I contained the eye roll dying to get out. “Yes, sir, I can.”
“Good. You’ll go to the school on Monday and enroll.”
“Fine with me.” I’d hoped that I could have a day or two to myself, but apparently, that wasn’t going to happen.
I didn’t see Landon for the rest of the weekend. I hadn’t really expected to, but I was still slightly disappointed. He was stuck in his house with a broken leg, and the only way I would be able to see him was if I went to visit him. As much as it sucked, I knew that I needed to wait. If he saw me again this soon, he’d make me leave.
After making sure to remind me that I could come home at any time, my mom left late Sunday night. She promised to ship the rest of my stuff down later that week.
Bright and early Monday morning, I woke up and did my chores. Once they were finished, I showered and dressed in a plain shirt and jeans. I left my blonde hair loose and applied only a small amount of makeup. I left my piercings in. I knew that the school probably wouldn’t appreciate them, but they were a part of me.
“Is it okay if I use your car to drive to school?” I asked Gram as I walked into the kitchen.
“That’s fine. I talked to your mom, and she said that she’s going to send some money, so we can get you a car of your own. It won’t be much, but at least you’ll have something to drive.”
“Thanks, Gram. I’ll be back soon. Wish me luck.” I pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.
“You don’t need it. Principal Sanders is a good man. If he gives you any trouble, you tell him he won’t get any more of my pumpkin spice cake.”
I laughed as I grabbed her keys and headed for the door. “I’ll pass it along.”
I’d only seen Hundred High School once or twice in my life, but I remembered the general area of where it was. I drove slowly when I was nearing the entrance. The school was just off Route 7. I pulled into the parking lot and stepped out to look around. It was a small red brick building, completely different from the school I was used to.
I nearly fell over in shock when I walked to the front door, and it wasn’t locked. My old school had locks on all entrances and a metal detector right inside the doors. This school had neither. I followed the signs down a hallway to where the office was. An older lady sat behind the desk. She looked up and smiled when she saw me. Unlike my old school’s secretary, this one’s smile seemed sincere.
“Can I help you?” she asked as she stood and walked over to the counter separating us.
“Uh…yeah, I just moved to the area, and I need to enroll.”
“Are you over eighteen? If not, you need a parent or guardian with you.”
“I’m eighteen,” I confirmed.
“Great. Let me get the paperwork you need to enroll.”
I waited as she dug through folders in a filing cabinet. Once she found what she was looking for, she turned back to me and handed me a packet full of papers. “Just fill these out for me, please.”
I grabbed them and sat down on one of the folding chairs. I took my time filling out each form, wincing when they asked about my previous grades and suspensions. I finally finished filling out the forms and handed them back to the secretary.
“Thank you, sweetheart. Give me just a minute to get you put into our system. I’ll have to call your old school and get your transcripts from there.”
I nodded and sat back down in my chair as she started adding me into the computer system. I hoped that this didn’t take long. It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go, but still, I hated sitting around.
“Dear, who are you living with?” the secretary asked.
“Uh…my grandparents, Caleb and Lily.”
“You’re their granddaughter? I haven’t seen you since you were just little. I remember you coming to church with Lily on Sundays during summer break.”
“Oh yeah. That’s me.” I smiled weakly at her.
“Well, I’m sure they’re excited to have you back,” she said as she went back to typing. As she turned the page to the one asking for my grades and record, her fingers slowed on the keyboard. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself.
I knew what she was thinking. My record on paper wasn’t the greatest. I knew that. I just hoped that it wouldn’t get me kicked out of here before I even got my foot through the door.
“I’ll let Principal Sanders know that you’re here. He’ll be with you in just a moment.” She stood and walked to a door near the back of the office. After knocking, she disappeared inside. A few minutes later, she reemerged and told me he was ready to see me.
I stood and walked around the counter to his office door. As soon as I was inside, the secretary closed the door behind me. I turned to see Principal Sanders sitting behind his desk. I raised an eyebrow in surprise. No offense to him, but he was older than dirt. His hair was completely silver, and his skin was wrinkled with age. His eyes though were bright and clear.
“Hello, Alexandria. It’s nice to meet you,” he said.
“Uh…it’s nice to meet you, too.”
“Why don’t you have a seat?” he asked as he gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“Nancy informed me that you will be enrolling at our school. She also told me that you have quite a history with fights and suspensions and that your grades are horrible.”
“I can explain. I know it looks bad, but I’m not like that anymore. I messed up—a lot. I know that, but I want to start over. I swear that you won’t have any problems from me.”
“Alexandria, breathe. You didn’t let me finish,” he said as he smiled at me.
“Oh.”
“Everything that’s on your record? I’m going to throw it out the window. As far as I’m concerned, you’re a model student. We all make mistakes, Alexandria, and everyone deserves a second chance. Our school is small, and I think you’ll like it. We rarely have issues with students fighting, and the classes are small enough that the teachers can help you if you’re having trouble with the material.”
