Second Heartbeat

“Class, I’d like to introduce you to a new student, Haley Sanders, now she’s just transferred here from Mayfair. Miss Sanders would you like to come in?”

As I stepped into the classroom all the students took one look at me then went back to what they were doing, chatting amongst themselves messing each other around kicking the backs of seats. They didn’t appear fazed by my appearance a clear indicator they had all already been around my brother for long enough.

The once black, but now more dusty grey, combat boots that adorned my feet, had been loved and worn nearly to death, scuffed at the toe, there were large holes in my jeans where I’d worn them down so much they had simply given out on me, my Rob Zombie t-shirt that I had customised to hang off the shoulder showed off the one tattoo I had been able to convince my parents to let me get, the colourful candy skull that covered my upper left arm stared out across the room with me trying to locate my brother and his friends as I ran a hand through my light honey blonde hair that now hung down to the top of my waist. My makeup, more than likely the only subtle part of the entire outfit was simple with a dash of mascara and eyeliner running across my upper lid, nothing else was needed to accentuate my bright hazel eyes.

“Well… Miss Sanders, would you like to make an introduction, tell us a little more about yourself?” The teacher eyed me carefully, probably trying to assess how much trouble I was going to be, how much paperwork I would create for her.

“Yeah, sure why not, I’m Haley Sanders, I’m seventeen years old and I love punk… Sue me.” I told them all the corners of my lips turning up to give them a smirk, glancing out of the corner of my eye to notice the teacher was sending me a glare and I couldn’t help but wonder if she saw me as my brother for that moment.

“Alright then, take a seat Miss Sanders.” She muttered before going back to some papers she had laying on her desk

I nodded then raised my head, searching for Matt, my twin brother, once again. As soon as I found him, sitting amongst his friends I smiled and made my way over to where he had clearly forced some poor kid to move so I wouldn’t have to sweat bullets asking them myself.

Just as I was about to say hi to them all the teacher announced she had a staff meeting to attend and for us to just quietly chat, although I’m not sure if she could have stressed the quiet part more if she tried.

“You were late.” Matt poked my shoulder smiling a little as I shrugged.
“What’s new?” I laughed quietly and leaned back some talking to his two friends, Zacky and Jimmy. Zack was regular height with spiky blond hair and these striking green eyes that made most girls swoon but he just wasn’t my type and then there was Jimmy, sweet loving caring Jimmy who had been just as much of a brother as Matt and whom I had known practically since birth. His towering height and crazy afro-like hair with his choice of dress made him avoidable to most people but I loved him to bits already
We chatted for a little while longer and by the time we had to go our separate ways for lessons I felt marginally more relaxed than before. It might’ve helped more if I’d had any lessons with the guys but it turned out that they all appeared to be taking classes that didn’t involve much intellect whereas I had opted for subjects that would get me to where I wanted to go, music journalism so once I had sorted the books I needed from my locker I started making my way to my English class.

The young girl stood by the large wooden desk at the front of the classroom her head held high to give off an aura that told everyone not to mess with her; it wouldn’t be worth the consequences. Brian couldn’t help but notice immediately her eyes, the colour of honey, and more golden than hazel.

He watched their teacher give the familiar introductory speech then sent her to find a seat. Lucky him, the only spare was where his bag usually sat but on this occasion he was more than happy to set it on the ground for her although she still looked hesitant and ready to ignore him he could see a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Finally her eyes caught his for the first time and she paused.

“Hey, I’m Haley.” She said to him flashing him a smile, she recognised him from somewhere but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“Brian, so you went to Mayfair huh?”

She smiled more as she remembered what it was, not only had he once been in her class but he knew her brother as well only… He didn’t know her or vice versa.

“Yeah, it was pretty rough.” She replied not wanting to look like an idiot and just stare at him
“You’re telling me, I transferred here last year to get away from it. What about you? What made you want to make the change?” The seemingly innocent question made her squirm and he could sense it, his eyes softening the smirk dropping off his features and he immediately regretted wanting to backtrack

“It’s a long story.” She whispered before letting out a quiet sigh at the same time her entire body language changed, she had gone from confident and relaxed to reclusive and stiff in the blink of an eye, “Well you see, I didn’t have many friends there, only one to be honest with you, and we were both bullied, clearly you know what it’s like there, but Danny… There was just something about him that most people seemed to despise.” She paused as she felt a tear start to make itself known and swallowed trying to hide the sadness in her voice, “Danny killed himself last year… and the worst part?” She was getting angry now her face twisted in an expression of fury mixed with disgust, “Nobody at school, the students, the teachers, even the principal… none of them even cared!” She spat, “It was like he never even existed.”

Brian was silent he could do nothing but stare at her trying to find the right words but there didn’t appear to be any good enough. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting that.” Was all he could come up with but the moment those words, laced with sympathy and a hint of pity, left his lips Haley’s tears ceased and her posture reverted back to the way it had been the mask settling itself back into place over her true self.

If there was anything she hated more than seeing people get bullied it was when people looked at her with pity, she didn’t need it so she merely shrugged, wiping away the tears that had already fallen and took out her beloved notebook starting to doodle.

“Well, I’ve never been what people expect of me, I’m always surprising them.” I gave him a half smirk to lighten the mood, trying to remove the tension that had settled in.

He smirked at me and my stomach started doing back flips while my heart decided it would make itself known by fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird, and so began my relation to Brian Haner Jr.