When Sh*t Gets in the Way
Page 38
That was exactly a week ago today. Now here I was, having a classroom full of kids look at me while being introduced by yet another teacher, whose name I had already forgotten. As they looked at me with some curiosity, I stared back at them with none.
I registered all the similarities from my last school and confirmed my suspicions that all high schools were the same. I saw the jocks and the cheerleaders. I saw the smart kids up front, as well as the kiss-asses. I saw the stoners and the slackers in the back and somewhere in the middle; I took my seat and stared at the window. The scenery though was definitely different. I saw a lot more green outside than I did in Arizona, but inside the view was the same as out west. Only the faces had changed.
If only Tony or Alex took the same classes as me, that would have been a welcomed distraction. Hell, I would even be happy with Jess. Just thinking about my bratty cousin put a smile on my face. Yeah, that was a big surprise seeing Jess all grown up this weekend.
I really didn't hang out too much with her while we were growing up. I mean the age difference wasn't much, but when I left I was almost fifteen, and she had been like what? Twelve, maybe thirteen. She was a baby in my eyes, and that's how we all treated her. This weekend, though, I saw that my cousin was no longer a child and had, in fact, become a very strong-willed and independent girl.
As the baby of the family, she held my Uncle Carlos and Aunt Annie´s complete attention. But in turn, she was also devoted to them. Last night after dinner, I saw how all three discussed my uncle’s grocery store and what products they should decide to import in order to increase sales. They all talked as equal partners and after hearing all of Jess’s suggestions and points of view, it was clear that she was no longer the baby of the house and had a head for business.
I realized that I was biting the inside of my lip hoping that Jess knew how lucky she was. At least her family talked. Mine was either silent or yelling. My uncle suggesting that my mom help out at his store was a fucking godsend. At least, while she's there, that asshole would have to leave her alone. While we were at my uncle´s house, I hoped my father tried to maintain appearances. Or at least, stayed away from his scotch long enough not to cause a scene in front of anyone.
I jumped from my wandering thoughts when I heard the bell. Shit, I didn’t pay attention to one thing this teacher said. I had to get my head in the game. It’s my senior year. Just a couple of more months of this bullshit and I could finally be on my own. That’s all the scumbag said I needed to do, then I could leave anytime I wanted to.
I got up and made my way to the door with the rest of the herd when I felt a hand tugging my sleeve. When I turned around, I cursed myself for not having noticed her sooner. She had the biggest eyes I had ever seen, under black-framed glasses. She’s a tad shorter than me but not by much, just enough that she needed to slant her face up in order for me to have a full view of her face. And what a face it was, perfectly drawn lips and dimples to boot. She smiled, and I was mesmerized.
This must be my welcoming committee. Again, there was always one in every high school. There was always that one kid that would come up to talk to a perfect stranger just to be nice and help out with the transition. From what I saw, this girl would do just fine with making me feel welcomed. Plenty fine!
“Hi, I'm Cass, and I´m a friend of your cousin's. You´re Isaac, right?” she asked holding her books to her chest while taking off her glasses and placing them on top of her head.
'Oh, darling, I’ll be whoever you want me to be,' I think and smirk.
“Yeah, I'm Isaac. So you're friends with which cousin? It's a pretty big family darling, so you’re going to have to be a bit more precise than that,” I said still sneering but stepped back so I could get a better view of what was in front of me.
Long wavy auburn hair, and curves in all the right places. She’s wearing only a white v-neck t-shirt and blue jeans, which on anyone else would look plain and dull. But on her, I felt that she was overdressed.
“Jess. I’m friends with Jessica.” Her tone had changed. She's annoyed.
'What? No longer friendly and welcoming? Oh well, that’s a shame,' I thought to myself and started walking the halls.
