The First Cut is the Deepest

I wasn't surprised to find the room empty the next day. Of course Will would have already been out and probably with Annabella by now. I shrugged it off and instead got dressed.

I already took my iron pills and I was working on getting my breakfast. When closing the refrigerator after getting milk for my cereal, something caught my eye. There was a white paper taped to the fridge door. I pulled it off the door and looked it over. I scanned my eyes over the bullet points and numbers and when I finished reading everything, I scoffed to myself. I taped the paper back to the fridge and ate my breakfast. I didn't think Will actually had the time to write out those damn rules he made up. I guess he really wanted those enforced after what happened yesterday. I blushed, recalling the event. I brushed it off though as I ate my breakfast.

While putting back the milk, I couldn't help but laugh as I saw the rules again. To be quite honest, these rules were bullshit. If it made Will less cranky though then I would gladly play along. I finished up my breakfast and grabbed my bag as well as all my other essentials before leaving the room. I glanced at the time on my cell phone and realized that I had a lot of time left before school started. I decided to try to find the computer lab to check my email. My mom didn't want me to bring my laptop with me on the plane, because she was scared that I was going to lose it or break it on the way here. So she said she would just send it over here by mail carrier instead. It was as if she didn't think that it could get lost or broken by mail carrier either.

Anyway, in fear of getting lost again, I tried to find someone who was willing to show me where the computer lab was at. I passed by a small group of three girls and they looked friendly enough to ask.

"Excuse me," I started. They stopped chatting with each other and focused all of their attention onto me. "Can one of you show me where the computer lab is?" I asked politely. "I don't want to get myself lost," I said with a small laugh. The girls all looked to each other before one of the girls replied.

"Sure, I can," she started. "Follow me," she said with a small smile as we left her other two friends.

"Thank you so much," I said as I followed her. She nodded as we continued to walk towards the computer lab. I glanced over at her as we walked. She was a few inches taller than me with shoulder length black hair. As I looked at her face, I realized that I had seen her around before. It was quiet, so I decided to break the silence. "You look familiar. Haven't I seen you around?" I asked. She took a glance at me before looking back ahead of her.

"I don't know. Are you in my classes?" she asked. I pulled out my schedule.

"Hm, let's see," I said as I showed her my schedule. She took a quick glance at it and nodded.

"We have PE together," she stated.

"Oh right. That's where I've seen you. I'm Nicole, by the way." I held my hand for her to shake and she took it.

"I'm Marissa," she replied. I nodded and we let go of each other's hands. "Well, here we are," she said after a minute or two.

"Thank you so much!" I replied. "I guess I'll see you in PE then," I said with a small smile before I entered the room. Marissa nodded as she turned to leave.

I walked over to a computer and sat down in one of the chairs. I turned on the monitor and waited for it to load. When it finally did, I opened an internet page. When I logged into my email, I found four new emails. Three of them were spam while the last one was from my mom. I opened the email and clicked on the attached video.

"Of course she'd send me a video..." I muttered to myself.

My mom was a videographer who shot and made videos for a living. So it wasn't too big of a surprise that she would send me a video update instead of just typing up an email to me. I quickly grabbed my earphones from my bag while the video loaded. I plugged them into the computer, placing the earbuds in my ears. The video started out with my mom greeting me and then Eric coming into the frame and greeting me as well. She then proceeded to catch me up on what was happening around the house and neighborhood and whatnot. The usual gossip stuff. She ended the video with an I love you and said that she would make another video for me later.

I closed the attachment and signed out of my email. I unplugged my earphones and tossed them into my bag to be a tangled mess all over again. I jumped in my seat when I heard a voice behind me.

"Why, hello there." I turned around and found Chris standing behind me.

"Geez, you scared the shit out of me!" I exclaimed, my hand on my chest. Chris laughed a hearty laugh.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself," he said as he sat down next to me. "We didn't get to talk much the other day," he stated.

"Yeah, 'cause you know Will was being an ass and all," I said bluntly. Chris laughed again.

"You're funny. I like that," he said.

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

"So what brings you to the wonderful world of the computer lab?" Chris asked as he gestured with his hands all around him. I laughed before I replied.

"I'm just checking my email. Why are you here?"

"I was just aimlessly roaming the hallways and when I glanced into the computer lab, I noticed you were here all alone," he explained. I nodded in understanding.

"You're here to take advantage of me, aren't you? I completely understand. I mean, look at this," I joked as I referred to my body. Chris laughed again.

"Nicole, you're really funny," he said again.

"I've been told," I said with a cheeky smile.

"So how have you been holding up with the rumours?" Chris asked suddenly. I looked at him in confusion and slight panic. What kind of rumors were going around? People couldn't possibly have found out about my cutting yet.

"What rumors?" I questioned carefully.

"Oh, you haven't heard them yet?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Obviously not. What are they?"

"They're just stupid rumours. Since you're rooming with Will this year, a lot of rumours are going around about that."

"Oh," I said in slight relief. "That's it?" I asked. "Let me guess. Will is really popular at this school, isn't he?" Chris nodded.

"Plus, he's been rooming with Annabella since we were all in year ten," he cut in.

"And that's how rumors get started. Also, being the new girl from America doesn't help much," I said with another shrug.

"True," he agreed. Right as Chris opened his mouth to speak again, the first bell rang.

"That's the first bell," I stated. Chris nodded.

"Come on, I'll walk you to class," he offered.

"Oh, that's fine. You don't have to," I started.

"I insist. Plus, we can talk more," he said with a smile. I couldn't help but smile back. Chris' smile was just so infectious and adorable. I nodded before I stood up with my bag.

"Okay, sure," I replied. We both left the computer lab, heading down the hallway for my first class.

"So how do you like England so far?" Chris asked.

