01

It was almost time. A minute left on the clock until it struck 3 - the end of school. Gathering all my papers, I stuffed them carelessly into my binder. At long last- the weekend was here.

The bell rung and I remained seated, hoping to wait out the crowd of 'kids' stampeding their way to the door. When all was clear, I stood up, waved tiredly to the teacher and trudged outside the classroom and into the bleak hallways.

It was a Friday, the last day of school till Monday and, honestly, there was not a more joyous occasion. School was a horror-ridden nightmare, especially when spent alone.

I sighed heavily and opened my locker. Throwing my books in, I turned to glance at myself in the small mirror attached to the wall of the locker door, studying my reflection. My brown hair was up in a pony tail, giving a perfect view of my face. Two brown doe eyes stared back at me and I sighed heavily at the blatant lack of effort I had given into my appearance when getting ready every morning.

"You can keep looking, but it won't change what you look like." A voice sneered teasingly from behind me. I whirled on my heel to come face to face with Britney Sanders- otherwise referred to as the girl who had bullied me as soon as she was capable of forming a full sentence. I hated her, but I couldn't deny the fact that, no matter how fake Britney looked, she was what I aspired to look like. She was gorgeous. Her blonde hair cascaded smoothly down her back, outlining her slim jawline. She wore a floral blouse and shin-length pencil skirt, showing off her thin legs, her entire look ending with ballet flats. Her face was slender and a natural tan coloured her face. She exuded the impression of a Mediterranean goddess.

"What are you staring at?" Britney snapped yet she was smiling slightly. Yes- it was evident in her eyes that she was aware that I envied her. She liked the fact that I would do anything to look like her. However, this didn't stop the bullying, rather it encouraged it, acting as a means for her to showcase her beauty to a 'pathetic soul' such as me every single day, only increasing the envy I felt.

Britney chuckled slightly to herself.

"You're so pathetic." She squeaked, looking down at her nails. Tears threatened to sting at my eyes at the remark and I looked around. Students stood and watched as the scene played out- most passed by and ignored my plight yet a small few looked in sympathy. Nonetheless, none of them stood up for me. This always happened. No one came to my protection. No one would be my saviour. But I wouldn't cry.

No. I had kept a vow to myself that I would never satisfy anyone by letting them see me weak or vulnerable to their taunts. I would never break down.

Britney scowled at me. She always did when I produced no reaction unlike her other victims. Suddenly, she reached out, hitting the remaining books out of my hand. She smiled, satisfied to have left her mark and walked away, her shoes making a tottering sound as she left.

Everyone turned away from me. They were bored. The entertainment had left, but I was grateful that the attention had been taken off of me. Picking up my books, I looked to see where everyone's attention had fallen now and immediately rolled my eyes.

There, walking down the hallway with his friends, was the schools 'golden boy'. I looked at a group of girls smiling subtly in their direction, no doubt competing with their friends for his attention and all the guys smiled and greeted him as though he was their best friend. Heck, everyone wished to be his best friend.

He smiled cockily, walking down the hallway as if it was his personal property. On his right, a blond-haired boy stood, walking equally as cockily, his muscles were big and taut and every now and then he would smile flirtatiously at a girl, as they practically pleaded for his mere presence. This made him laugh raucously, his brown eyes twinkling with amusement. His name was Daniel yet his friends knew him as Danny.

My gaze fell to the left of the 'golden boy' where a black haired boy stood, his grey eyes bored and unfazed- a scowl etched permanently in his features. His name was Justin. I watched him eye the people crowding them in distaste. He merely waved off any girls who called for his attention and stood texting on his phone, looking up often to ward of anyone that tried to approach them.

A lot of guys wanted to befriend them and mostly every girl wanted to date them. They were the populars, the bad boys, the hotties and smack bang in middle was their leader.

Aaron Walker.

He strode confidently down the hallway, making small talk with girls who called his name. His black hair was tousled. He laughed alongside his friends, lifting his head into the air ever so slightly. His laugh sent chills up my spine. His blue eyes shone with mischief as he flirted shamelessly with every girl, laughing when they nodded animatedly at every word that came out his mouth.

