Half Bitten

Practically rushing her out of the room, I picked up the liter of soda and handed it to her.
“Good night, Kindle. Tell Nathan I said hi, Kay?”
She scoffed, “if I remember.”
I tried to tell myself that it wasn’t the time to confront her about snobby attitude. Not with Bird just down the stairs.
“Honey!” my dad screamed, “Kindle came up the stairs fifteen minutes ago!”
“Yeah, dad!” I shouted back, going straight to my closet. “I noticed when she showed up at my bedroom door.”
“Good bye, Jackie!”’ Bird’s humbled voice tiptoed up the stairs.
I sucked air through my teeth, “see ya around, Bird.”
If I was going to talk to Lowlii, I needed privacy. If someone saw us talking, even for a brief moment, the news wouldn’t take long to get to Bird. Or even my dad, he was in on the plan too. I needed to start fresh. Get a good night sleep and wake up early tomorrow morning. I ran down the stairs just as my father was leading Bird out the door.
“What time am I supposed to be up tomorrow, dad?”
He turned suddenly, giving me his undivided attention. “Oh, Kindle is going to give you a ride tomorrow. I have to get the old truck fixed for you.”
That meant that I would have to face Lowlii a lot sooner then I expected. I nodded and darted back up the stairs leaving everyone in confusion. I could feel my dad’s intuition boiling up; I would have to face him later. After my teeth were brushed and my hair combed out, I immediately slipped into bed. Tossing and turning, the night seemed to go on forever. As soon as my eyes were closed, Lowlii’s beautiful smile spoke to me. I groaned again, turning to onto my stomach. I knew it was too early to open my eyes, but his smile had turned into a mocking grin.
How pathetic, the intriguing voice seemed to come back again. I listened fixedly for the angelic voice to reply angrily; yet, there was no sound. It was pathetic. Thinking about one person for as long made it very clear that I was setting myself up for failure. What was the whole point of making myself noticeable to Lowlii? Had it been to prove Kindle wrong? It was clear that she didn’t want me around Lowlii. Which only made me want to be around him more; not to enjoy his warmth and presence, but to get a rise out of Kindle.
I had to admit that it was my rebellious side, a face long over due on my part, merging out and taking over. Even when I was under the supervision of the maids my mom had hired, I never really took it upon myself to misbehave. My eyelids defied my brain and slid open. No matter how hard I would try to control myself it was expected that this situation would be turned into a game.
“Stick to business,” I muttered to myself. If Lowlii generously gave me a chance to speak with him, we should do so in private.
Finally, a silver strip of light peered through the window across my room. Nightfall had decided to pass on leaving another Day. I had to pace myself. Letting my eyes stare blankly at the ceiling, I counted the seconds. Anxiously, after two, my body had jumped up and headed straight for the closet. Due to three, mind numbing days of pure boredom, my closet had been fully stocked with all of my clothing articles. I bit my lip nervously as my fingers slipped through the pairs of denim jeans.
“Something slimming. You don’t want to look like a fat turd,” I cautioned myself. After picking up a matching shirt, I headed straight to the bathroom. Grabbing a warm shower to prepare myself for the day. I let the hot water make its way down from the showerhead onto my scalp. At first, I cringed at the sensation. My nerves were evidently frazzled, I hadn’t slept in more then twenty-four hours and I knew I was going to pay for that one way or another.
The mirror was masked with a coat of vapor as I stood before it. Fully dressed in my faded skinny jeans and red plaid top. My index finger slowly started to draw a smiley face with dimples before the coat had cleared owing to the lack of steam. Freeing itself of any knots as my comb slid through the strands, my hair seemed to admit defeat before the war had started. With a sigh, I swung the door open and heard the silent shuffling of my dad’s feet down in the kitchen. I hurried before he possessed the thought of cooking me breakfast.
“Good morning,” I briskly said. Picking out a pan from the cabinet underneath the sink. “How about scrambled eggs?”
“I was in the mood for waffles,” he replied playfully at my suddenly enthusiasm.
“I’m sure we have some in the freezer.”
