A rose should be red: Part 1 - Secrets

by Akaku Red

  It seemed as if they knew each other.

  But as she saw me, her expression changed.

  “And you are Jenny?”

  I nodded.

  “Here is your timetable.” She handed me a paper, but Tyler was quick to take it away from me.

  He analysed it and smiled.

  After a short moment, he looked up.

  “Please be nice to her!” Tyler said, while putting his arm around my shoulder. “She is very precious to me!”

  Anna sighed.

  “Still a womaniser?”

  Womaniser?

  “No gossip, please! Jenny, that’s not true!”

  “So what? I don't care.”

  I freed myself from him which made Anna burst out laughing.

  “Well, it seems like someone isn’t interested.”

  “I guess we are done here! Can we leave now?” Tyler was not pleased at all.

  His voice darkened as he was talking.

  Anna was taken aback by the sudden change, she stopped laughing and looked confused.

  “Er… Yes, her mother took care of the forms. Here is your student card.”

  She gave me the card and, without looking over it, I shoved the card into a pocket of my backpack.

  “Thank you.”

  “I guess you are going to show her the way to the classroom?”

  She looked at Tyler.

  “Great guess!” He stretched out his thumb which made Anne roll her eyes.

  “We are off now. Have a great day, Mrs. Smith!”

  Tyler pulled me out of the office.

  His hand locked with mine.

  “You know each other?” I asked.

  “Maybe?”

  He still looked displeased, even his posture was a bit aggressive.

  I stopped.

  “Why are you mad?” Tyler let go off my hand and looked away.

  “She wanted to slander my reputation!”

  “But she didn’t.”

  I sighed when he still looked tensed.

  “She just wanted to make a joke. Maybe to lighten the mood?”

  He let out a deep breath.

  “I don't want you to think bad of me.”

  That he would get mad about such a trivial matter…

  “I won’t listen to gossip. I don't judge people based on rumours.”

  Tyler finally looked at me.

  His blue eyes sparkled with admiration.

  They looked at me dearly and … somehow longingly.

  “Before I started to study law, I attended this school to get my A-Levels. That’s why I remember everything and …that’s why I know the secretary Anna and the other teachers.”

  He got closer.

  “So … you suggested this school to my mum?” I said while observing his steps.

  He reached out with his arm and got a strand of my long black hair.

  Gently, he twirled it in his fingers.

  “Maybe?” he whispered.

  “So, you told her to put me into this school … But how … did you even know my mother? I don't understand …” The question which I had always swallowed down came out.

  He was younger than my mum, and she wasn't the type to hang out with younger people.

  I didn't know why I was asking about it now, but it was something I really wanted to know.

  “We shouldn’t talk about it now. How about later?”

  I was surprised by his answer. I thought that he would ignore it or make a sarcastic remark, but this time he looked serious.

  And because of this seriousness, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to know.

  It could have a reason why I shouldn't know these things.

  But … then again, I wanted to know.

  “Okay.”

  “Good! You still need to go to class, though.”

  He took my hand again and showed me the way to my classroom.

  The hallways were big and clean.

  On the right side where some doors, on the left side big windows, which gave us a view of the schoolyard.

  It really looked a bit like a prison.

  The school was built as a square, and in the middle of the square was the schoolyard. The building was the walls and the schoolyard was the brief time outside … the break from the cells aka the classrooms.

  “Our ways will part now. You need to go in there alone. Are you ready?” he asked as he pointed at the last door on this floor.

  I guessed that this door was my classroom.

  Sadly, I became more nervous than I should have been.

  “You can do it! Everything will be fine. You won’t stay long in this prison.”

  Tyler smiled and got closer.

  Had he read my mind?

  “After school, I will fetch you, and we will have a great time together,” he promised.

  He gave me a peck on my cheek which started to burn up from his little touch.

  I blushed.

  “Now you are turning bright red.”

  I pushed him away when he laughed.

  “Hey! You can always use other ways of silencing me.”

  He said.

  I pouted.

  He really wanted me to push him because for me, there was no other way of silencing him.

  Again, without any warning, Tyler turned and knocked on the classroom door.

  I was shocked.

  I wasn't mentally prepared to go in there now.

  Damn him!

  The door opened.

  First, I saw brown shoes, because I was looking down, but then I lifted my gaze and saw an old man with a bald head and a white beard.

  “Good morning, Mister Anderson!” Tyler greeted.

  The man looked at him carefully.

  “Tyler?”

  “Yes, it’s me.”

  “Um… you weren't the one I was expecting.”

  Tyler laughed.

  “I get that often! But I am sure I have the one with me who you were expecting.”

  He grabbed me and pushed me in front of this man.

  Now he was looking at me.

  “Jenny, is this correct?”

  “Yeah! Jenny, this is your teacher, Mister Anderson. Mister Anderson, this is Jenny,” Tyler introduced.

