was going to fall.

"Well, now that we have that out of the way. Welcome, Elliot. I'm glad you chose this school to complete your last 6 months of your senior year in high school. I'm sure you'll love it here," she said, smiling kindly.

I nodded and returned the smile.

"The dorms are in the building to the left. Your dorm room is on the third floor, number 21. Here's the key and here is your timetable. You'll find the books for all the subjects on your desk in your room," she informed, handing me a key and a few sheets.

"The school is pretty big so don't stress if you get lost. Do you want me to show you the way to your dorm or can you ask the others students on the way?" she questioned, putting on her glasses, leading her to look a little older than her young self.

"No, that's okay. I'll ask someone for help if I get lost, but thank you," I said, politely.

"Oh, by the way, I teach social studies. I'll be looking forward to having you in my class."

I nodded and we exchanged a smile before I headed out and closed the door behind me. Afterwards, I let out a deep breath while telling myself I was in the safe zone now.

~

It took some time before I finally managed to find my way to my dorm. I didn't expect this school to me as enormous on the inside as it was from the outside.

When I unlocked the door, I entered a clean and briefly empty room. It's twice as big as my bedroom at home with a window on the center of the wall on the left side. The single sized bed was placed against the wall a few feet away from me while there was a big white closet next to it. The walls were blue, screaming of fresh new paint.

I pulled my sneakers off and put my jacket on the desk along with my keys and timetable where a stack of books were already waiting for me.

Afterwards, I literally fell down on the bed. As soon as my back landed on the madras, relaxation burst through me.
I had spent a half an hour in this school and I was already exhausted. Just when my eyes were about to close of tiredness, I quickly ripped them open.

It took a second for me to realize that I broke a promise. I picked a fight with someone. Again. A kind of "fight".

However, I technically didn't break the promise. I didn't pick a fight with a guy, but a girl. It was a difference. At least for me. And it wasn't actually a fight.

Rachel Adams. That was the name of the girl who was the reason behind my death tomorrow.
Because there was no chance that both of us would make it out alive from the room we would be studying in.

One was going to explode. And I've got a gut feeling the name of that person was Elliot Waters.

*****

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