by Lou Grimes
“I’m Louvette Blackwood. I grew up mainly in the southern states,” Louvette said her as Cara’s eyes widened a fraction at the last name. She made no comment, though, which left Louvette wondering if she’d really seen it, or if it was just a twitch.
“Oh, where summer’s a real season and winter doesn’t really exist. This must be quite a shock to you,” Cara teased.
“It’s actually not so bad. It was at first because we didn’t have the right clothes. This was a last-minute move,” Louvette admitted, sporting a grin.
“So, a Blackwood?” Cara finally asked.
“Yeah, why?” Louvette asked back.
“Up until I met you today, I didn’t think there were any more Blackwoods left.” Cara hinted at it the novelty of it.
“What’s so great about a Blackwood?” Louvette asked curiously.
“You don’t know? Your family helped found Whitefish. You’re old money, so am I,” Cara revealed.
“No, I didn’t know, but that makes a bit more sense now that you mention it. Acceptance into this school was too easy with a track record like mine,” Louvette said, remembering back to Cara’s reaction to her name and the principal welcoming her back.
“Yeah, one of the many perks. If you look around the school, you’ll see your name on all the places your family sponsored. Not just the school, but throughout the entire town. There’s a couple other of founding families like the Whitecreeks, Bonesteels, Hollows, Redbears, and Valleys that all had a hand in it,” Cara enlightened her.
Louvette was amazed at the fact that half of her ancestors had built an entire town. That town had endured generations. The same town she shopped in yesterday. Louvette was alone again. She understood now why Mr. Hollows had hidden the fact of the will’s stipulations. Without her, Blackwoods would have ceased to exist.
“So, why did you grow up in the South if you’re a Blackwood?” Cara asked aloud.
“I really don’t know,” she said truthfully.
“This is you,” Cara said, pointing to the door that they had reached.
The counselor was a much warmer experience than the principal. “Louvette Blackwood, nice to meet you,” she greeted as soon Louvette came through the door.
“How did you know it was me?” Louvette asked.
“Well, we don’t get many transfers in. I’ve already gone over what all you have taken. Since this is only the fourth week of the fall semester, you do have some room for choices as far as electives go,” the counselor pointed out brightly. “So, you’ll have algebra, English, biology, and local history for your core classes. What would you like for electives? What do you like to do career wise? Now keep in mind, some of these fill up quickly,” the counselor continued. Louvette had rarely gotten to pick her classes at her other schools because it was usually too late in the semester, so she was at a loss for words momentarily.
“Honestly, I’d like to do something art related, but I’m not really sure,” she told her.
“I have Art 2 available since you’ve already taken Art 1. Now, what is a weakness that we could work on?” the woman asked.
“I’m not really that techy,” she admitted.
“I have a computer class open that would be perfect for a beginner and look great on a college application. Last class, you might think about fulfilling your other language requirement to get it over with,” the counselor said.
“What are my options?” Louvette asked.
“Spanish, ASL, and German,” the woman responded.
“I’ll take German, it has never been an option before,” Louvette picked. She was actually getting stoked about some of her classes.
“Great. I’ll print this out and send an email to your teachers.” The counselor beamed.
***
Cara was still waiting for her when she exited the counselor’s office.
“Let me see your schedule,” Cara said as she popped her gum. Louvette recovered from her excited thoughts and handed it to Cara.
“Anything bad?” Louvette wondered as Cara held her schedule for way longer than necessary. She didn’t need a difficult teacher who was going to make her life hell.
“Not really, but we actually have all the same classes,” she said, and she brightened at the thought.
“Good. That means I shouldn’t get lost and be late for class,” Louvette remarked.
“Definitely not. This is your first class,” she said with an appalled look, like being late to class was the worst thing she ever heard of. Judging from her mannerisms, Louvette got the feeling that she might be joking. Cara was growing on Louvette.