  The teacher kept on smiling.

  “I am glad you made it on time. Your classmates are curious, they are happy to get a new classmate.”

  As if! I knew how the school systems worked. They only wanted new gossip.

  And I also knew that it was always bad to be the new one.

  “Well, I need to go now. See you later, Jenny,” Tyler patted my head before he took his leave.

  Sadly, I couldn't watch him go because Mister Anderson was blocking my view.

  “Good! You may go in, Jenny.”

  My heart started to beat faster, I even started to sweat a little.

  As I stepped inside, I felt a lot of eyes on me.

  It was so inconvenient and awkward.

  “Dear students, this is your new classmate.” The teacher said whilst closing the door.

  He pointed at me just to give me the sign that it was my turn to talk.

  I didn’t want to show them that I was nervous, which was why I took a deep breath before I started to introduce myself.

  “Good morning, everyone! My name is Jenny Brown. My mother and I recently moved to London … Before that, I lived in Florida. Well, I lived in London before, so I still remember some places,” I said loudly.

  I counted 29 students while I talked.

  And I noticed that there was only one empty seat left which made me guess that this would be my new seat.

  The girls and boys looked at me closely and listened carefully, which was crazy because the last time I had introduced myself, everyone had looked away or played with their phones!

  They were different from what I experienced before.

  Also, when I mentioned Florida, some people looked shocked.

  “Err … I am 18 years old… Well, that’s al
l.”

  Mister Anderson started clapping into his hands, the students followed and did the same.

  “Good! Please take your seat at the table in the back row … next to the window.”

  I nodded and made my way to the table he indicated.

  One table was big enough for two people.

  There were three tables on each row, four rows overall.

  The last row had only two tables. One was placed next to the wall and the other one next to the window.

  Well, sitting in the last row was a good thing; there, I could hide if I needed to.

  The students eyed me with big eyes as I sat down on my chair.

  My seat neighbour didn't pay much attention to me, which wasn't bad at all.

  I would have had more problems with it if he had stared at me like the others did.

  Well, this guy was playing with his phone, he didn’t even seem to care about what happened in class, anyway.

  I took a little glimpse of him.

  He had dark brown, curly hair. His face was oval, but his jawline was sharp … even so, it matched the picture. His eyes were shaped like almonds and the colour was hazel brown.

  As he looked down on his phone, I noticed how long his dark lashes were.

  Somehow, he looked familiar …

  His lips were full, and I saw that he was well-built, too.

  He wore a t-shirt and black jeans … maybe he was one of the cool guys … which meant trouble, which was why it would be the best to keep a large distance between us.

  Yeah … it was the best thing to do.

  I needed to avoid any potential problem.

  Who knew … maybe he had a crazy fangirl who might target me and turn my short school life into living hell if we talked.

  The thought made me cringe.

  I really didn't need those problems.

  As I promised myself to keep my distance from this guy, I took out my notebook and a pencil and placed them on the table.

  But I didn't write, I only looked out the window whilst listening to the teacher’s speech.

  We had history and the topic he was talking about was not new to me. Napoleon … I had heard that in class often, and I already knew this part of history like a prayer.

  So, I didn't need to concentrate.

  Furthermore, I was thinking about the possible explanations Tyler would give me after school.

  I really needed to prepare all the questions I had in mind.

  And … how could I get a chance to go to the orphanage?

  I knew that Alice was already of age, and she possibly could have left the orphanage already, but I was still hoping to get some information about her situation … and life.

  Maybe they knew where she was living know?

  “Please open the book on page 52 and read the text! I wrote some questions on the board, you should answer them. I will be right back,” I heard the teacher say before he left the classroom.

  As the door closed, the students turned to look at me.

  I didn’t understand why, but as I saw them looking around at me and then at my neighbour, I finally understood.

  The book! I still didn't have a book, so I needed to share one with my neighbour.

  But what was so look-worthy?

  Were the students afraid of my reaction?

  Or afraid of the reaction from the one sitting next to me?

  Well, there wouldn’t be any show or reaction, because I did know about the history of the man that the teacher had talked about.

  That’s why I started to answer the questions the teacher wrote on the board without needing a book.

  Some students gasped, some even started to whisper.

  Were they always going to be like that?

  “So, you don’t need the book?” a deep voice asked.

  I was a little shocked by the voice because I wasn’t prepared to hear my neighbour talk.

  My heart was even beating fast again!

  Damn, how I hated myself and my stupid heart.

  I shook my head to let him know that I didn’t need his book.

  “Hmm, okay! What was your name again?”

  Did he really want to start a conversation with me?

  A moment ago, he didn’t seem interested at all.

  “Jenny!” I quickly answered.

  “Interesting.”

  What? Interesting? What was so interesting?

  Now, my gaze jerked away from the paper just to look at him.

  He was smiling, and … he really looked good with a smile on his face. Even though it was a teasing smile, yet still.

