gotten to know me yet!” I smiled a half smile and looked down.
Our bus came to a halt in front of the school. I felt the anxiety return, mildly but enough to irritate me. As I took some deep breaths, Ross caught my attention again.
“If you want to walk in a no name first year, this is your cue.”
He pointed to the aisle filled with departing kids.
“Or you can take my hand and walk in with me.” He held his hand out with confidence.
“Trust me, I will never be able to escape as a no name. Don’t you know who my brother was?”
He looked off to the side with his eyes. Then he took a deep breath and nodded.
“Levi, I don’t know why I didn’t see it. You look just like him.”
I nodded a somber nod, as I did all I could to hold back my tears.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat.
“You are gonna want to take my hand for sure then.” I accepted.
I knew I wasn’t going to be able to just walk in under the radar. I figured, why not give them more to talk about. I was not really sure who Ross was or why he felt he could change my entry, but I was glad to not have to walk in alone.
We walked off the bus and joined in with all the crowded teens. His hand was warm and he had a firm grip. As we got closer to the main doors my heart rate increased and my chest tightened. I stopped walking and froze in my spot at the door, my reflection glared at me in horror.
“Nothing to fear,” Ross whispered into my ear.
I nodded, straightened my shoulders and tried my best to stand tall and confident. I sucked in the deepest breath I could manage as Ross opened the door. I followed behind him still clutching his hand. The noise level was high and filled with teenage nonsense and laughter. There were all kinds of kids around. I noticed several girls looked at me in wonder. As we kept walking, more and more people looked. I wasn’t sure what they were looking at. Were they seeing Levi’s sister? Or were they looking at the girl walking in with Ross? If I had walked in alone I would have known for sure what they were looking at. This made that easier, somehow.
Ross walked in with confidence and he kept the tight grip on my hand. He worked his way through the commons and all the teens. He would nod or throw knuckles out to people he passed that he knew. I wondered what was so popular about this boy. Everyone knew who he was. You could tell the jealousy in the girls and boys who wished he nodded to them. We made it out to the other end of the crowd. There were a few hallways to chose from. Ross guided me down the nearest one. After we passed the office, there were more halls. Ross confirmed that my locker was in A hall. He told me that A hall was a freshman hall and all my classes should be in that section too
“What’s your locker number?”
I dug into my purse and pulled out a tiny note pad and found my number.
“128.”
I started to calm down and catch my breath. That was not so bad. Ross made it easy to just walk through and ignore the teens. Amazing, entry, check.
I truly hoped the rest of the day could go that smooth. If I was able to just blend in, I could just escape the day as an invisible girl.
The hallway circled around and had classroom doors periodically between lockers. Ross stopped in front of my locker.
“Uh, thanks” I let go of his hand.
I dug out the paper with my combination from my purse. Ross stood there staring at me as I fumbled around like an idiot. He grabbed my combination and spun my dial several times and had it open.
“Ross I can do things for myself you know.”
He flashed his gorgeous smile. I saw why everyone was drawn to him. He kind of reminded me of a great salesman who could just schmooze anyone. One thing was for sure, he was not going to get what he wanted from me that way. I snatched my paper back, slammed my locker shut and redid it myself. Locker, check.
I loaded my locker with my new locker mirror and other silly things my mom got me. Ross just watched me. When I finished loading my décor, I put my book bag in and shut the door. Ross was still standing there. When I looked at him, his eyes grew big and he lifted his eyebrows.
“Are you done with your fit?”
I rolled my eyes at him.
“My fit?” (I let out a sigh) Listen I know that you must be desired by many. I can tell you are used to getting what you want. So let’s just hope that it’s not me that you want.”
He smiled a melt your body smile and batted his beautiful eyelashes at me.
“I love a challenge,” he said it in a deep rumble of a man’s voice.
Ross came close to me. He smelled amazing and he was hot a in rough way; he made me want to be bad. His confidence and assured movements and suave told me a lot about him.He was older and way more experienced than I was. He was also very short for a guy, but he still had about an inch on me. I didn’t want him to know I found him attractive. I did all I could to hold my composure. He stepped into me, filling the last bit of space between us. My back was pressed into a locker. Flashes of Em came flooding in and I felt my anxiety pick up. My ears started to ring and my stomach twisted and turned inside itself. I went to that dark numb spot of mine and took in a deep breath. I met his eyes and glared into them and I pushed him off me with more force than I had planned on.
“Like I said, not me!” My words were filled with animosity.
Ross just crossed a boundary that left me confused. I wanted to separate him from Em but somehow they collided when he had me pressed against that locker. I could not hide my disgust and discomfort.
Ross looked frustrated and started scratching the back of his head. He smiled an unsure smile. I scowled at him, turned my back and walked away. I needed to find my first classroom. I looked behind me and saw that Ross was following me like an annoying puppy dog. For such a confident guy the lost puppy dog thing seemed to be funny to me. I giggled to myself. Ross caught up and was by my side.
“I just did you a favor and you are gonna turn me down. That’s pretty bold of you.” He had his swagger back and winked at me with a doting grin.
I didn’t answer right away, but when I reached my classroom door I stopped and looked around. The hall was filled with many kids now, mostly lost first years like me. I focused on Ross.
“See ya, good luck finding an easy freshman.” I smiled at him, letting him know I knew his type. He shook his head at me. In a very robust low voice he said, “as if you are my own Olivia of Twelfth night.”
“What did you say?” It seemed out of character for him to reference Shakespeare.
Ross closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.
“Uh sorry about that, I am not sure what I meant by that. I’ll, ah. Catch ya later.”
He turned and walked away. His head was bent and looking at the ground. He was shaking his head and his speed picked up as he disappeared