They entered the class. Louvette froze as she stared at the guy from the taco shack. He flicked his eyes toward her and the same shocked look was on his face. Louvette snapped out of it hastily. Cara didn’t miss a beat as her eyes darted between the two.
“How do you know Arsen Whitecreek? He’s like the most popular guy in school. Remember, his family is one of the founders of Whitefish,” she whispered conspiratorially as they sat down in the front.
“I’ve never met him,” Louvette responded. Her face was the picture of true innocence, because from her perspective, she hadn’t. Cara searched for answers in Louvette’s face but found none due to the teacher’s timely arrival.
The teacher noticed her immediately. Louvette’s face burned red. She abhorred standing in front of the class and believed it to be pointless.
“We have a new student with us today. Please stand and introduce yourself. Give us some background information as well,” he said to Louvette. The room full of students went silent, save for the painfully loud creak of her chair as she stood up and headed to the front of the class. Louvette tried to resist breathing so loud, but felt her efforts were wasted.
As she turned she refused to look at Arsen. Refused to acknowledge that his handsome smirking face existed. Louvette knew that the smirk would be knocked off his face at the moment she said her name. Though it was small, she gained a certain amount of satisfaction from this. She focused on Cara instead.
“Hi, I’m Louvette Blackwood. I’ve bounced around all of the bottom half of the U.S. I’m seventeen years old. My mother tried to home school me my first year of school and decided that I needed more education than she could provide, which is why I’m a junior.” She ended with that, feeling she had more than adequately shared enough. They’d still gossip even if they didn’t have a reason.
She received a couple of curious, confused, and blank looks as she sat down next to Cara. It was the usual reaction, so she wasn’t worried at the moment. But she knew how fast the current could change. One minute, there’s no chum in the water. The next, it’s everywhere and so are the sharks.
Class began and Louvette focused on the history lecture. The lecture was over Manifest Destiny and how the railroads affected it. The teacher ended the lecture and revealed that the next lecture would be about the town’s history, since it was founded as a result of Manifest Destiny through the building of the railroads.
Each core class was similar. The only classes Arsen was not in were electives. She was free of him for three classes. Three unbelievably great classes.
“He doesn’t have the same electives as us common people. He has electives like Billionaire Management 101. He will be with us for lunch, fair warning,” Cara updated Louvette after noticing her relieved look upon an Arsen-free class. Louvette knew she had only further cemented Cara’s belief that she knew Arsen.
Lunch came too quick, knowing he’d be there. Her stomach clenched. It was an odd combination of dread and hunger. Cara swinging around to face her sent her thoughts to a sudden halt.
“I have to run to the restroom really quick. I’ll meet you at the cafeteria. It’s just right down that hall,” she said, motioning to the right. Cara headed down the hall.
Louvette knew she was hurrying for her. She was thankful for it. She didn’t want to be thrown alone into the cesspit of high school cliques at Whitefish Academy. Louvette didn’t
wish to be the loser that sat alone in the lunchroom. She’d been that person often enough before.
As she headed down the hall at a snail’s pace, prolonging the inevitable, she rounded a corner. The impact of a foreign body jarred her from her thoughts. She couldn’t help but look up. Her eyes caught again. This time instead of waiting for the feeling of being prey, the calamity inside her mind sprang forward. Time halted as her breath left her in a whoosh.
Arsen stared back at her. He was locked in the silent battle. Something snapped in his eyes that had begun to darken. The dark gold hue faded back to normal at this tiny ounce of control that he had gained back.
Louvette was not so lucky as far as control was concerned. She completely lost it. Her eyes started twitching as if she was stressed. They throbbed like they couldn’t fit in her skull anymore. Her vision blurred oddly.
Arsen clamped down on her arm and dug in like it was Thanksgiving. His hands moved faster moved before she could react. It was a shock when his fingers dug in. She heard the sound of her sleeve, ripping under his nails. Her arm burned at the intrusion into her skin, causing her to grit her teeth. Louvette wasn’t going to cry even though she desperately need to. Tears brimmed in her eyes from the pain.
