A Shade of Halloween Book 1

Chapter Thirteen

The car pulled over and Selena glanced at her mum's pretty features. Her full lips had a smile on display, but her green eyes showed her true feelings. She was worried about her and how she was going to cope on her first day back in school after the incident. That much was obvious, but because she wanted her to believe she bought her facade, Selena said nothing about it.

People always said she looked nothing like her mum. Selena didn't really look like any of her parents if she wanted to be honest. For a long time, she believed she was adopted but her parents assured her she wasn't. Her birth certificate confirmed their claim so she had no choice but to believe it. The only resemblance she had to any of her parents was her eye color. She had the same brown shade as her dad's and that was pretty much it.

"Try and have a good time in school today." Her mum said, pulling her out of her mental zone.

She handed her her sandwich in a brown paper bag, which Selena accepted with a smile.

"I'll try, mum. You don't have to worry. I'm fine." Selena gave her mum a peck before stepping out of the car.

She wasn't sure how convincing her smile was but it seemed to work. Her mum watched in silence as she got out of the car and slung her backpack on her shoulder.

Selena waved her goodbye and watched her drive off before beginning her short walk to class. Since the incident with Alex, she moved back home on her mum's insistence. She claimed to need the company because her dad was out of town but Selena knew that was just the cover story. Her dad was always out of town on business, 'making the money to give you the comfortable lives you live' – his exact words. Since she wasn't exactly ready to go back to her dorm after what happened, she agreed to her mum's demands.

Selena got into her History class and placed her textbooks on the table. She switched her cellphone to silent mode and waited for Mr. Ross to come in. She didn't really feel like listening to the sorrowful condolences coming in from her classmates, so she plugged her headphones to her ears and put her favorite playlist on repeat.

At exactly 8 am, Mr. Ross came in and began his lecture. Selena managed to remain invisible, following all his stipulated rules to avoid his verbal attack.

"Hey, Selena. Have you heard about Harper's party? Everyone's going." Tim Ropes whispered, halfway through the lecture.

Selena gave him the death glare and signaled to him to shut it. Thankfully, Mr. Ross didn't notice and the class went on.

She didn't grasp anything that was taught because her mind was all over the place. Somehow, she managed to maintain her 'focused' demeanor which feigned concentration. All she saw was Mr. Ross's lips opening and closing – and that was when she wasn't completely zoned out.

Mr. Ross concluded the day's topic and wrote the assignment for the next class on the board.

"This class is over, make sure to pick your graded papers on your way out." He said, reminding her of her paper which she never turned in.

Students made their way out of the class, leaving Mr. Ross who stayed back to pack his teaching materials neatly into his briefcase. He supervised the collection of graded papers until everyone was out of the class – except her.

When they were alone, Selena walked up to Mr. Ross and handed him her paper. She knew his rules about late submission, but she had to at least try. If not for the incident, she would have turned her paper in on time. She mentally prepared for whatever the outcome was, but that didn't help release her breath which was caught in her chest as she went up to face him.