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Ironic, huh?
But him? They suit him, and I just know he doesn’t have them for vanity’s sake. Honestly, I think he couldn’t care less about that stuff. Which is rare here, and very welcome when it does occur. Now there are two of us.
Us?I ask my traitorous brain. Where did that come from?
“Class,” Mrs. Johnson says, getting our attention, or more accurately mine as I’m the only one still watching him since the rest have moved on, “meet our new student, Austin Gillespie.” Murmurs come immediately, theories as to where he’s from, why he’s here – the frontrunner being that it’s because of a scholarship, which could be plausible as it does happen – and if he’s a jock or nerd. I have no idea why there’s a need to classify or fit within a certain group.
I roll my eyes at all of it, not concerned about their speculation or my own, instead choosing to give him a friendly wave, which he returns. And I swear I feel it in my heart.
**Austin**
After parking, my own car as it’s suitable for a guy attending a school of this caliber on a scholarship, I walk toward the front entrance and try to hear what’s being said around me. “Kids are brutal,” I mumble a few minutes later, knowing my comm unit will pick it up. Torren, Clover, and I are connected through them, giving us the ability to immediately reach each other should a situation arise that calls for it. And they’re small enough that they aren’t noticeable as they fit inside the ear, like the newer headphones do. They’ve been shadowing Willa since the day after our meeting last week. Torren’s size, though a curse because he can’t exactly blend in, is a blessing for the same reason. Hell, he can stand in front of Willa and no one could see her. As for Clover, there are going to be places Torren and I can’t go, which means we’ll need eyes on Willa that won’t raise suspicion or be inappropriate. Like the ladies’ room, for example.
Not that I wouldn’t follow her in there if I had to, but that wouldn’t exactly endear me to her, and I find that I want her to like me. A lot. And the realization that it won’t change anything is eating at me. I have no doubt I can protect her, but who is going to protect me from the pain of wanting her and not being able to have her?
“Don’t show fear, they’ll sense it like piranhas do blood,” Torren helpfully supplies.
“I bet he’s mentally flicking you off,” Clover guesses with a snicker after that pleasant visual.
“You’d be right,” I confirm. I may be twenty-six, but with my natural babyish face, foregoing my usual eyewear of contacts, and shaving my beard, I can easily pass for nineteen. The same age as Willa. The difference being that she actually is while I’m pushing thirty and have a mortgage.
“What was that groan for?” Clover asks, and I realize she’s speaking to me because I’m currently stroking my bare cheeks, missing the feel of my facial hair.
“I had to shave my yeard for this, okay? I’m allowed a moment of silence for my loss.”
“A what?” She wants to know, which causes both Torren and I to answer, though he goes a step further and explains.
“Look, I’m breaking all kinds of guy rules here, but it’s what we call a beard we’ve been growing for a year.” She says nothing, perhaps giving it the proper sendoff it deserves.
“Are you freaking kidding me right now?” Okay, maybe not. “Men are weird,” she mumbles, adding how glad she is that she wasn’t born with a dick.
That has Torren choking, and when he gets it under control, he asks, “How do you always know when I’m drinking? I swear you do that on purpose every time.”
“It’s a gift,” she responds. These two are like little kids with their bickering. If I didn’t know they loved each other like a sibling, I’d think this was their foreplay. I mentioned it once and they about gagged at the thought of anything romantic between them.
“Children, I’m about to enter the danger zone here,” and I’m not referring to the fact something could happen here because of the threat to Willa. “Can you focus?”
“Is Austin scared of high schoolers?” Torren mocks me.
“Yes,” I instantly answer.
“Smart. You just might survive this.” And then they both go radio silent as I walk through the front doors and prepare myself for what’s to come.
Anders pulled some strings to get my locker in the same section as Willa’s, so when I pass the number I know belongs to her, I make a mental note of its location. Her combination is already as familiar to me as my own, just in case I need to get in there for whatever reason. There’s a scent that surrounds it, a combination of apples and sin. I didn’t even know sin had a smell, so maybe it’s just her natural essence and I’m labeling it as such because she is the epitome of temptation for me. A prize I can only covet and never have.
I waited until the warning bell rang and she and my teammates went in the opposite direction before making my way to my own to deposit the books I’ll need later. Afterward, I head down the same hall she did and wait a few extra minutes before entering while I check in with Torren and Clover in person.
They assure me nothing has been out of the ordinary so far, with Clover tacking on that the usual cliques are in full swing. It’s been a while since I graduated, and as Anders said, I didn’t get to attend my full senior year, but I remember how they worked. A few months in to mine, my mom was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer that essentially left her bedridden. As it was just the two of us, and I knew our time together was limited, I dropped out to take care of her, to be with her. I don’t regret it, having missed nothing by not graduating with my class, but what I gained was priceless – memories. While she wasn’t pleased I quit, I know she cherished that time as much as I did. After losing her, I kept my promise and got my GED.
Walking toward my assigned homeroom, Torren and Clover clocking my steps as both are waiting within spitting distance of the door, I can’t help the chuckle that escapes me as Torren begins humming The Final Countdown. Clover sends him a long-distance high-five, then both get serious, sort of, and wish me luck as I reach for the knob and enter. Officially beginning my mission.
Then Willa raises her head – you bet your ass my gaze sought her out within seconds of crossing the threshold – and her eyes meet mine.
And I know, this is the beginning of much more than a mission.
———
Unfortunately, Willa and I didn’t get to talk after Mrs. Johnson introduced me, then instructed me to take a seat, putting me next to Willa. From there, she began taking attending and transitioned to something else.