“Quit it before someone sees you,” he hissed. His eyes were darting around the almost-empty hall. Louvette glanced around, knowing that to a passerby this would look like borderline abuse, but no one seemed to notice. A few kids were attempting to skip. They were worried about getting caught so they didn’t stick around long. Some were just late to lunch. Others were headed to the library. He didn’t notice her reaction to his razorblade nails.
Anger sparked and Louvette shoved him back. A wild snarl escaped her, raising the hair on her neck. To her and Arsen’s disbelief, he was knocked back a couple of unsteady steps. She glared at him after checking out the damage on her limb. Her shirt now sported several gashes on the sleeve as did her skin, thanks to him.
“See what? That you tore up my arm and my new top?” she growled as her blood ran down her arm. Her fury was mounting, but oddly enough she was no longer losing control. It was as if the pain gave her clarity.
“I thought I was going crazy at Wrap & Roll Cafe when you challenged me, but I’m not. This is impossible,” he mumbled, more to himself than her. He looked lost and confused. His brow was furrowed.
“You lunatic, why did you do that?” She shook the butchered limb around, snapping him out of his ramblings. His eyes focused on the blood. He moved toward her, but her simultaneous step back caused him to hold up his hands in the universal signal of surrender.
“I’m sorry, but it’s the only way I could think to stop it. If I hadn’t and someone saw, you’d be in more trouble than you know,” he rushed earnestly. His face was the picture of concern.
“What are you talking about?” Louvette retorted, holding her arm strategically to stop the bleeding. Her blood had begun to drip on the floor. She tried to catch the blood steadily rolling down her arm to avoid a mess.
“Let me take you to the nurse. That might need stitches, and judging from the fact that you’re here and not a rogue, you haven’t fully changed yet,” he said to amend the situation.
“Rogue? Changing? What are you raving about? I’m not going anywhere with you, least of all the nurse,” she answered irritably. His temper went hot for a second, but Louvette watched him visibly calm himself down.
“Why don’t you want to go to the nurse?” he demanded, conveniently ignoring her comments about him.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but they will send me home. I made a promise to stay the entire day. I intend to keep it,” she said to Arsen. He stared deep into her eyes as if to discern if Louvette’s words were hollow. They must have proved true because something shifted.
“All right let’s go get some vet wrap from Coach Conner. He’s cool, but don’t tell him I did that to your arm. Say you fell and scraped it on something,” he insisted. Arsen must have known he wasn’t going to win that battle.
“Show me the way,” Louvette said to Arsen, relenting to his care. She’d rather it be his care than the nurse’s. Louvette had been in fights before. She knew her arm needed stiches, but her mother having to take her to the doctor was the last thing she desired. However, she be fine with some bandages.
Arsen flashed her a thankful smile. He extended his hand in a peace offering. She grabbed it reluctantly. He lightly tugged her down the hall and out an exit.
The bright sun light blinded Louvette for a second, but her vision adjusted to a beautiful courtyard surrounded with several trees in mid fall transformation and some evergreens. The courtyard sidewalk led to the gym. Louvette could see a smaller but no less impressive gym hidden behind the school. They stepped through a side door and dashed into an office.
“Sorry, I didn’t want anyone to see your arm. They’d definitely send you home,” he claimed. Louvette believed the statement to be true. However, an ulterior motive lay beneath its surface, so close she could sense it. She kept that secret to herself as Arsen grabbed a first aid kit and some extra bandages off a top shelf.
A shelf that she would have never reached on her own. The blatant discrimination against short people almost sent her on a rant. Louvette thought it was absurd to put the emergency medical kit where short people couldn’t get to it. Arsen brought her from mental tirade.
“So why do you have to stay the full day, if you don’t mind me asking?” Arsen inquired as he took hold of her arm and rubbed an alcohol pad over the scratch marks.
