You're My Only Obsession

Chapter three - Scarlet

There was a small knock at my door, and I groaned at it. "Scarlet, time to get out of bed. Collage is in an hour. Breakfast is on the side," Cody said calmly.

"Get up b***h" I heard from the kitchen, now that was the usual wake-up call from Emily. Before I knew it, she was in my room her arms folded across her chest, tapping her foot. I moaned dismissively and pulled up my blanket. "Get your lazy ass out of bed Scarlet," she said jokingly, with a huge grin on her face. Suddenly I felt the warmth of my blankets gone, and cold air attacking my skin. I moan even louder but sat up giving Emily the evils. But she gave me the biggest sarcastic smile she had.

"Your ass. In the kitchen. Now. Or ill drag you in there myself" then she skipped out of the room.

Its been a week since that night happened and I haven't been able to go to class where Aaron is. Today is my first day back and I'm nervous about bumping into him.

I have been thinking of Sam since I last saw him, how he looked at me and what he said to me before leaving. I have wondered if I would see him in class. I smile at the thought; I think since that horrible day I've been hoping to seeing him.

"What are you smiling about?" Emma asked and wriggled her eyebrows at me. I blush and laughed.

"Oh nothing" I lied. She knew that I wasn't telling the truth though.

"Must be about a boy then" She nudged me and I blushed more.

"Oh shh, I wasn't thinking about anyone. Just the thought of going back to class brought me so much joy" I say sarcastically. She laughed and called me a liar.

I then stood up to get my bag to head to college.

Each step towards the place brought some new anxiety. I knew what class I had first, psychology. Aaron was in the same class. Before the holidays I would sit with him but now I have no idea where I'll be able to sit. I've had night terrors since that night. The memories of what Aaron did repeat every time I close my eyes. When Cody and Emily asked about my lip, I told them that I lost my footing at the party and fell over. Don't think they believed me, but they didn't press with any questions apart the normal 'are you okay?'. Neither Emily nor Cody was in that class with me, so I must suffer with the looks he will be giving me. I know Sam is in the same class, but I haven't heard or seen him since that night after the party.

I could feel my breathing getting shaky once I had reached the college. I kept my hands in my pockets to keep them from shaking. I also kept my head down in hopes he won't see me. I arrived outside the classroom; I looked at my watch, 9:00am. Aaron will already be here sadly because I took too long to get out of bed, normally I am early, but I've just been struggling recently. The classroom was large and sloped, covered in chairs and right at the front was my professors' desk with his monitor behind it. As soon as I walked in, I spotted him, forth row, to the side. The seat behind him was empty – which was my seat.

I scanned the back rows, there were two empty seats, one next to a guy with his head down, drawing but the other spear seat was next to the girl who to be honest doesn't shut the hell up. I turned in the direction of the boy, at the same time Mrs. Wills walked in. she scanned the room slowly and her eyes met mine.

"Miss Buxton, please can you take a seat." She narrowed her eyes at me.

I gave a nod, and everyone was looking at me. including Aaron who had a wide grin on his face then winked at me. I looked away quickly, knowing I would throw up if I looked at him for any longer. As I was walking towards the spear seat, I realized who I was about to sit next to. His dark blue eyes met mine and I couldn't look away. Somehow looking at him made me feel a little safer. The man who was sat drawing was Sam.

I then heard Aaron make a side comment, which everyone laughed at. The attack came flooding threw my head again. How weak I was. About How much Aaron enjoyed himself making me feel small. I didn't sleep all night that night, I just cried till it burned my throat. I just want to forget what happened that night.

"Is this seat taken?" I whisper to Sam, smiling weakly at him.

"No" he said to me, not looking away from me. I looked him in the eyes, and I could feel the tears pricking at my eyes.

"How are you?" he asked, going back to sketching a drawing of a girl with beautiful eyes.

"I'm okay, thank you" I lied, but really, I couldn't tell him the truth here. When I answered his question, he was looking at me, searching my face knowing it was a lie.