  And as he was doing so … he looked familiar, again!

  Something wanted to flash back, but as soon as he started talking again, my mind pushed the thought away.

  “Earlier, you couldn't stop staring at my face! Now you act like I don’t exist, and you don’t even want to share a book?”

  My cheeks started to glow.

  Shit.

  Maybe I did take a longer glimpse at him than I had thought.

  But I needed to keep my calm.

  “I don’t need the book right now … I know the history of Napoleon. But still, thank you.” I tried to sound nice and not annoyed.

  Not annoyed because I did notice that his sneaky smirk was growing bigger.

  Also, did I know what he was implying with the sentence.

  He wanted to make me feel embarrassed.

  “Huh … I never said that you could share a book with me.”

  Was he kidding?

  I bet not! Because he stared into my eyes, and they clearly showed me that he meant what he said.

  Pff! I knew something was off with him.

  “Well, I didn’t ask you to. So, don’t draw stupid conclusions.” I turned away, and started to write an answer to the last question.

  Sadly, I heard him laugh and the class started to whisper again.

  “Still … even though you know the topic, you will need a book sooner or later. Anyway … Haven't we met before?” He added.

  Is he acting like a kid? He obviously didn't want to share the book with me, and he wasn't polite at all.

  So, what was this acting?

  Are we really going to make discuss out of a damn history book?

  No, never! I won’t do this.

  Either he was mocking me with his question, or he also saw something familiar in the features…

  Maybe we had met before … I just couldn’t remember!

  But it wasn’t important.

  I started to ignore this guy.

  “Hey! You shouldn’t ignore me.” He grabbed my arm and hindered me from finishing my answers.

  With my little strength, I tried to free my arm, but this guy tightened his grip.

  “Let go of my arm,” I demanded, but he ignored it.

  “Listen girl, I am not the type who likes to be ignored, disobeyed, or made fun of. I am the one who will ignore, disobey, or make fun of others. Don't make things complicated! I just wanted to know if we have met before, you should feel honoured, if I say something like– ” He couldn’t finish his sentence because the teacher had just come back.

  I really wanted to argue back because this stupid guy was too arrogant, and his words were too much!

  But I held myself back.

  Slowly, he let go of my arm and leaned back on his chair.

  The teacher came straight to me and placed a couple books on my side of the table.

  “Sorry for the wait, guys!” he apologised.

  With his presence, I cooled down a bit.

  “Jenny, I've found all the books you need for the lessons. Please handle them with care.”

  “Thank you,” I muttered.

  “No need to thank me! If you need anything else, let me know.”

  Mister Anderson turned away and stood in front of the board.

  “So, dear students! Let us discuss your answers to the questions. Who wants to read first?” he asked.

  The people started t
o raise their hands. The teacher looked around and picked one student to answer.

  Well, … and I?

  I took my new history book and turned to my neighbour.

  He also looked at me, obviously not pleased.

  With a big smile on my face, I stuck out my tongue and turned away.

  Yes, it was childish.

  But he deserved it!

  The whole lesson ended quite peacefully! And I felt satisfied because I could get this stupid grin off of that stupid boy’s face without having to use words.

  Even though he stared at me the whole time, I still felt at ease.

  We were dismissed for the break.

  Mister stupid boy quickly got out, and I saw that a few people followed him.

  I sighed.

  Two hours had passed, and I was still alive!

  Thank heaven … And now I needed to survive the break.

  Well, I got myself up and took my notebook and pencil with me.

  I wanted to use the time to put my thoughts into a useful order.

  “Hey, er … my name is Linette.”

  A small girl was blocking my way. She smiled shyly and played with her short brown hair.

  My first impression was that she looked like a doll. She had big brown eyes, a perfect nose, and a small mouth.

  How come such a pretty girl approached me?

  “Hi!” I greeted.

  “You are new, and I wanted to show you around a bit,” she said shyly.

  I was so glad! So damn glad that someone talked to me.

  And she seemed nice, too!

  That is why I nodded happily.

  “Good!”

  She reached out to my hand and shook it.

  “First, I will show you around.”

  A word, and a blow!

  She showed me the school, the library, the teachers’ room, the emergency room, the school garden, and the schoolyard.

  We also had a canteen.

  The school was bigger than I had thought, the tour was taking half of the break time.

  “I am sorry if this was too much,” she apologised.

  “Everything is fine.”

  She smiled.

  “If you can endure it, then you should come with me. I want to show you my special place.” Linette didn't wait for an answer, she turned and made me follow her, heading to the rooftop.

  “I have two good friends. We secretly meet here at break time. Sadly, they aren't in our class, and I don't have any other friends. So … I would be happy if we could be friends.” She was talking really fast with a high-pitched voice, but I managed to understand her.

  “Yeah…” I muttered, noticing her blushed cheeks before she turned to lead the way.