He laughed, “someone seems to be in a happy mood today. I trust that reason would be because of your thriving hunger to learn, right?”
I laughed back, “Whatever you say.”
I plucked the package of frozen waffles out of the freezer and popped two into the toaster. I leaned against the counter patiently looking out to the rest of the kitchen and noticed a backpack taking a place in the seat right across from my dad.
“I hope you don’t mind. I unpacked some of the supplies you might need and stuffed them into the thing.”
I smiled in response, remembering the first day of kindergarten. I had dreaded the thought of being away from my parents so I emptied out everything in my bag in the house and walked out as if nothing had changed. Soon enough, the teacher had sent me back home realizing that I had no supplies and couldn’t continue with the school day. Ever since then he seemed to always be in charge of what I had put in my bag. “Thanks.”
The toaster dinged as the smell of thawing waffles filled the air of the kitchen. My dad had walked out of the room to change into his work clothes, leaving me to face my own thoughts. I grabbed an apple out of the drawers of the fridge and rinsed it off. I had finally calmed down enough to raise it up to my lips and take a bite.
“Car pool!” the voice at the door seemed to chime in playfully. I stumbled towards it and swung the door open. The sun had suddenly decided to peer through the clouds, blinding me briefly.
“Good morning, Shotgun.” Nathan leaned his head to the side, letting the sun’s rays highlight the brightness of his face. The apple that was limply hanging off the side of my mouth fell to the ground.
“That’s not the usual response I get.”
I shook my head, trying to catch myself from slipping away. Was every boy here in Port Angeles genetically designed to be carriers of maximum hotness?
Rolling down the front passenger window of her pick up truck parked by the curb, Kindle yelled after us, “Come on! We don’t have all day!” I couldn’t help but notice Lowlii squirm down in the front passenger seat as if he was ashamed. I chuckled lightly at the hint of jealousy that followed, “she’s not that special! Come on.”
I took another look at Nathan, he seemed to smile smugly back at me.
“Should we wait another thirty seconds, or will she explode before then?” I grinned back.
He seemed amused, playing along with a smile. “There’s no way she would be that easy to get rid of. She’d find a way to come back.”
I stumbled back to my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Glancing nervously to the car, my eyes met Lowlii’s gaze. The warmth suddenly found itself; his brilliant blue eyes observed silently, as if they were searching for the answer to a question he had dared to ask himself.
I nervously looked down to the ground.
“Aw,” Nathan smirked halfheartedly, “she doesn’t hate you that much. When you’ve dealt with Kindle for as long as I have, you grow to love her subtle acts of loathing.”
He obviously misinterpreted my action. I looked up again with a brave smile, “lets just hope it wont get worse.”
He laughed, closing the door behind me as I made my way to Kindle’s car. Steph swung the backdoor open as she scooted towards the end of the seat. Allowing Nathan and I to pile into the car as it swerved back onto the road.
“Ready for your first day of school in Port Angeles High?” Steph hinted a tone of anticipation.
I giggled sheepishly as I darted my gaze towards the rearview mirror. Lowlii seemed to be staring once again, only this time his eyes weren’t warm. They seemed to be disappointed.
Nathan swung his arm over, making me lean into him more. He patted the top of my head as if I was nothing but an unimportant five year old. “At least you got me, huh?”
I shrugged him off before Kindle could notice. “Don’t flatter yourself, Nathan.”
Steph laughed back, “finally. Someone to put him in his place. This is going to be the start of a great relationship.”
Kindle couldn’t help but join in, letting the bitterness flow rich, “That’s good, seeing as how I don’t have the power anymore.”
Steph seemed to roll her eyes making light of the situation.
“Come on, babe!” Nathan pleaded back, “It’s the first day of school. Lets not relive that fight.”
Everyone seemed to be in a lucid mood except for Lowlii. The guilt lingered over me as if I had something to do with his tart attitude.
“Hey!” Nathan kicked the back of Lowlii’s chair, “you awake over there?”
He grunted in return. I gritted my teeth, whatever Bird had told him was way out of line. I hadn’t been here long enough for Lowlii to feel the sudden urge to loathe me so much.
