Morning came. We walked to school like always, but when we got there things felt more tense to me.
Having the messed up brain that I do, I have something called acute paranoia.
Which is like, you know when you watch a scary movie and those goosebumps ghost your skin and that pit in your stomach starts to fester?
You can feel the tension in the air?
Like the calm before the storm?
I felt that a lot; nothing would be wrong but it would kick in, that fight or flight instinct.
My anxiety helped it—if my paranoia was a junkie then my anxiety was the dealer.
The past few months I had been getting used to it, taking my meds and going to therapy.
But it still made my heart hammer in my chest and stomach flip.
I always managed to focus and pull myself out of it, using reason and distraction, but it’s always hard.
Having these kinds of issues fucking sucked.
Like any disease.
Walking into school shouldn’t be something you fear, something you hate or something that makes you wish you could just die so you wouldn’t have to worry about it.
But here I was, feeling like I could puke by the want inside me to NOT go in.
It wasn’t my intuition.
Which I couldn’t rely on anymore.
Percy put his hand on my back, asking me about some handshake thing we used to do as kids with string; he had caught the signs and helped me walk through the door.
Piling our shit into our lockers, my mood switched into autopilot and I went through the gears of emotions that felt normal.
I was talking shit with Percy waiting for the first bell to ring so we could get this day started when I heard a voice down the hall call out: “Ginny Granger.”
Percy looked at me, then at the voice coming closer before he looked back to me with wide eyes and a tight-lipped smile.
“Ginny Granger, you’re being summoned.”
Percy chuckled at the name, treating it under his breath like he was sick of my bullshit already and I hadn’t even started.
Nodding, I turned to face the culprit.
“Yes, Sunshine?” I closed my locker.
He smiled, his pure white teeth glistening under the fluorescent overhead lights.
Damon looked me up and down, not to check me out, but more like he was trying to figure me out, like I was some weird bug and he was inspecting under the microscope.
“Wanna come hang out with us after school?” Sunshine tucked his hands in his jeans and leaned in.
It was cute the way he was trying to seem bashful. I may not have a dating history but I’m not stupid either.
This was a good move.
Just not good enough.
“Hang out with you three? Aw shucks.”
I flipped my hair off my shoulders and held a hand to my heart.
“If that isn’t the sweetest offer,”
My lips curled into a shifting smirk.
Percy hid behind me, using his locker door.
“But I’m going to have to pass.”
I let out the breath I was holding and looked at all three of them.
“Got something better to do, beautiful?” Sunshine stepped in, really trying to get me to say yes.
I get it, I was nice to Sunshine so they thought I obviously liked him.
I didn’t.
I just don’t have a thing for blonds. Nothing against them, it’s just my dad’s side of the family are all blondes, so the effect didn’t work on me.
“Better than you, Sunshine? Of course I do.”
Percy cackled before he started coughing and hitting his chest to hide it.
Sunshine’s face fell, but Damon’s eyes lit up like a kid’s on Christmas.
“I’m sorry, I’m not interested in you either.”
The brown-haired boy nodded his head and looked over at Sunshine; Damon kept his eyes on me.
Sunshine’s smile came back like he was going to try again.
“You did good, with the smile and the eyes and the whole, ‘oh I’m sorta bashful’ thing you tried out. If I was another girl I might have fallen for it. Too bad I’m not, though. Bye, Sunshine.”
I waved and grabbed Percy by the arm before I pulled him away with me.
He shut his locker with a slam and we briskly walked away.
When we turned the corner and got out of sight, Percy kept repeating “oh my God” over and over like it was some kind of weird chant or a spell or something.
“I can NOT believe you just did that. Did you see his face? His jaw fell all the way to the floor.”
I rolled my eyes as we got into class and took our seats.
First period dragged on. So did the next three.
When lunchtime came, Percy and I took a seat outside in the shade.
Lying out in the grass with the breeze made it bearable.
Stuffing our faces and talking, we didn’t notice Damon and his group walk up to us.
His dark shadow fell over the ground we sat on, leering over us and making Percy uncomfortable.
“You know, school’s been in session for a month and I didn’t notice you all, now I find you everywhere.”
His voice sounded like he was annoyed by me, like I’m the one following him!
“Stop looking for me then, creep, that might help.”
I took a sip of my soda and looked up at him.
His arms crossed at his chest, the light gray T-shirt hung around his thick muscles.
“Can I help you with something else, Angel?”
The corners of his lips twitched.
“I think you’re lying.” His hands fell to his sides; the way he looked down at me, I could see myself in the reflection in his dark eyes.
“Oh, do you? Should I ask what about or are you going to tell me your whole long, drawn-out plan like some kind of Bond villain?”