“I’ve gotten kicked out of a lot of schools and I promised my mother this would be different,” Louvette said through gritted teeth, refusing to hiss as the alcohol burned out the infection. She was going to have a killer scar when it finally healed up.
“Oh yeah, what do you usually get kicked out for?” he wondered as he applied antiseptic cream for pain relief and to get it to heal. It throbbed at the brush of his hand.
“My glowing personality. What do you think I got booted for?” Louvette asked, truly wondering what he thought about her. Arsen placed a square of gauze over the wound.
“I don’t think you’re the type to not do your work, so it can’t be failing out. Not the type to bring in drugs or anything illegal. I also don’t see you shooting someone, either. Judging from that shove you gave me earlier, I bet it was fighting,” Arsen deduced. He gently wrapped the brightly colored vet wrap around her arm.
“Good guess,” she murmured, happy that he didn’t think she was failing or could do anything illegal. It gave her some comfort knowing that. She thought it strange that she cared what he thought.
“I still can’t picture you in a fist fight though. I guess that’s something I’ll have to see for myself to believe,” he added in thought.
“Let’s hope you don’t see it, or that may very well be the end of my high school career at Whitefish Academy,” Louvette warned as he expertly finishing wrapping the bandage, as if he’d had years of medical experience. After the end of it, the vet wrap was perfectly placed to avoid slipping off or getting irritated at her movement. It was neither too tight nor too loose.
“We don’t want that to happen, do we?” Arsen asked while gazing at her for a moment too long. The gaze woke up all the butterflies that had been dormant up until now in her stomach. She looked off first this time.
“Even though you mauled me, thanks for fixing it,” she thanked Arsen.
“No problem. Hey, I need to talk to you about something. But we can’t talk here. It has to be somewhere private,” he said. His face was unsure.
“I just met you and you assaulted me. I don’t think I should be alone with you,” Louvette mused as he picked up a sticky note and pen from the coach’s desk. He scribbled something across it. He ignored her comments.
“It’s about your grandfather and your father. Here’s my number. Text me after class tonight,” he nonchalantly said while dangling that juicy little tidbit in her face. He
was right. She sighed, defeated. She would text him. She snatched the number out of his hand, sparking an amused simile from him as he left.
Louvette glanced down at the uneven and sloppy handwriting. She headed back toward the main part of the school. The bell timely sounded as she neared the door.
Great, now she had to make it to the end of the school day on an empty belly, she thought scathingly as her stomach growled. She glanced around the hallway, confused as students passed her. Louvette was unsure of where to go for her next class, but she spotted a familiar blonde-haired fairy, delivering a brown paper lunch bag to her ward in need.
“Where were you? I looked all over for you. What happened to your arm?” Cara asked her as they neared each other. Her heels clicked the floor.
“I fell and scraped it. Some coach I don’t know patched it up. I can’t believe I missed lunch,” she mourned, knowing that her belly would hate her in about an hour. She was kicking herself for not bringing any back up snacks, but she decided against it because of school policy.
“I figured you didn’t just ditch so I grabbed you some food. Sorry there wasn’t anything more than that. They don’t let you take meals out of the lunchroom,” Cara said, knowing how much of a life saver she was. She handed Louvette the brown paper bag that contained some crackers, a banana, and beef jerky. Louvette’s down turned face switched to a million-watt smile.
“Do you know how awesome you are?” Louvette asked. She opened a Slim Jim and savored the greasiness. Her stomach would have cheered if it was possible.
“I know I am. Now let’s get to class. Hurry up and finish eating,” she acknowledged. There wasn’t an ounce of shame in her words. Louvette didn’t have to be told twice, she ate all of her food with haste. Her hunger was satisfied for the moment.
The remainder two classes were electives so Arsen was nowhere to be seen. None of the teachers or students asked what happened to her poor arm. Part of Louvette was thankful for that. She’d hate explaining to Cara about what really happened. Louvette wasn’t very positive that she could explain it even if asked.