“So, I don’t have to beg and grovel for you to let me in?” I asked doubtfully.
“You don’t have to beg or grovel. Welcome to Hundred High School, Alexandria.”
“Thank you. I promise, you won’t have any issues with me while I’m here.”
“Good. Now, we are in the process of getting your information from your old school. We should have it by tomorrow. Once we do, we can get your schedule set up, and you’ll be good to go. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you.” I stood and walked to the door. “You won’t regret this.”
I left the school feeling lighter than I had in a while. I had a feeling that things were going to work out for me. School was just a small hurdle compared to Landon, but it was a start.
I almost stopped at Landon’s house that night after I finished my chores, but I stopped myself. I needed to give him space. I would wait until this weekend to see him. I could handle that. Who am I kidding? It was going to drive me nuts to wait, but I had to. I didn’t want to push him.
The nervousness I’d felt about returning to my old school wasn’t there when I walked into Hundred High for my first day. I wasn’t nervous or scared. I was calm, relaxed even. I was shocked when I saw just how few students were in the school. If I had to guess, I would say no more than a hundred were enrolled. I guessed the principal hadn’t been kidding when he said the classes were small.
Most of the kids were like Landon—farm kids. I stood out like a sore thumb with my tattoo and piercings, but no one seemed to mind. No one judged me. A few students even came up to me and introduced themselves to me. They all seemed to share Landon’s down-to-earth, small-town personality. I had no doubt that I was going to love it here. All of my teachers were friendly, too. That was probably because they hadn’t seen my transcripts. I hoped to keep it that way.
Once school was finished, I drove home in Gram’s car. When I made it home, I went up to my room and started working on my homework. I was
behind here, too, but the teachers assured me that I could get caught up quickly. Once my homework was finished, I headed back downstairs and out to the barn to do my evening chores.
Over the next week, I fell into a schedule—chores, school, homework, chores, dinner, and finally bed. I was exhausted most of the time, but I was happy. I called Riley a few times to let him know how I was doing. He had been pissed at first when I told him that I’d moved again, but he understood why I was here. I called him every few days, promising that I would come up to visit him soon.
Landon was constantly on my mind. By Friday night, I felt like I was going to lose my mind if I didn’t see him. Unfortunately, I knew his dad would be home. I waited until Saturday afternoon to finally visit him. I made sure that his dad was gone before I drove the four-wheeler down to his house. I could handle one pissed-off male but not two.
I shut off the four-wheeler in front of his house and grabbed my bag off the back. I’d stuffed it full of movies, hoping that he’d give in and watch them with me. I’d brought a little of everything—action, romance, comedy, thriller. Surely, he would like some of them.
I knocked on the door and waited. I heard a muffled shout telling me to come in. When I opened the door and walked through, I spotted Landon on the couch.
His eyes widened when he saw me. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d stop by and keep you company,” I said as I kicked off my shoes. I walked into the living room.
“No, I mean, what are you doing here—as in, on the farm?”
“Your dad didn’t tell you?”
He shook his head.
“I moved back in with Gram and Grandpa.”
“Since when?”
“Since the day you came home from the hospital.”
“Oh. I figured you were back home by now. You shouldn’t have stayed,” he stated firmly.
“Oh, shut up, would you? I’m not going anywhere. You’ll just have to deal with seeing me all the time.”
“That’s not fair, City, and you know it. I told you that I wanted you gone.”
“We don’t always get what we want,” I taunted as I sat down on the couch next to him. “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit. My leg and wrist are itchy as hell.”
“How are your ribs?”
“Sore, like the rest of me.”
I lifted my hand to his face and grabbed his chin, tilting his head to the side. “Your face looks a lot better. The bruise is already starting to fade.”
“Lucky me,” he grumbled as he pulled away from me.
“You’re grumpy today, aren’t you?”
“You would be, too, if you were stuck on a damn couch for six weeks.”
“Well, I brought something that might help.” I put my bag between us and started pulling movies out. “I brought a bunch of different ones for us to watch.”
“Don’t do this.”
I looked up to see him watching me. “Do what?”
“Don’t come in here and act like everything is fine between us.”
“I’m not acting like everything is fine. I figured you were bored, so I thought I’d come over and keep you entertained for a while. I know you’re still mad at me, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be friends.”
“I don’t want to be friends with you, City. I want you to go home and leave me alone.”
“Sorry, but I’m not leaving. I already told you that. Now, pick a movie, so we can watch it.”
He glared at me for a few minutes before finally giving up and staring down at the movies. “That one.”
“Good choice. I love action movies.” I stood and walked over to the TV. I popped the DVD into the player and sat back down. “Do you want me to make popcorn or something?”
“No.”
“Alrighty then,” I mumbled. I pushed play and then curled up in a ball on my side of the couch. I rested my head on the armrest and stared at the TV.