Kindle chimed as she inched the car into the busy parking lot in front of the school, “we’re here!”
Amber seemed to have just pulled up as well. Coming out of her car just across the lot, she jumped up and down eagerly, “Lowlii! Come over here! I want you to see my new car!”
Closing his eyes as if he wanted to disappear, a groan replied. While Kindle started another conversation directed towards Nathan, Steph and I exited the car without a word.
“So? Have you received your schedule yet?” hitching her brightly colored bag over her right shoulder, Steph walked next to me.
I shook my head, “no, my dad said I had to go to the office.”
Steph nodded; “I’ll take you.” she glanced back to where Kindle had parked her car. Nathan had been leaning beside it as Kindle embraced him with a hug. He briefly tilted his head to whisper something into her ear and she threw her arms in the air dramatically.
“Well, if that’s the way you really feel!”
“No, Kindle. I mean that in the nicest way possible. You could be a little more pleasant.”
Steph sighed, “I’d rather be with you then with them.”
I shrugged, “that makes two of us.”
As we set foot into the school she went on with a tone of humor. “Just wait till lunch. They’ll make you want to rip your hair out.”
Port Angeles High school wasn’t as bad as it seemed, due to the fact that it was still a school. The halls were moderately crowded and the students seemed welcoming enough to give me a smile as they passed by. Noticing that the floors were recently waxed, I looked down to watch my steps. Falling was the last thing I wanted to happen right now. We trailed down the first floor about 6 yards away from the door and turned into the front office. There were two desks set up just a few yards in front of the second door labeled with the principal’s name.
“Elina, Maddie!” Steph called happily, “I have another student for you!”
Laughter answered back as two girls walked out of the principal’s office. The petite girl with light brown skin and curly hair greeted Steph.
“ I see the Hopi tribe has gotten bigger this year,” she smiled lightly as she turned to me, “I’m Maddie. If you need any help at all during the school year, come to me.”
I chuckled back nervously. She looked as if she was one of us—a student. Her brown eyes looked straight into mine as she referred to the second girl that walked out.
“She’s Elina. Now, she’s the girl you go to if someone happened to beat you up.”
Elina chuckled. She too looked young enough to be a student.
“I need my schedule.” I managed to say.
With a quick gesture, Maddie walked over to her desk and started typing on her keyboard, “Jackie Auburne Brown,” She mumbled as her fingers typed in the letters. I was shocked at how they knew my name so well, but managed to talk myself out of paranoia.
“There we go.” The printer on Elina’s side started to shift the paper into itself.
“You’re going to have a fun day today,” Steph whispered in my ear. “We have first period together.”
I chuckled once again.

Cliques socializing, as people passed by. Jocks giving each other a high five as a welcoming gesture. A group of four boys with skateboards seemed to pile in by the lockers. Holding conversation with each other, they would moderately turn out to the crowd and stare at various people. One of them I recognized before his gaze met mine. The bell shrilled just as students began shuffling their feet across the school hallway. Alec laughed as he finished his part in the conversation before turning his face towards me. I whimpered like a little dog.
“That’s funny,” Steph, laughed, “most girls faint at his feet.”
Yet another guy who had dazzling eyes and a well-known reputation.
“If I were you, I would lower my expectations just a little bit for the first day.” Steph added on, walking me to my second class. “Aim for guys in our social group. Like… Lowlii.”
I gasped inwardly. Just his name gave me butterflies. “He seemed pretty upset this morning. Do you know why?”
Steph shrugged, slowing her pace. “He’s a teenage boy. I really wouldn’t like to get in the mindset of that particular group. But he seemed to be staring you down. Like he wanted to yell at you senseless or something.”
I bit my lip trying to keep my feelings calm. Whatever Bird had told him; it must’ve been something that bothered him at his core. I had to set Lowlii straight.
“Well, here we are.” Steph pointed to the door in front of us.
I groaned as the door swung open showing freshly cleaned hardwood flooring and the lack of student desks. “Dance? I’m in dance?”