There were kids all over the place which by the way when you’re new only makes it harder to know exactly where the fuck you are. I hadn't been able to find my locker since first period, and at this rate, I wouldn’t find it by the end of the day. All the halls seemed the same to me in this fucking school. All of them sporting a pale dull yellow with dull gray lockers on them. Even the same stupid posters and signs for the Plymouth football team seemed to be repeated in every hallway. How the hell could I tell them apart when each hall looked like a carbon copy of the next?
I looked over and saw that Jess's friend was still walking beside me. She's probably debating if she should give this another try. Ok, I’ll help her out. “So Cass, is that short for something?” I asked, still walking ahead trying to make out number 128 on any locker. I was sure that it was on this floor.
“Cassandra,” she said still annoyed and now a little irritated.
“I’m sorry, but are you late for something? You almost knocked into that freshman!” She looked at me straight on with distaste written on her forehead.
Shit!
I didn't even see the kid. I do now, though. He’s a little chubby dude, now picking up his stuff that's all over the floor. Probably the result of trying to get out of my way, or everyone else’s in the hallway if I was honest. The kid looked like he was in diapers just yesterday.
Cass was on the ground with him already picking up what looked to be comic books, school books and other crap that had Minecraft logos on it. She smiled at him while she helped him get up and I swear the kid just grew five inches taller for her.
“So sorry, are you ok?” she asked sweetly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
I suddenly had the urge to hurl myself on the floor just to get that same smile thrown my way.
“Hey, kid, sorry about that. I really didn't see you. I’m kinda new here, so I don’t know where the hell I'm going. Sorry, I guess I was pretty distracted. We cool?”
The kid looked at me and with the voice of a 50-year-old man that has smoked two packs a day his entire life, lets out a; “We’re cool,” and grinned.
I looked over at Cass, and her eyes grow even wider than before, if that was at all possible, with her hand covering the biggest smile on her face.
“Hey little guy, you sure you’re supposed to be in high school? With a voice like that, I could swear that you got a wife and two kids at home!” I told him placing my hand on his shoulder. “What's your name kid?” I asked him, now following him down the hall.
“Brandon, my name’s Brandon,” he replied nervously with that baritone voice.
“Ok, Brandon. How about I make you a deal? You help me out and try to find my locker with me, and I´ll make sure that no one bumps into you until your next class. What do you say?”
Brandon nodded his agreement, his face beaming with the idea of some company to navigate through the crowd ahead. Cass was looking at us both begrudgingly, trying to establish if Brandon would be okay in my care. Maybe I should have been offended, but I wasn’t. I knew I hadn’t been exactly Prince Charming five minutes ago, so who can blame her reluctance in letting the kid tag along with me in my pursuit of finding the ever illustrious locker.
“It´s okay Cass. We’ll be fine, won’t we buddy? See you later, yeah?”
“Okay,” she said giving Brandon one last smile and giving me one last ‘You better not screw around with this kid, or I'll have your balls in a blender’ look and turned around to leave on the opposite side of the corridor.
Damn. She even looks good from behind!
“Okay, Brandon, so where do you think I can find locker 128?” I said reluctantly taking my eyes off Cass.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ines Vieira is the Author of the When Life Gets in the Way Series and the upcoming New Adult
Tyler Ranch Series. She was born in Lisbon, Portugal, but has grown up all over. Having spent her childhood on the island of Bermuda, her first go to language is English, rather than her mother tongue. She has lived in the UK, where she taught English as a second language and learned how to bloody cuss more eloquently. She is an avid reader and needs either a book or her beloved Kindle to travel with her everywhere at all times. She currently lives in sunny Portugal, with her husband and son and her one-click addiction. She’s loving this crazy world of Indie Publishing and loves to give a helping hand to all new authors any way she can. A big believer in paying it forward, she is the poster child for Monty Pythons “Always look on the Bright side of Life.”
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
WHEN SH*T GETS IN THE WAY
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
DEDICATION FOR THE READER
Prologue
CHAPTER 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WHEN HATE GETS IN THE WAY
WHEN LIFE GETS IN THE WAY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR