𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐃 🩸

CHAPTER TWO

I woke up the next morning to the muted, grey light of dawn spilling through the grimy window. Glancing over at the empty, unmade mattress across the room, it was obvious Roxie hadn't come back last night. Great. My first official day in town, and I already had a roommate who slept out.Honestly, I didn't know whether to be relieved or worried, but right now, I had bigger problems—like getting ready for my first day of school.

With a sigh, I grabbed my toiletry bag and a change of fresh clothes, making my way down the dim hallway to the communal bathroom. I didn't know what I had been expecting from a cheap, old apartment building, but it definitely wasn't this.

The air was a thick, suffocating cloud of steam that smelled heavily of mildew, stale tobacco, and cheap body wash. It was a completely co-ed space, and the sheer lack of privacy was staggering. To my left, a guy with messy bedhead was standing at the cracked sinks, brushing his teeth and laughing at another guy who was dangling his d**k so it hit against his thigh,. Further down, a girl was leaning against the tiled wall, scrolling on her phone while a couple were practically making out beside her.

Ugh, having to bathe in the same bathroom as men was deeply uncomfortable. I made a strict mental note to set my alarm at least an hour earlier tomorrow so I could wake up before anyone else.

Desperate to just get it over with, I walked over to the row of open shower stalls. The plumbing looked like a relic from a century ago—exposed, sweating pipes jutting straight out of the stained subway tiles. The shower took forever to get warm, sputtering and whistling like it was about to explode. I stood there, shivering, thoroughly annoyed that they hadn't even put up a curtain or a door for privacy.

Because there were no boundaries, I was stuck facing the toilet stalls directly across the narrow aisle. Sitting on one of the open, doorless toilet was a girl with dark eyeliner and a smoldering cigarette dangling from her lip. One of her hands held a phone, explicit s*x sounds of a porn video blaring from the speaker, while her other hand was jammed between her legs, her fingers moving in a raw, frantic rhythm against her c**t.

She was visibly slick, her breath hitching in time with the audio from her phone, completely lost in her own friction while the smoke curled around her face.

When she noticed me staring, frozen in pure shock, she didn't stop. Instead, she fixed me with a heavy, blown-out stare, her fingers picking up the pace, deliberately letting a low groan escape her throat. The casual, public rawness of it made my stomach drop. I hated that everyone else seemed completely comfortable with this arrangement, but I wasn't. I didn't want to be seeing naked bodies that weren't mine, or people having s*x and m**********g and I definitely didn't want a stranger staring at me while I washed.

I tried to move fast, tilting my head back to lather the vanilla-scented bar soap over my face. But just as my vision was blocked by a thick layer of white suds, the rusty pipe gave a loud, metallic clunk.

The water completely stopped.

"You've got to be kidding me," I groaned,

In my fumbling, soap-blinded panic to reach for my towel, my elbow hooked the edge of the rusty hook where I’d hung my fresh clothes. With a sickening slosh, my pile of clothes slid right off the metal and fell directly into the dirty, pooling water on the shower floor.

A sharp, mocking chuckle echoed from across the aisle.

"Welcome to Oakhaven, princess," the girl on the toilet seat drawled, blowing a lazy ring of smoke toward the ceiling.

Frustrated,I blindly grabbed my towel, wiped my face and wrapped it tightly around my body. I snatched up the soaked, ruined pile of my soaked clothes from the floor and rushed out of the bathroom, leaving the steam and the judging stares behind me.

******************************************

Finding my school wasn't difficult. Even though I had never been there before, Oakhaven was a small town and probably because oakhaven high seemed to stand out among the other buildings.

it was nothing like I had expected or how it looked on the brochure, it was old, and it was in the middle of trees it was hard to tell the size, but the maroon coloured walls stretched so high into the foggy sky that they blotted out the morning sun.

I was just glad to find a spot to park, because the gravel lot was already packed with cars. And not just any cars. Sleek, dark, ridiculously expensive luxury vehicles lined the rows, making my father's rusty, faded blue van look like a total eyesore.

Sitting in the driver's seat, it took me a minute to catch my breath, shake off the morning's chaotic bathroom disaster, and finally step out of my van. I braced myself against the damp chill and walked into the building.

Inside, the hall was surprisingly brightly lit, and crowded. as prowled through the crowd, I was unconsciously aware of the gazes on me, most of the girls here were either porcelain-colored or pale, being the only dark skin girl suddenly made me feel like a spot light was shining directly over my head.

My first class was math, but it wasn't till 9:00, so I had a bit of time to look around, telling myself that they could only stare and not eat me, I walked through the halls, checking the cafe, the girls locker room and then the gym.

by the time I was done checking out the gym and mentally memorizing my way around the building it was 8:50. I decided it was time to find my math class, the last thing i wanted was being late to my very first class.

