Damaged Mate

4

Ayersville High was both an unoriginal name and an unoriginal setting. It couldn’t have held any more than a hundred kids, grades ranging from ninth to twelfth and separated by rising floors. I wasn’t sure how they managed it, but the entirety of seniors’ classes managed to compact themselves at the very top, with the entrance encompassing the front office and a large, circular design depicting a wolf howling at the moon—a perfect representation of both our colors and mascot.

“Okay, so, at least I can’t get that lost…” Sliding my phone out of my pocket, I flipped through tabs and eventually settled on my schedule, beginning to walk toward the nearest staircase. “Homeroom first with Mr. Johnson… okay, and he’s Room 406? Maybe somewhere close to the middle, then, or maybe they interchange between—!”

A startled gasp slipped out of my throat as something barreled right into my side, knocking me completely off-kilter. My phone went absolutely flying, a heart-wrenching c***k following alongside its clattering throughout the school. I hit the ground hard on my back, air huffing out my lungs while I fought to get a breath.

And that’s when I caught a glance of Clyde hovering over me, still with that same, intense look from when I left.

There was a girl standing next to him, as well. Equally tan, same hair that tumbled past her chest, and these piercing blue eyes that seemed to bore through my skull. Well-fitted clothing accented her lithe body, but something about her almost dared me to suggest she was weak.

“Watch where you’re going, Safety Patrol,” Clyde sneered as he sauntered past, the girl tailing close behind.

I barely managed to sit myself upright, breathing somewhat ragged as I tried to processing what just happened. Part of me was so nervous to look around for my phone; that cracking sound had not sounded pleasant.

“B-but talk about whiplash,” I muttered under my breath. Who went from flirty and fun to an absolute jerk in less than a day?

“Uh, hey,” A timid voice approached me from behind. “I, um, think this is yours?”

I gingerly turned myself around, uncertain how much more unprompted nastiness I could handle. The feeling quickly faded to relief as I saw my phone in a mousy-looking girl’s hands, a nervous smile spread across her face. “Oh, y-yeah. Thank you.”

She eagerly passed it my way, hazel eyes widening excitedly beneath her thickly-rimmed glasses. “N-no problem! I sort of, um, w-watched what happened with you and Clyde. I promise he, um, does that kind of stuff to everyone.”

Even though we were just fine on the way to school. Whatever changed between then and now was an absolute mystery to me; maybe an accountant had screwed his family over or something?

“Well, thanks again for the save,” I said, inspecting my phone with a sigh of relief. There was a bit of a chip out of the case, but the screen itself was fine.

Glasses offered me her hand as I stood up, getting a closer look at her appearance. She really had the cliché petite body with baggy clothes covering her small frame, her saddlebag practically dwarfing her body. Platinum-blonde hair had been left to its own devices, somewhat tamed by a few colorful clips and bobby pins. “Y-you’re the girl Aiden met, right? Aria?”

I nodded, somewhat taken aback. “You know Aiden?”

“Hard n-not to know the mayor’s son.” Glasses grinned nervously. “I didn’t know M-Mr. Harvey had a daughter.”

“He kept me hidden in the basement,” I joked.

Glasses’ face paled slightly.

“Oh, no,” I reassured. “I lived with my mom in the city. Just moved in at the end of summer.”

“O-oh!” Glasses laughter was a bit too forced. “Yes, of c-course! That was a joke. R-Right.”

I couldn’t help but smile, relieved to have found someone somewhat normal. “So, I’m Aria, but your name?”

Glasses blinked, as if surprised I even bothered to ask. “L-Laura. Laura Lim—my aunt runs the local library.”

“Ooh, the coolest place to hang,” I said. “Bet you throw a lot of parties in the fiction section.”

It took Laura a second or two before she began to giggle. “Oh, th-that’s another joke! Yeah, n-no, it’s usually pretty quiet. Not that I mind,” she added. “It’s nice to have a p-place to myself.”

“Well, hopefully you don’t mind sharing with me,” I said.

“N-No, not at all!” Laura insisted. “I don’t—I-I mean, my aunt runs it, but we don’t own it. It’s open to the public. Well, it has to be, since the town technically owns the land, and—” Her face flushed pink as she pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. “S-sorry.”

“Hey, I like someone who knows their stuff,” I reassured her. “Speaking of which, you wouldn’t happen to know where Room 406 is, do you?”

Laura’s face lit up immediately. “Oh, M-Mr. Johnson’s room? Yeah, I was just on my way there, actually.”

Go, Universe, go. “Mind if I walk with you, then? I’ve got homeroom there.”

“O-oh! That’s wonderful!” Laura exclaimed. “I mean, I-I’d be happy to walk with you. If that’s okay.”

“I mean, I asked first.” I chuckled, relieved to have made a friend so quickly. She was a bit skittish, sure—not a ‘Hazel’ in any way, shape, or form—but at least Laura was nice. Maybe a not-Hazel was just what I needed this school year.