Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak novel Chapter 19

She puts a hand up as if to silence me. "I don't want to have sympathy for her. I want her to have sympathy for me already," she laughs.

I shake my head.

"Oh, this is your hallway," she points to the right.

I see the big number 400 over it. "Where's your class?"

"All the way on the other side of the building."

"Well," I keep going. "What do you have next?"

She shakes her head. "I looked at your schedule. It's not the same."

I frown. There goes the one person in this school who's treating me nicely.

She smiles, gently. "Don't worry. We have the same lunch and English class, so I'll see you soon."

I sigh but force out a smile. "Alright. See you."

We part ways and I walk down the dim hallway. It's not that it's improperly lit, it's just... there's an aura about it that I can't quite put my finger on. A few people pass in the halls, shuffling from here to there. They stare at me from the corner of their eyes, but when I look, they look away.

I check the numbers on the classrooms. Mine is 411. I'm passing 402 now. I look into a door I'm passing and I see students staring at a board with illegible characters written all across it. They speak in a language with harsh syllables and intonations. It's something I've never heard before. The next few classrooms have more common languages, like German and French, but I can't get the sound of that first language out of my head. I pass another classroom with more students speaking it, and I pause. What is it?

"You're going to be late to class."

I turn around. Aiden. I take a step back and cross my arms. "I can get to class just fine, thank you."

He grumbles something under his breath and keeps walking. I turn back to the classroom, and the teacher is staring at me. I pause. "Uh, sorry." I walk away.

Aiden is still walking in the same direction as me. I noticed it before, but I just can't stop noticing it. My eyes only make it a little past his mid back. How tall is he? I know I'm short, but wow.

"What was so interesting about that language?" he asks.

I look up. He's staring at me over his shoulder.

She doesn't say a word.

My blood runs cold. I hold myself tighter. "At least, I don't think I'm late. B-But if I am," I curse myself for stuttering. "Then you should at least tell him that he was late too, because we walked in at the same time."

Some people in the crowd gasp.

My face burns. I feel like I'm sweating profusely, but I'm right. Right? ...Right? Oh God, why didn't I just keep my mouth shut.

She walks right up to me. I look at her and flinch. She's as tall as Aiden and her eyes are as grey as storm clouds. She narrows them and stares right at me, through me. "Find. A group. Right. Now."

"O-Okay." Damn. I stuttered again. Some people in the crowd chuckle. I hate these people.

I look into the mass for a friendly face to save me. I see none. Ms. Baines starts teaching like she didn't even leave me to the wolves. Everyone is paired into groups of two, including Aiden. I guess I'll just have to hop into one. I walk to the side where there are more girls. They all glare at me. I walk to the side where there are more boys. They don't exactly look friendly, but it's a better option. At least they're not glaring. I walk up to a pair of guys who seem relatively nice. One has dreads, and the other has deep black curls. They look at me when I approach them.

"Um, can I, uh, join your group?" Please don't embarrass me any further by saying no. I will them with my eyes to just say yes already.