The classes were only big enough to contain about twenty students.

I took the slip up to the teacher, a short bald head man whose desk had a nameplate that identified him as Mr Gordon.

he signed the slip without looking at me and sent me to an empty desk at the back. at least he hadn't asked me to introduce myself to the class, because the last time I had to introduce myself I had a total meltdown.

it was harder for my new class mate to stare at me while I sat in the back, but they managed, their gazes following me as I made my way to my new seat.

for half the class, I had my eyes glued to my text book, I loved math. but it was hard to focus with all the looks I was getting, I tried to drown the thought of their gazes on me by solving some math equations.

I couldn't have been more relieved when nasal buzzing sound of the bell rang announcing an end to my math class.

I got up to pack my books into my bag, when a girl with pale skin and short black girl walked over to me.

" you must be sapphire Vance" she asked

" Saph" I corrected, a bit taken aback that she knew my name. " how did you.."

" know your name" she completed cheerfully.

" well, oakhaven is really small, it doesn't take long before everyone knows the new girl" she explained. then pushed her hand in front of me, " I'm Susan, but call me su"

I took her hand, she held my hand for a while, looking closely at me, then finally she let go.

" what 's your next class?" she asked.

I took out my notepad and checked. "um, government".

" good, I'm also having government" she announced so loudly that everyone with a three seat radius turned to look at me." let's go together "

I threw my backpack over my shoulder, and Susan instantly locked her arm around mine. It felt a bit strange, but I managed a tentative smile and mumbled a small thank you. Having a guide was better than wandering the halls alone.

" so how are you finding oakhaven?" Susan asked. I was sure the people behind us were close enough to eaves drop, or maybe I was just being paranoid. " is it different from where you use to stay"

" it very different" I say.

" what is the weather like?"

" it usually sunny, " I said.

su nodded, when I thought she was done with the question she asked." are there more people of your colour there".

then she gasped and looked at me like she'd said something she shouldn't, " I'm so sorry I didn't mean..."

" it alright" I replied.

" about 100 I'll say there were 45 percent black from where I came from"

she smiled, her expression relieved.

we finally got to class, and I couldn't have been more relieved, another few minutes with su asking me all those questions and I was sure I would lose my mind.

The rest of my morning classes passed quickly, and by that time I had began to memorize some faces from each class, there was a girl named Gina, who chewed on her hair the whole time in my Spanish class, and there was the red hair guy who kept trying to ask me a question anytime the teacher has his back to the class.

By the time the bell rang i was certain, oakhaven was much different and much weirder place and I couldn't wait to gist Lexi all about it.

I was packing my bags, when su and another girl she introduced to me as Jesse asked if I wanted to join them for lunch. it wasn't like I had any options. so I agree,

I followed them, but just as I was rounding the corner that lead to the cafe. I bumped straight into something or someone.

I groaned, rubbing my forehead as I looked up.

my breath caught in my throat, I found myself glaring at what seemed to be the most handsome guy I had ever seen.

He was tall, with broad shoulders that filled out a dark sweater, and thick, unruly dark hair that fell messy across his forehead. But it was his face that made my feet instantly glue themselves to the floorboards. He had sharp, aristocratic cheekbones, a jawline that looked like it had been carved from marble, and a pair of eyes that were a piercing, inhumanly vivid blue. They looked like ice caught in a winter sun—so bright they almost didn't seem real.

a girl stood just close enough.

They looked so much alike it was jarring—twins, definitely.

she had shinny blond hair that fell over her shoulder, She wore a beautifully tailored, cream-colored wool coat over a dark turtleneck. She was breathtakingly beautiful, tiny, built with a delicate, pixie-like frame.

" sorry" I mumbled.

The moment the syllable left my lips, the boy stiffened. His posture went completely rigid, like a coiled spring, and his features contorted into a look of pure, visceral revulsion. He glared down at me with burning, hostile eyes that genuinely terrified me, sending a violent shockwave of panic straight to the base of my neck. The hairs on my arms stood on end. For a wild, chaotic second, I wondered if I had done something to him, or if we had met before—but I knew with a face like that, he would be impossible to forget.

Su suddenly grabbed my arm, pulling me away from his cold gazes to stand beside her.

he walked of almost immediately, his sister following closely behind him, I stood frozen beside su staring at his back and trying to make sense of what had just happened.

he was so rude and that was certainly unacceptable, who the hell did he think he was, I closed my eyes, trying to push down anger.

" oh my goodness" I heard su gasped, it looked like she'd been holding her breath for too long.

" who the hell was that" I asked, my pride hurt.