I rolled my eyes. I mean, I knew he was good looking. Ok, I knew he was gorgeous, but from what I had gathered, by being made to sit with him in classes, is that he was a total ass who loved only himself. He would have a girlfriend for a short period of time and then move on when he was bored. How could he still have so many girls still after him?

I tore my sight away from the ridiculous scene in front of me and focused on taking out some books out of my locker. It WAS the last day of school and if I didn't bring my books I wouldn't be able to study during the weekends and then I would be left with completely nothing to do.

The only thing I did out of school hours was study and.... I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I slammed my locker shut and turned around. I let out a small startled noise at the sight in front of me.

Right in front of me stood The 'Golden Boy', his hands stuffed in his pockets, smiling and his eyes were on me. I blinked. I blinked again. The boy still stood there, his smile replaced with a look of impatience. I soon realised he was expecting me to talk. My mouth opened and then closed. I couldn't find the words.

What was I supposed to say?

Surely, he was supposed to start the conversation. He did walk up to me. But he was Aaron Walker and whoever he wanted to talk to had to talk to him. I suppressed an eye roll and looked to him warily, meeting his gaze dead-on. The colour surprised me slightly. From a distance, they seemed to be an ocean blue yet up close, they were an electrifying pale blue; a lining of grey shading his iris.

I straightened up rigidly, looking slightly away when I had ogled for too long and- much to my dismay- he had a bemused expression, smirking at me. He was clearly under the misconception I was 'checking' him out.

I cleared my throat at this and exhaled through my nose, causing my nose to flair slightly. He watched every action intently.

"Can I help you?" I said curtly, a hint of irritation bubbling in my voice.

He didn't seem to notice and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again before looking around. A group of people had formed around us now and I hated it.

Aaron glared pointedly to the crowd, annoyance apparent on his features. The crowd gradually started to decrease and only Britney remained at the end. She stared long and hard at me, venom clear in her eyes. I stared back, showing equal hatred.

I wasn't scared of any of these people. Yes, I let them bully me, but only because fighting with them wasn't worth the trouble. I didn't, however, let them see me cry. I was too strong for that. I had to be strong.

Aaron glanced between the two of us, noticing the stares we were giving each other. He scanned around the hallways, tapping his shoe repeatedly on the marble floor. He must have thought that he waited long enough as his impatience got the better of him and he cleared his throat loudly, ending the stare-off amongst Britney and me.

Britney tore her gaze from me and smiled flirtatiously to Aaron. He grinned widely at this. I rolled my eyes. Oh, how he loved being the centre of attention.

"Er, look Brooklyn," he started lazily, gesturing tiredly with his hands.

"Britney," she piped up, sweetly.

He rolled his eyes. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. It was pretty clear he didn't care.

"Yeah, Britney. I really need to talk to..." He raised his eyebrow at me, awaiting for me to throw in my name.

I supressed the scoff that was about to leave my lips at his blatant disregard for my existence when I had been in most his classes since the start of school. It was obvious now that the surplus of looks was, no doubt, a guise for his lack of memory.

"Alexis" I deadpanned, eying him with a flat stare. He smiled in return.

"I really need to talk to Alexis, so if you don't mind..."

Britney's flirtatious smile faltered a little bit causing me to grin toothily. I was enjoying this conversation way more than I had planned. Nevertheless, Britney brightened instantly.

"Yeah, I'm going, but you'll get back to me about planning Madison's birthday, right?" She asked, the desperation practically seeping out of her words.

"Sure, er, Bridget," he responded, his face marred with boredom.

"It's Britney," she chirped, the sickly smile never leaving her face.

"Yeah, I'm sure it is," he deadpanned, eying his watch before looking up and dismissing her with a small wave.

"Bye," she all but chirped out, her voice coated with such a sick sweetness it made me gag.

With one last glare sent towards me, Britney tottered down the hall, stopping at the end, where she turned briskly put her manicured hand to her mouth and blew a small kiss in Aaron's direction. He lazily drew his hand up, not taking his eyes off me, and captured the kiss. With this, Britney smiled contently and sauntered away.

Aaron stole one last look at her before he turned his full attention to me, his face turning from boredom to seriousness in a matter of seconds. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"I need a favour."

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