Chapter 30

One month later…

I jolted up in bed. My heart was racing. My face was covered in sweat, and my hands were clammy. This wasn’t the first time I’d woken up like this… The nightmare, it always just seemed so real. Yes, ‘nightmare’, as in singular. It was always the same one, recurring every few nights or so.

It always went the same way. I would be in my hospital bed, and Grant would be leaving. Leaving the room and leaving me. And I couldn’t follow him; I physically couldn’t get out of my bed and go after him. It felt as if I was tied down by invisible ropes, and I’d thrash against them as hard as I could, never breaking free. The whole school would be watching me, watching my struggles and laughing as I cried.

And it didn’t end there.

My mom and dad decided to travel the world again, realizing that they’d made a mistake coming back. And Trent hated me. He hated me for going behind his back, for dating his best friend, for lying to his face. He left me, too. Everyone I’d ever cared about, they all left me. Even Ryan left me, and nobody cared that I was alone.

I was just so alone…

I tucked up my knees against my body and rest my head on them. Why did Grant have to leave me? Why did he have to do what he did?

My door opened and my mom walked in. I guess that meant I was shouting out in my sleep again- must have woken her up.

She perched herself on the end of the bed. “Another nightmare?” she asked, even though it was pretty obvious that it was.

I nodded and she wrapped her arms around me, making me cry harder.

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I blinked a couple of times, trying to stay awake. I was so tired… I could never get to sleep after one of the nightmares. Yawning loudly, I stretched out in my seat and my eyelids started to drop.

I was already falling asleep and the class hadn’t even started yet.

The teacher hadn’t arrived yet, so I took the time to check my phone. There were no new messages or missed calls. I barely had anything to look forward to these days. At least I was getting my cast off after school today, and I guess that was something.

With the absence of anything else to do, I started playing Angry Birds, and I wasn’t even very good at that. It was so freaking hard to sling the birds to hit the blocks!

After about five minutes of playing, Mrs Sullen, my English teacher, walked in. Some guy I’d never seen before followed behind her. He must have been new.

Mrs Sullen cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention, even though the presence of the new guy had already done the job perfectly well. “Class, this is James Griffin. He’s just joined our school today, so try to make him feel welcome.”

I watched as every girl in the room inched a little further forward in their seats to get a better look at James. Yeah, I’d admit that he was cute. There was no denying it with his curly, black hair and brown eyes. He wasn’t as cute as Grant, though…

God, I had to stop thinking about him.

The new guy looked around for somewhere to sit whilst the teacher got the class started. There were only two free spots: one next to me, and one next to the head cheerleader, Hailey.

James seemed like he’d fit in well with the popular crowd, so I was pretty damn surprised when he sat down next to me instead. That earned a glare from Hailey. Jeez, it wasn’t like I forced him to sit there.

I looked down at my book and threw cautious glances at the newcomer out the corner of my eye. He was staring at me.

Why was he staring at me?

All through the lesson, that was all he did: stare, stare, stare. I didn’t say anything, though. I just kept on working, listening to Mrs Sullen ramble on and try not to fall asleep.

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Ryan came bouncing up to the lunch table that I’d picked out at the back.

I really didn’t understand how he could be so jolly all the time. It was like he was freaking Santa Claus or something.

“Guess what?” he asked cheerfully, sliding into his seat.

“What?” I tried to make my voice enthusiastic, I really did.

He grinned. “Jason’s transferring to this school.”

I gave him my best fake gasp. “Yay.”

Ry threw a chip at me. “Don’t hate. Just because you’re— hey, where’s your food?” He gestured to the empty table in front of me.

I shrugged. “I’m not hungry.”

“Come to think of it, Rose. I haven’t seen you eat in a while.” His eyes narrowed. “Why haven’t you been eating?”

“I’m not hungry,” I repeated simply.

He looked at me suspiciously, like he was a detective or my mother or something, but rightly decided to let the subject drop.

There was silence between us for a few minutes, until somebody sat down next to me.

“Hey,” the voice said. I looked up to find the new kid, James by my side. He was just sat there, smiling at me.

“Uh, hi?” Ryan said uncertainly. He gave me a look, and I returned it with a little shrug.

“I’m James,” the new kid said, outstretching his hand to Ry across the table.

“I’m Ryan.” He shook his hand. “And that’s Rose.”

I gave James a small smile, before returning my gaze to the table.

Another awkward silence settled on the table, and it stayed like that for the duration of lunch. I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I felt when the bell rang, signalling that the social torture was over.

I was walking to my next class when I heard someone calling out after me. I turned around and saw the new kid running up to me.

“Hey,” he said, smiling a little. “I know this is probably going to sound weird, but I’m new here. And you really seem like a cool girl to hang out with. So I was just wondering… would it be okay if we became friends?”

Now that was something I hadn’t heard before: cool and wanting to become friends? Was this guy blind or something?

I smiled carefully, not too sure whether James was joking or not. “Sure, but I don’t think I’ll make a very good friend.”

“You’ll do fine,” he said, making me laugh.