My Knight in Shining...Ah, Screw It. He's an Egotistical Asshole.

I bided Max a goodbye after I got off the bus and headed home. My mom had beaten me home and was now on the couch. I glanced over and saw that there was a carton of chocolate ice cream, well and ready- out on the coffee table.

“Honeybee?” She asked, turning and smiling when she saw my confused figure.

Oh god. Oh god. Mom only brought out the ice cream when there was bad news.

“Come sit, honeybee.” She asked, motioning to the other couch. So I hesitantly shuffled to the couch, eyeing the carton of dairy product, and my mother. Who I’ve noticed had red around her eyes, like she had been crying. I groaned inwardly.

This was definitely not good…. Nope. Not good at all.

“I had your… a.” She paused.

“I had your father’s lawyer call me today.” My breathing slowed, to almost nothing. Fear rose in me. He was the only thing I was ever scared of.

“Why does HE have a lawyer? If he’s suing-he has no right, if anything WE should be the ones suing. You know that, right mom?” I said hastily.

“No. It’s not bad like that sweetie.” I looked at her confused. Then why had she been crying? She tapped her finger on her chin.

“You see, me and your father never actually legally “divorced.” She sighed out. Twisting her mouth to the side.

“WHAT!?” I screeched, my voice breaking in the process.

“But he called to tell me that, and I told him we’d get a lawyer, meet up and finalize it.” She breathed out again, slower. Pain coming in out of her words.

“Oh, mom.” I got up immediately, and sat beside her on the couch, clutching her in my arms, soothing her like I had just last night.

“You can do this. I know you can. You’re so strong.”

“N-n-no.” She wept. Voice crackling like fireworks.

“I-I’m not.” I felt my own eyes betray me with tears. I didn’t like my mom being so scared, or weak. I didn’t like it at all.

But what scared me the most was that I couldn’t do anything to get her to stop crying. I couldn’t be strong for her, like I had wanted to so many times.

“Mom, look at me.” I said, making eye contact.

“There will be lawyers there, he can’t hurt you anymore. Never again, ok?” I shook her, and held her until her cries started to slow.

“You-your right. How silly of me.”

“It’s not silly, ‘cause I’m scared too.” I admitted to her.

“Aw, honeybee. No need to be worried. He won’t touch you ever again as long as I’m still alive.” She said, wiping the single tear that escaped my eye, away.

“Do you want me to come with you to the meeting?” I asked, knowing help might calm my mothers slow sobbing.

“No. Your support alone will be enough.” She smiled and put her hand on my cheek.

“You’re growing up well Toby… I’m so proud.” She smiled warm-heartedly at me, reminding me that no matter what was happening with the drama with Max, and Jacob, or my scary new friendship with Blaire, or annoying Bridgette, or Cody… I always had my mom. Correction, we always had each other.

“You’re simply beautiful.” She said in a whisper, softly rubbing her motherly hands over my cheek, letting the friction create warmth. I sighed into the warmth, and truly smiled. Something I hadn’t done in a while. I wanted to cry again, out of happiness. That with her, I could let everything off my shoulders.

“When are you planning to schedule it?” I asked now, referring to the lawyer situation.

“As soon as possible, I’m going to call our lawyer and ask how soon he can schedule it.”

“I want this man completely out my life.” I grinned.

“Good thinking, mom.” I winked.

“Well, getting back to our world, what would you like for dinner?” She said jokingly.

“Food would be nice.” I said, shuffling in my seat on the couch.

“I know that silly girl, what type of food though?”

“Uhm, what about lasagna?”

“Lasagna it is then!” She said, getting up and heading towards the kitchen.

I decided it would be of good cause if I did more research for my project, so I grabbed my laptop, launched myself under the covers of my cold room, and made google my new ‘bff.’

I felt kind of ancy when looking at all the Spam adds talking about love triangles and soul-mate crap. Most of the information was useless. I had momentary pauses, in which I had an itch to throw the computer out the window. But thankfully, I refrained.

Only about an hour layer, my mom called to me from downstairs.

“Your lasagna is warm and waiting!!”