“Yes, that’s what the paper says.”
I shook my head, “it’s a typo. Can’t I just transfer into regular P.E?”
She sighed once again, this time walking behind me and pushing me forward towards the dreaded door. “Only two more classes after this and then it’s lunch. Please, don’t act like you’ll die before then.”
She was right. I really did have to tough it out until lunch. That was the only time I had a chance to set Lowlii straight. The tardy bell decided to ring as Steph gave me an extra nudge towards the door. “I’ll see you at lunch!” as soon as I turned my head, she was down the hall entering her classroom. I took in an anxious breath and stepped foot into the dance room. The teacher had been directing students to the side of the room where mats were placed down for our shoes and bags.
“No shoes allowed! Please, don’t disrespect the floor! Take a seat!” she went on in an alerting tone. I quickly shuffled to the mats and swung my shoes off. As soon as I saw everyone taking a seat next to her belongings, I joined in. sitting patiently by my bag, I tried to force myself to direct all attention to the teacher. But as defiant as I was, my head searched the classroom for anyone recognizable.
“Jackie? Whoa, I didn’t know you danced.” Amber’s voice seemed to find my ear. She slipped into the spot next to me and smiled as if she was happy to see me. Of course, I smiled back. She wasn’t that bad unless Lowlii was around.
“How long have you been dancing?”
I shrugged, “piano’s more for me.”
She nodded along, “this is going to be great. You make the music and I dance to it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, she seemed to perk up with inspiration. I didn’t mind that either.
“Okay!” the teacher seemed to clap her hands together. The whole class grew quiet in a matter of seconds.
“Hello, I’m Mrs. Rolands and I’m your dance teacher.” She started to pace in front of the class as she went on with a melodic tone. Making all eyes follow her in a trance. “Now, my class is going to be easy as long as you try. That’s all I’m looking for.” The more she talked the more I wanted to stare. Her pale skin was flawless, as she moved. Letting her legs trail along elegantly, her honey brown eyes seemed to scan the room for challenging expressions.
“Now my aid, Sadie, will hand out the syllabus.” As soon as she finished her sentence, the petite Inkpad girl from the café stepped in with a stack of papers. She moved quickly in between the girls lounging on the floor. Jumping over stretched legs and landing flawlessly on her tip toes. There was something unnatural about her—not that her looks weren’t exceptional. She was the prettiest girl I ever recalled meeting.
“She doesn’t really talk much.” Amber whispered in my ear. “Sadie, I mean. I think it’s partly because of us.”
Us? What? Was I offending people by my presence?
“I mean, Hopi us. She’s Alec’s sister, you know?”
My eyebrows rose as soon as she finished her sentence. The conversation halted as Sadie passed by, handing us both a copy.
“Their ancestors stole our land two centuries ago, you know?”
I looked down at the paper, trying to pay attention to the words etched into the page. This was starting to sound like the conversation Kindle and I had last night, full of nothing but gossip and false words.
“I’m just waiting for lunch.” My voice managed to whisper.
Amber agreed, “I know. Only two classes and school’s already a drag.”
The teacher seemed to read out loud, “in this class students will learn confidence and self discipline…”
It didn’t take long for me to faze her out. Amber nudged me a few second after I started to stare aimlessly at the paper in front of me.
“Have you talked to Lowlii?”
I studied the tone in her voice cautiously. “Not really. Why?”
“He seemed pretty sad this morning. I asked him what was wrong and he said to ask you. That you knew why he was in such a bad mood.”
I sighed sharply, “ I think it had something with Bird telling him to stay away from me.”
She hummed to herself, “that doesn’t seem to be it. He seemed fine right after. He even decided to call a friend, I remember Kindle telling me he raced to the phone.”
So he wasn’t trying to avoid me. I pulled on the sleeves of my red plaited shirt; there was a slight chance that I was the source of his anger.
She caught my nervous twitch and turned her head towards me. “The ‘friend’… wasn’t you, right?”
Damn! She was smarter then she looked. I mumbled something under my breath and she seemed to like what she heard. Smiling back she shrugged, “maybe it’s because he’s a guy.”
I nodded along, “he certainly is a guy.”
Mrs. Rolands went on, talking about the rules of her classroom. Why was the first day of school always the longest? Full of nothing but regulations causing a strain on our classroom liberation.
“No gum is allowed in class.” She said promptly. Sadie seemed to have blown a bubble just as that was said. Mrs. Rolands glanced at her as if a mother would to a child that has been misbehaving. She glared refusing to admit defeat.
“We do a lot of group work in this class. So you might as well pick partners now.”
Amber immediately reached for my hand and cheered, “Done!”
All the girls snickered as they heard her exclaim followed by low droning whispers.
“Isn’t that Ashley?” one girl questioned in shock.
“Yeah! Didn’t she die?” another girl tried to state the obvious.
“Okay, that seems to be about it.” Mrs. Rolands seemed to proudly wrap up her speech. The class started to scatter and hold different conversations. Across the hardwood floor you could see groups of girls talking, laughing, and staring into space.
“What class do you have next?”
I pulled out my schedule and unfolded it, “English honors, then its tech.”
She smiled as the bell rang, “I’ll see you at lunch then.”

I had spent the next ninety minutes secretly wishing for lunch to start. English Honors was much like dance class. The teacher paced in front of the classroom in the same style and spoke in a similar calm tone. Mr. Foremen wasn’t hard to phase out either. Tech was the only class that I had to work my mind in. the classroom was well air-conditioned, with four white walls and double doors leading into the first part of the room, the second part of course, was the teacher’s office. The lab had been furnished with three long tables angled out into rows. Walking down the isle the teacher had told me to pick any computer I wanted. Seeing as how there was a long line of people behind me, I made it quick. Choosing the first one at the corner. Mr. Welch taught us the basics, how to get to the start menu and how to shut down properly. All the computers chimed in unison as everyone oh’d and ahh’d. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nathan down the row. Playing around with his mouse cord. He laughed, throwing it to Lowlii. I had tech class with him. That must be helpful in someway. Nathan turned to look at the teacher and as soon as he recognized me, he perked up and waved.
“Look! It’s Shotgun!”
I waved back nervously, “yeah, its Shotgun,”
In the spur of the moment, Nathan nudged Lowlii, who had just dozed off. Without another second, his chair fell from under him and he crashed to the ground. Nathan laughed loudly as everyone turned around to stare. Lowlii lifted himself up slowly and smiled back.
I had to fight from laughing. The urge wasn’t because he had fallen like a little five-year-old kid, but because he had done it cutely enough to make me adore him. The bell rang and we all filed out. As I got to the door, Nathan seemed to be standing there, holding Lowlii in place.
“Finally! Lunchtime, huh?”
“Yeah,” Lowlii mumbled.
I nodded, “it’s my favorite subject.”
He chuckled softly, “If they gave us a grade, I would be passing with flying colors.”
We started to walk towards the cafeteria in a line, Nathan strictly in between Lowlii and I.
“So?” Nathan stretched his arms lazily, “ how is your first day going?”
Don’t even get me started.
“Great,” Lowlii answered. I was surprised to hear that his voice was mildly warm. “I have calculus with Amber.”
I gritted my teeth, he should’ve just stayed quiet.
“You know Amber, right Shotgun?” he directed his voice to me. It wasn’t warm anymore; if anything it was a strict mock.
“Yes, she has dance with me.”
Nathan looked down to me, “you dance? Aren’t you…clumsy?”
I rolled my eyes, “are you saying I wouldn’t be a good dancer?”
He felt the guilt sweep over him, “no, I didn’t mean it that way. I was just—“
I raised my hand up before he could finish, “I was just teasing. I know.”
He sighed, and then let a moment of silence slip through. We stepped into the cafeteria and saw Steph beckoning to us.
“I saved some seats!”
“Why do you people do that?”
I dumped my bag onto the table, Lowlii pulled over a chair as Nathan stood still.
“You people?”
“I mean, girls. Why do girls do that?”