"You haven't slept well" he said matter-factually.

"No, I haven't. But seriously I'm okay" I said trying to get him to believe me.

"Scarlet stop lying, you're not okay" he said calmly. I looked at him in shock, why did he even care. Like come on he hardly knows me, he only knows about what my ex-boyfriend did because he was there the night it happened. Not saying I'm not happy he was there but he should keep to his own business and not worry about mine. So I ignored him and I think he got the point to leave it be because he pulled out his notebook and started to take notes of the lecture.

I sucked in a lung full of air, frustrated. Hoping the lesson will end quicker. I tried to avoid eye contact with Aaron as much as possible, but it was hard because he was staring at me all lesson. When he mouthed 'I love you' to me, my breathing quickened, and I stared gagging again. Tears started to fill my eyes. I gripped onto the table digging my nails into the wood, because everything started to spin around me. I felt like I was losing control of everything, myself and other stuff around me.

"Scarlet are you okay?" Sam said sounded very close to me. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. I felt his warm hand on my hand and the other hand rubbing my back. I didn't flinch away from his touch because it was strangely comforting. I was right he was very close to me; I could feel the warmth of his body from where I was.

"He's in here...Looking at me" I sobbed out.

"What where?" he sounded alarmed now, Paying attention to what's around us.

"He's been looking at me. All lesson. Help me Sam" my voice broke on the last words, I couldn't talk anymore or I was going to break into a million pieces. I didn't even know I said the words till he looked at me with wide eyes.

"Scarlet don't worry, I'll help you." He said holding my shaking hand. His hand never left mine for the rest of the lesson. It actually helped me calm down a little; I didn't feel the huge lump as much in the back of my throat.

As soon as the bell rang, he dragged me out of the room. I tried to keep up but that meant practically running, so I let him pull me along. I looked behind me; Aaron was trying to push through the crowd of people towards me. Then we suddenly turned a corner, hitting a wall. Sam stood in front of me protectively and two minutes later Aaron ran by looking desperate. I started to sink to the floor but Sam caught me before I hit the floor. He put his arm around me and then I started crying. He sat me on the floor, pulling me towards him. "Shh it's okay Scarlet. I'm here for you. He won't hurt you. I promise" his words sounded reassuring; like he was telling the truth.

Suddenly I felt the overwhelming feeling of being cared for. Sam really cared. I was letting him get too close to me. I stood up quickly, looking at him. I had to put my barriers up. I can't get hurt again. All my muscles were tensed when I looked at him; he looked up at me worriedly. He then noticed what I was about to do and his expression turned to sad. I couldn't say anything but walk away.

The rest of the day went by fast. I tried to avoid both Sam and Aaron.

"Why were you late to health and social care Scarlet?" Emily was looking at me from across the table. I froze in my seat, trying to think of a lie to tell her which was believable.

"I...um. Went to the nurse?" I whispered. Well-done Scarlet. Great lie. That was obvious. Emily looked at me, which meant she didn't believe me but she acted along with it.

"What was wrong?" she gave a weak smile.

"I had a headache" that was true, even if I wasn't with the nurse. I did have a headache.

Later that evening, Emily went out with her sister, Jasmine. So Cody and I were left to do the shopping.

We walked around clueless trying to find decent food to buy in Tesco's. An hour had past and we were done. All I wanted to do now is go home and hide under the duvet cover.

As we walked towards the checkout till, I noticed who was in the chair. Sam. Why now. I needed to keep him away from me.

He looked up at us then as if he read my thoughts looked shocked. As soon as he made eye contact with me I looked at the floor. My heart was racing. When I looked up, Sam was looking at Cody with narrowed eyes then looked back at me, giving me a weak smile. Sam didn't say a word to me, which was great because I didn't want to talk to him.

"Did you know that guy Scarlet?" Cody asked as we walked away. I shake my head at his question.

"Nope, never" I whisper.

"Weird. He looked at you like he did." He turns to give Sam one last side glance and then looks back down to me. I give him a nod and Cody smiles at me.