“M’kay!” I shouted back, shutting my laptop and joining my mom for dinner.

After dinner I moaned in content with my now, full tummy.

As I lazily made my way back up stairs to do my homework, I could faintly hear the ringing of my cell phone.

Hurriedly I skipped stairs and ran into my room, as the song.

“Can You Hear Me now?” by Framing Hanley rang in my ears.

“Hello?” I chimed, wondering whom it could be.

“Hey, this is Toby right?” Said a petite female voice.’

“Yeah…is this… Blaire?” I guessed.

“Ha. Yeah, I’m having calculus trouble. You mind lending me your brain for a sec?” She said, giggling apologetically.

I smiled into the phone. Blaire had this niche for wording this oddly. Either way, it made me laugh.

“Yea. I’ve got to complete the homework to, I’ll help you with math, if you can tell me some sort of website that would remotely help me in the US history project?” I debated.

So there I was. Being nice to someone outside of my family. Openly laughing with someone outside my family. I felt a weird warm sensation in the left side of my chest, and wondered if the feeling was anything close to a friendship.

After we finished homework, and freely carried on other conversations about school and drama Blaire made me a proposition.

“Hey, do you…-do you wanna come over after school tomorrow, and go shopping or something?”

I felt my muscles freeze unknowingly. I couldn’t really help but be scared of what she had said. You can take the girl out of the jungle, but you can’t take the jungle out of the girl. Being an outcast was my natural habitat. I had to let the little voice telling me it was ok; take control in order for my muscles and ligaments to accept the offer.

“S-sure.” I managed to form letters in the messy mud puddle that held my normal thoughts captive.

“Cool. You’re in sports med with Adam right?”

“Mhm. Ya. Adam.” I said, still having the little voice inside my head direct instructions to my mouth, forming English instead of gibberish.

“Ha. Ok, I’ll just meet you there, cool?” I shook the hesitation out of me. This was a new life, new me. My past is forgotten, and I needed to make myself believe that. No more hiding from the world, because I was put on the earth for a purpose, and I wasn’t about to hide away in my shell of outcast-ism any longer.

“That’d be great. What uh- what mall are we going to?”

“Great South Mall.”

“Cool.” I smiled into the phone.

My first step to being social, and not being socially -awkward. Score.

Thursday followed with this routine:

Math- The teacher had forgotten a section of the chapter, and after I looked in the textbook I figured it out. Therefore, he went to get coffee while I was left to teach the class. I wanted to laugh; he wanted to let the quiet, rude girl to TEACH?? I could barely stand teenagers, although I was one. Let me re-fraise that… I could barely stand these teenagers. Most of the girls in this class probably and most-likely had AIDS, and almost all of them probably paid people to do there math homework. But after a high-five from Blaire, a smile from Adam and having Max grab my hand and squeeze it tenderly for support, I felt obligated. I knew I was going to have to for my new friends, because let’s face it. They were snails on calculus road, leading to a miserable EOC if I didn’t help them.

“So. I’m not super smart, let me say that first.” I said, and I could hear a few scoffs.

I knew they’d respect me in a few minutes though.

“I just don’t listen to teachers, and rather prefer my own way of thinking. Brain washing us to all think the same way when we’re obviously not the same.”

“Each one of us does things differently, and I’m surprised the school system hasn’t figured that out yet.” I said, pacing in the front of the classroom. Heads nodded in agreement with me, and Max’s smile almost took the breath away from me. It was ear to ear. It made me feel good that someone was smiling because of something I was doing. I wasn’t quiet use to that. My cheeks went a little pink, as I continued.

“So. I’m not stupid. I’m not super smart. I’m normal, average, and I promise that I don’t smell.” I said, and the class erupted in laughter at my joke on our math teacher. Everyone thought he smelled like cabbage.

Then through out the period, I began to teach the class my way of thinking. I even had them discuss it, so I could base what I was teaching off of how they perceived things. ‘Cause like I said, everyone views things in a different manner. We actually had a productive period, and we all laughed easily. It was an awakening experience for me. Never did I think that every heartless, rich kid in here would accept me for who I was, and think I was funny. I didn’t think they had hearts, quiet frankly. But they did. Warm, understanding, beating, hearts. I felt like my purpose was growing, knowing I was affecting people’s lives. Maybe not in a big way, but I could help them graduate this class, and that had to stand for something.

