Chapter 10 - September 1, 2017 - Royce I found Alana, Genesis, and Tempest chatting over at their little table, but I also noticed this other guy sitting next to my cousin. Probably her crush, I thought. Walking over nervously, I saw Alana look up. “So, you came,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I? I’d do anything to get out of their wrath,” I replied. Tempest also paused to look at me. “First off, who’s ‘them’, and secondly, is it true that you and Genesis are cousins?” I sat down by Alana, and across from Tempest. “Yeah,” I mumbled. “By the way, did Alana mention anything between now and last Friday?” I asked, hoping for a solid “no”; I thought it’d be better if I told them myself. Before worrying about that, I answered Tempest’s questions. “Well, that guy with the silver dyed hair, and some of his friends. But, I can tell there’s more, maybe his other friends in the other lunch hour.” Genesis looked at Tempest. “You know who he’s talking about,” she said, elbowing Tempest. Tempest sighed. “I, uh, like the silver-haired guy, and his name’s Vincent. What’d he do?!” I should’ve known… “I don’t think his friends like me. They probably just think I’m the ‘weird new kid’ or something, and they were teasing me about something that happened last Friday,” I said. “And about your second question,” I added, “yes, that’s true.” Alana stopped eating her lunch to look at me. “No, I didn’t tell them about the ‘stuff’ you mentioned earlier, though I did say that you could today, if you wanted.” Great. My secret is going beyond the boundaries of NHA (North Heights Academy). Then again, Alana knew from the get-go, so it was fine as long as the whole school didn’t catch on about the news. “It’s the reason why some people from my old school hated me, and I think the news has spread to Vincent’s group.” Genesis and Tempest eyed me nervously. “I picked up some stuff Alana said in study hall last week… about a heart….” Tempest exhaled deeply. “I think it’s my fault Vincent’s boys hate you.” I can only tell them now. “I had two friends from North Heights, and I was bullied because of them. And I think you can only guess the reason for that.” They nodded.