As the movie played, I kept glancing over at Landon. Most of the time, his eyes were glued to the TV, but occasionally, I noticed him watching me. When I caught him staring, he’d quickly turn his attention back to the movie. I couldn’t help but smile. No matter what he said, he still cared about me.
When the first movie finished, I put another one in, a comedy this time. I curled back into a ball on the couch and watched it. I felt my eyes growing heavy, but I fought to stay awake. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, and I let them close. I wasn’t sure how long I’d slept, but when I opened my eyes, I saw Landon watching me. I glanced over at the screen to see that it was on the main menu.
“Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” I said as I sat up.
“It’s okay. I’m sure you’re tired.”
“I am. Between school and chores, I’m always exhausted.”
“You’re in school?” he asked.
“Yeah, I started on Tuesday. Hundred is different from my old school, but I like it. There isn’t a bunch of drama here.”
“I never thought I’d see the day when you attended Hundred.”
“Why?” I asked.
“You’re so different from everyone else around here.”
I shrugged. “No one seems to mind. I do my work and stay out of trouble, so no one pays me much attention.”
“So, let me get this straight—you moved here, a place you hated this summer, and transferred schools?”
“Yep, that pretty much sums it up.”
“But why?”
“Because I wanted to be with you,” I answered truthfully.
“Shit, City. You can’t just say stuff like that to me and expect me not to respond. You’re making this a lot harder than I thought it would be.”
“Good. The best things in life are never simple. I don’t want you to forget about me, and I don’t want you to give up on us. I told you that I love you, and I meant it.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. “I think you should go back to your grandparents’ house.”
“You’re right. It’s getting late, and I need to get the chores done. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know. I want to.” I stood and threw my movies back into the bag. Before he could stop me, I leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He grinned. “I’ll be here—probably in the exact same spot. And, City?”
“Yeah?”
He hesitated for a second. “I like your hair like that. You look good as a blonde.”
“Thanks,” I said as I grinned at him.
“Why did you change it?”
It was my turn to hesitate. “Because…because I’m starting over. I’m not who I used to be.”
He frowned at that, but I ignored him. I walked to the door and opened it, but then I turned back to him instead of leaving.
“You know what? I’m kind of glad you broke your leg.”
His eyes widened. “Why?”
“Because you can’t run from me now.”
Over the next few weeks, I spent every evening with Landon. Neither of us mentioned what had happened between us. Instead, we focused on the present. He was slowly turning back into the old Landon—my Landon. While he had his moments of being a complete asshole to me, overall, things were slowly progressing. He was smiling and joking around with me a lot more. I knew his walls were crumbling. I just needed to have patience.
“Want to tell me what happened when you went home?” he asked one night as we sat on the couch together.
I’d started bringing my homework with me when I came to his house, and tonight was no different. We’d spent the last twenty minutes trying to figure out my math homework.
My head jerked up, my homework forgotten. I was shocked by his question. “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. When you left, I didn’t hear a word from you for almost two months. What happened?”
“I do
n’t really want to talk about it, Landon,” I said quietly. I didn’t want to focus on the past anymore. I wanted to focus on the here and now. Lately, I’d been doing a pretty good job of it, too. I was proud of myself.
“Why? Do you want things to go back to the way they were? Then, talk to me, open up to me.”
I could hear the anger and hurt in his voice. I didn’t want to talk about the time I’d spent wasting away, but he had a point. How is he supposed to forgive me if I won’t open up to him?
“It was rough, Landon. I had a breakdown at his funeral. After that, I just shut down. I didn’t care about anything or anyone. I…I didn’t want to live anymore. I felt like his death was my fault. If I had been there, maybe things would have been different. Instead, I’d focused all of my attention on you. The guilt nearly killed me.”
“City, you have to know that you couldn’t have done a thing to save him. Joel was mixed up in some really heavy stuff. He knew the risks. He knew what could happen. It wasn’t like he walked blindly into that lifestyle.”
“I know that now, but back then, I truly believed that his death was my fault. I stopped functioning.”
“So, what changed?”
“My mom finally sat down and had a long talk with me. It made me realize that I was wasting my life. Joel wouldn’t have wanted that. He would have wanted me to live. It took me a long time to start living again, but I finally did. Riley helped me a lot. He was feeling the same grief that I felt.”
Landon raised an eyebrow. “Riley? Is that why you told me to stay away?”
“What? No! Of course not! Riley is my friend, nothing more. He’s been my friend for a long time, and we both knew what the other was feeling. He took care of me, helped me. He forced me to get out and live again. I enrolled back in school and started hanging out with some of my old friends. I started going to their parties. I went to see Joel, and I finally said good-bye. I let him go.”
“Then, why did you run from me?” he asked.
“I felt like what we had was tainted. Besides, I was messed-up for a really long time. You deserved better than that. You deserved someone who could make you happy.”
Breaking Alexandria Page 23