The bell rang, and I hadn’t even noticed the teacher standing in the doorway.

“Thank you Toby. I didn’t really know how to reach out to these kids. But you did, and you did it well. I may come to you with help in my planning period. Would that be alright?” The old Toby would have snapped a harsh “no” and ignored the odd-smelling little man that was my teacher. But after being with everyone, I felt like it wouldn’t be a hard task, and it would help me deteriorate my harsh characteristics. So I agreed, nicely.

I shuffled into the hallway, and began putting my math book back in my book bag when two arms squirmed there way around my waist and lifted me into the air. Max’s soft breath tickled my ear.

“You just keep surprising us, Toby.” I muffled a hush laugh, knowing a surprise was exactly what I was. I wasn’t a blonde bimbo, like the stereotype the school had stamped itself.

I couldn’t really help the pink rise to my cheekbones, as he sat me back down, against the wall in the hallway. I fell against the blue wall with crackles of laughter as Max had yet to remove his hands. My laughter seized as he leaned forward. In fact, it had shut off like a switch. Playtime had turned into I-actually-do-think-your-great-and-absently-have-an-urge-to-kiss-you time. I didn’t know how to not be rude, and I scolded myself for what I did next. But what Max had planned on doing, I wasn’t very comfortable with. I barely knew him, and he wanted to smack his wet Naughtingham lips onto mine in the middle of a freaking hallway?

“MAX!” I squealed, and ran away from him to my second period. I gasped for breath once inside the theater, hading held it the whole run here. I knew I shouldn’t have freaked out and ran away like that, but I didn’t think of Max like that, we didn’t even connect. It was too much to ask of me at the moment, I thought. I felt a certain stare on me as I took a seat in my usual spot. I felt someone approach and sit next to me.

“Hey. This is kind of hard for me to ask, but were you- uh.” The voice paused.

“Are you…. were you pressured into kissing him back there? Did you need my help or anything?” I blinked at the sudden consideration and politeness in the familiar voice. No way that voice could have belonged to Jacob. He hadn’t insisted he address Max about the issue, not at all. In actuality, he had asked me if I wanted something done about it. He had considered the way I had felt about the situation. A weird sensation buried itself into my chest and I shivered.

“No. I was just- not ready, and unprepared for it. I’m fine though, thanks.” I said, looking at him now. His blue eyes poured soulfully into mine. Like he was desperately trying to communicate an emotion to me. The same one I was never able to de-code. I blinked confused and awe-struck at the complete sincerity in the puddle of blue.

“Alright, just making sure you were ok. You seemed to of run away pretty fast back there.” He said croaking out a single laugh of amusement.

“Ye-yea, thanks.” I said dazed by my fog of bewilderment.

“Jakes, you sitting up here?” Demitri asked the boy next to me from across the room.

“Yea, sure man.” He yelled to him.

“So, you’re positive it didn’t like traumatize you, because you look pretty blown away.” He smiled a side-ways grin. I heaved a laugh, and uncontrollably smiled back.

“Positive. The hallway incident didn’t shock me.” I reassured. He nodded, still smiling and retreated over to where Demitri was leaning against a wall talking to Bridget.

Little did he know, that what really had blown me away, was this side of him I had yet to of faced, and the strange emotion flashing big neon signs to my head, saying that they liked it. Like-liked it.

My chest crumbled knowing what kind of situation I was in. Max- the really nice, gentlemanly boy that had wanted to kiss me was growing fond of me. And I- the strange new girl with new-founded emotions and friends, couldn’t get Jacob Naughtingham out of my head. The cousin he hated.

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ATTENTION READERS!!!!: Alright, so not so much action and this one. I'm very sorry, I can't promise the exact chapter that the action will occur in, because my idea's come as a write, and I never know when i'm going to add something unexpected or not. But I can say that it will be here in the next 3 chapters.