Blood, Love & Fear

Chapter 3

Aubrey is the first to speak up after what felt like a lifetime. “Danielle, nice to meet you! Don’t let these guys fool you they’re not as tough as they look. It’s about time there was another girl in the group, too much testosterone in the air around these animals.” Her comment causes everyone to laugh in different degrees. Danielle laughs along letting the tension fall off her shoulders, she notices Ezra shift his stance a little too quickly with a tight jaw. “Don’t worry I don’t scare that easily, but thanks Aubrey, I see what you mean though, tense over here” She retorts with a small smile. As the group makes their way to the next class Marcus finally speaks up as he grabs Aubrey around the waist “There she goes again our own little welcome committee rolling out the carpet” “Oh keep it in your pants Marcus I don’t want to see you all over my cousin like that” Cameron says rolling her eyes and making a face. “Cousin? Definitely thought you were twins.” Danielle says a bit shocked as they all enter the classroom. “They get that all the time” Joe says flatly and cold as he makes a quick line to a seat on the far side of the room. The classroom is set up more like a lounge area, sofas and beanbags scattered around and a few people choose to get comfortable on the floor, there’s not even a desk for the teacher. “Don’t mind him, he’s usually not this crabby. Cmon come sit with us.” Aubrey says quietly to Danielle as she takes her arm and leads her to the other side of the room by the largest sofa. Ezra goes to sit by Joe and the tension in the room is thick, almost suffocating. You could hear a pin drop yet the conversation between Ezra and Joe isn’t heard by the even the people near them. A woman who can’t be any older than 23 walks in the room, tight charcoal pant suit, stilettos, her curly red hair catching the morning sun in a way that makes it look like her long ginger locks are on fire. She props herself up on the window ledge, kicks off her shoes and addresses the tension. “Alright you two, that’s enough, egos away… ruining the mood in here, you know my rule.” A few soft chuckles are heard as Ezra stands from his spot and he crosses the room to join the group on the large sofa. Cameron stands from her seat next to Danielle and sits on the floor as Ezra approaches, giving her a slight nod and takes the seat draping his arm across the back of the sofa. Joe stays across the room and pulls out his headphones and a book from his bag and tunes out the world. “Alright moving on… Danielle, welcome, I’m Siobhan this is free period. All I ask is you’re here for attendance but most importantly there’s no drama or fighting allowed in here, the whole point of this space is being able to relax and just give you guys some time to decompress. Now that the macho show is over.. everyone can chill.” With that Siobhan rests her head against the trim closing her bright green eyes. Danielle hid her face the second their teacher said her name, now that everyone is going about their own thing she tucks some hair behind her ear before reaching for her bag by her feet. As she’s rummaging through her things there’s a shift in the air, it’s so calming and secure. Almost like there’s a giant weighted blanket around the whole room and she picks up on a faint scent of lavender she didn’t notice before. Danielle slowly sits back up with her notebook and pencils in hand and that’s when she realizes Ezra has shifted and she’s practically leaning into his side unintentionally. “Oh, sorry” she says quietly and adjusts her position slightly. “Nothing to apologize for Dani” he says lowly with his head resting back against the couch and his eyes closed. “Dani? No one has called me that in a long time.” she thinks back to her grandfather, the fond memories wrapping her heart too tight as she takes a deep breath. Ezra pops his head up at the tone of her voice “hey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed…” “Ezra it’s fine. I don’t mind, just caught me off guard is all.” she says with a small tight smile before turning back to her notes from this morning. He watches her for a moment, memorizing the way her brow scrunches ever so slightly as she’s focused on something, it melts his heart. There’s no telling how much longer he’ll be able to hold back on his feelings, especially now that he knows he’s not the only one. He can tell someone else is watching her and he’ll be damned before he loses her to someone else, even if that someone else is his best friend.