Steph sighed, “having trouble with Kindle?”
“No, all girls do it.”
Amber and Kindle came into the conversation hand in hand, “what do we do?”
Lowlii laughed mockingly, “ Do you even have to ask?” no one said anything; we all just waited for a witty remark on my part. Instead I just stared back to him. Trying to read the expression on his beautiful face. His eyes were looking back to me, patient yet still saddened.
“Yes, Lowlii. What did I do? Please, amuse me.”
Steph paid attention to the pudding she had just pulled out of her brown paper bag, accompanied with a fork. “This is going to be interesting.”
“Then, I guess you’ll never know.” Lowlii pushed himself up off the chair and started walking towards the salad area. We sat silent for a couple of moments, trying to make note of what just happened.
“Anyone want to eat pudding with a fork?” Steph finally broke the air. Nathan laughed as Kindle took a seat by him. Amber sat in Lowlii’s place and waited patiently for him to come back.
“I’ll be back,” I darted out of my seat following the same path Lowlii had headed.
“Would you just tell me what I did wrong?” I yelled after him as I stepped into the abandoned hallway.
Lowlii rolled his eyes, “you should know. I’m not even supposed to be talking to you right now.”
I threw my arms up in the air, “then why are you still here? Tell me.”
He squinted, looking down to me with his lips sternly pursed against each other. His hands were balled up into fists, as his breathing grew more intense.
“I see you’re upset. Whatever it is, I didn’t mean it.”
“But you did,” he lowered his voice to a subtle growl, “I heard your voice. You said you wanted to forget.”
“Forget what?” I huffed.
“The night we ran off to west Seattle. The best night of my whole summer, and you wanted to forget it.”
My heart sunk as I groaned inwardly. This was my entire fault.
“No, I didn’t mean it that way.”
Lowlii rolled his eyes, “every girl says that.”
I started to huff once again, “you don’t know what I was going through!”
“Yes, that’s right,” he let the sarcastic tone flow,“ blame the cramps!”
I looked around and I was thankful that the hallway was empty. Lowlii walked himself a couple of feet further and headed into the boys bathroom. Throwing his arms up in the air, he yelled back, “You girls are all the same!”
I scowled, “us girls? What about you!”
I walked into the boy’s bathroom reaching for his hand. I turned him around and made him face me, “what is your problem?”
He pulled his hand back, “my problem is, I told myself not to care and yet I still did. It’s obvious you don’t feel the same way.”
I heard a toilet flush from behind one of the stalls. We both turned our heads.
Alec opened the stall door slowly, “nice to meet you guys here, huh?”
Lowlii growled, “just go away, Alec.”
Alec rolled his eyes and took a step out of the stall, “if I recall correctly, this is a boy’s public school bathroom.”
“Don’t get involved, Alec. Just leave!”
He scrunched his face childishly; “don’t blame me for your girlfriend problems.”
“I’m not his girlfriend! I don’t like him that way.” my voice was higher then expected.
He smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. “ Oh really? So I suppose this rampage into the boys bathroom is just a new hobby you’re trying to pick up.”
I could feel the heat rushing to my face.
“Just go wash your hands, Alec!” Lowlii grunted.
“You can’t make me do anything,” Alec challenged him, “besides I think you should be paying attention to the lovely girl that’s in front of you.”
Lowlii took a step towards Alec angrily. “So help me! If I see you even look at her wrongly, your life will be over.”
I scoffed, “you don’t need to protect me, Lowlii. If anything you should worry about yourself.”
“Me?” Lowlii retorted sourly, “Well, what are you doing? One day you’re my best friend and the next you want to forget I’m even alive!”
“Oh, no,” I groaned, “The only reason I said I wanted to forget the damn night was because of the attacks. The girl that died looked exactly like me, and I thought that if this thing actually had found me, the other girl would still be alive!”
His angered expression turned into a regretful apologetic one. He let his eyes shift from mine to the ground.
Alec took the moment of silence as a chance to update us on his decision to wash his hands, “if you don’t mind me, I’m always afraid of germs.”