I handed my drink to Percy and popped to my feet, ignoring the tightness in my legs.
“You think you’re funny,” he sneered.
“No, Angel, I don’t. I do think it’s funny how you react to me, though.”
Damon Henley, this notorious rebel without a care, badass tattooed stranger who I don’t even really know, was getting furious with me and my rebuttals.
“Damon, let’s go, come on already,” the brown-haired boy called him from the lunchroom doors.
The prince and I were holding a staring contest.
“Damon is it? Hmm.” I looked him up and down, tsking and sitting back down.
I saluted him off and took my drink back from Percy, who looked like he was going to pass out at any second.
“You really need to calm down, Piglet. You’re going to stroke out.” I stole his chips and popped one in my mouth.
The rest of the day was fine.
Percy didn’t talk to me much, but when gym came around, I was happy to see him go off with his friends, even if that meant I was alone for awhile.
I liked being alone at the house, but in public it was the opposite.
Having anxiety is like every thought you have, every move you make is in question.
You second guess yourself on basic things, like where to throw away your lunch.
I’ve held onto an apple core for thirty minutes before I saw someone else throw away theirs, so I knew I could.
Having Percy around made that loud voice in my head quiet down.
Without him, it was like my anxiety was the loud backseat driver, giving backhanded compliments and questioning every little thing around us.
Every day, Coach Kline makes us run three laps on the track, that’s our gym.
If you finish before the hour’s up, you have to walk it until the bell rings.
I hate gym.
Hate it.
While we do our run, the guys are in the field that sits there in the middle with the track going around it.
Getting onto the track, I start in.
I was running in my lane when Sunshine popped up on my side, keeping my speed in the grass beside me.
“So you and Percy Madis?” he asked.
Slowing down and coming to a walk, I roll my eyes.
“You got something to say about him, Sunshine?”
Holding his hands to his chest and shaking his head, he told me no.
“Just wondering.”
Sunshine laughed, keeping to my side before he stopped in front of me.
“Right, being a Granger you already have a Weasley and a Potter as your good friends.”
“I’m so glad you understand.” I sidestepped him but he got back in front of me.
“I like the name Savannah better than Ginny, anyways.”
He watched me accusingly.
“I like Ginny but whatever floats your boat.”
“Savannah Gabrielle Madis. Niece to Deputy Madis, first cousin to Percy.”
I felt the shadow fall over me. Not looking back, I knew it was the dark prince.
“Are you asking, or?” I crossed my arms and cocked my hip back out.
“Having trouble at your new school, Savannah? Trouble with the cheer squad taking your stuff?”
“Well, I thought you guys were dicks. Now I know you really are, you know, private eyes.”
I clapped sarcastically.
“Good job, Sherlock, Watson, so that makes you Irene, then? Anything else you three figure out?”
Damon moved to my side, the brown-haired boy to my other, with Sunshine in the front of me.
“Did your cousin tell you anything about me?” Damon looked across the field to where Percy was turned away, doing jumping jacks.
“Why would he? I don’t even know your names. Besides the thing at lunch. All Percy said was ‘wow’ and reminded me to use my manners.”
“I didn’t even know your name till Moonpie said it today.” I flicked my eyes at the brown-haired boy, who smiled so big his cheeks held dimples.
“Moonpie?” His voice was airy and delightful, filled with amusement at the pet name I had all of a sudden christened him with.
“That’s hard to believe, especially when you lied to me already.” Damon’s voice, however, was cold and strict like it always is.
“Right, why wouldn’t I want some random asshole who’s cocky and whose arrogance rivals that of Zeus’ himself know my name?”
“One who is convinced I want to fuck him, which, hashtag spoiler alert, I do not, not his friends either.”
I looked at Sunshine then at Moonpie with a stern glare to show it.
Damon looked me over.
Like he was trying to read me like a book.
Like I had every word written out on my skin and was bared for him to see every sentence.
“I don’t know who you guys really are, I don’t care. I’m sorry I took your clothes, you…obviously know why I did. I needed them, and now they are returned.
“We don’t have to keep doing this, you looking for me, following me around, asking around about me. We can just leave it as a bad day turned worse and now forgotten about.”
Silence.
Of course I made this worse.
“If there’s a problem just take it out on me. Percy and Uncle Jonah had nothing to do with me borrowing your shit.
“If it’s really this big a deal pick a punishment and let’s get it the fuck over with.”
A devilish smirk curled at Damon’s lips.
“Have a good day, Savannah, we’ll be seeing you around.”
And they walked off, leaving me to go back to track and replaying the conversation with the thought of Damon liking the idea of punishing me.