"It's fantastic! But I haven't really been around a lot. Hey, you wanna show me around?" I asked, looking at him expectantly. He chuckled before he replied.

"Sure, why not?" he asked with a smile.

"Ah, you're awesome!" I said as I side hugged him excitedly.

"No problem..." he muttered. I pulled away from him and noticed a faint blush on his cheeks. I smiled to myself as we continued to walk. "I'll show you around on Friday. We have a short day every Friday. I'll pick you up at your room," Chris said with a smile as we arrived at my classroom.

"Alright," I said with a nod. "See you later," I said with a wave of hand. He waved back at me as I walked into the classroom.

I ignored the few murmurs I heard as I made my way past the desks to get to my seat. I noticed that Will was in his seat, his book already out. I grunted to myself as I saw him. While I was walking to my seat, the second bell rang. I quickly sat down at my seat and of course, Will was glaring at me. And I swear, I wasn't even sure if I heard it right, but I thought I heard Will growl when I sat down.

Did he just growl?

I thought to myself as I let a giggle out.

"What are you laughing at?" Will asked bitterly.

"Nothing," I said quickly, suppressing my laughter.

"Liar," he accused.

"Why do you even care?" I asked.

"I don't."

"Then why do you have to ask?" I asked as I smirked to myself. He didn't bother to reply to me. It seemed as if he didn't know what to reply with.



Well damn. She got me there.

I confessed in my mind. There wasn't a chance in hell though that I would let her know that.

When I saw movement from the side of me, I quickly glanced at the yankee and watched as she pulled her blazer sleeve down lower. I noticed she wore a black wristband underneath the blazer. And peeking out from underneath the wristband, I could see something white. It looked like a plaster, but I could have been wrong. I stared at it in question. I didn't think more of it though as the yankee noticed it and tucked it back underneath her wristband.



After class had started, I glanced down at my wrist when I noticed something white sticking out. I took a quick glance around me before readjusting my wristband to hide my bandage. As I was fixing my wristband, I couldn't help but think of Jason. It just made me angry and depressed at the same time. I tried to shake it off though and tried to listen to what the teacher was saying.

When the bell finally rang signaling the end of class, of course I wasn't surprised to find Will already packed. It seemed like anything he did wouldn't surprise me anymore. I left the classroom and headed to my locker first before going to my next class. I quickly grabbed my math book for my next period. I got to the class before the bell rang and sat down in my seat. I didn't know what was up with this school, but it seemed as if they really liked alphabetical order and seating charts, because I had to sit next to Will again. What the hell were the possibilities of that?

I opened my math book to the page that the teacher told us to turn to and class finally started. After a while of listening to the teacher explain what we were working on, I felt my eyes start to close. I didn't get much sleep last night. Thinking about what happened between Jason and I kept me up. I leaned my head against my forearms and let myself drift off into sleep.

I slowly opened my eyes though when I heard my name being called.

"Nicole!" I heard. I groggily opened my eyes, not even attempting to get up. "Answer the question," the boring math teacher said. I looked up at him in confusion. I was still in a daze from my nap. I instantly snapped out of it though as I felt Will nudge me harshly in my ribs. I grunted in pain and shot up from my seat.

"Wait, what?" I asked when I was finally aware of my surroundings again. "What was the question again?" I asked, throwing a quick glare at Will before facing the teacher. The teacher, whose name I hadn't even bothered to learn yet, rolled his eyes at me.

"Look at the board and find the answer," the teacher said. It was completely quiet as I looked at the board. I quickly read over the equation and started doing the work in my head.

"Sir, I don't think she knows the answer-" Will started.

"X = 24," I finally answered, sitting back down in my seat. I think I answered a little too fast, because the teacher looked at me, surprised. The whole damn class looked at me in surprise.

"That's... right," the teacher said. I nodded in understanding. I turned to Will and stuck my tongue out at his shocked face. "Good job, Nicole," the teacher commented. I nodded again for a lack of something to say.

"I'm surprised," Will muttered to me. "I thought you would be too stupid to even answer the question." I gritted my teeth.

"Well as you can see, you're wrong. I did answer the question. And it was right."

"Lucky guess..." he muttered, looking away. I scoffed at him. I guess he couldn't take the fact that I was actually smart and wasn't just some stupid "yankee".

The rest of the class period passed with not much happening. Well, except for the usual bickering of Will and I. It was sad to say that our bickering was now a usual thing. The bell rang and I packed up my things before heading to my locker and then to my next period. Thankfully, I didn't have Will in this class period.

I got to the class and sat down at a seat towards the back. Luckily, this class didn't have a seating chart. We had finished reading the syllabus early yesterday, so when the class started, the teacher said that we could have free time seeing as how he said he didn't have anything planned for today. I smiled to myself as I grabbed my iPod from my bag. As I was untangling the mess called my earphones, I saw someone sit down in the empty seat next to me. I was surprised to see Chris sitting next to me.

"Oh!" I started. "You're in this class?" I asked in shock. Chris let out a chuckle.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Huh... Well, then..." I trailed off as I finally untangled my earphones. "Wanna listen to music with me?" I offered as I held out an earbud to him.

"Sure," he said as he grabbed the earbud. He placed it in his ear and I put my iPod on shuffle. For the rest of the class period, we just listened to my music, speaking only a few times.

After a while, the bell rang. I took my earphones back and put my iPod back into my bag. I packed my stuff, told Chris I would see him later, and then went to my locker. As I walked down the hallways, I heard whispers all around me. I caught a few of them though and of course they were talking about me being Will's roommate and whatnot. I ignored it as I made my way to class.

The rest of the day passed with not much happening. I did spend my lunch time with Chris though instead of eating alone. It was nice having someone to talk to. I had a feeling that I was going to hang out with Chris more often. At least I could say that I already made a friend here.