Shit. Did my little brother really just make his first friend already?
Pushing and shoving my way through the crowded hallway, I follow the curved path further down to the 400s—the senior locker bank. Here the air just feels different. There’s electricity in the air, just waiting for a spark to ignite it. I swallow down the unease bubbling inside me and scan the numbers along the black painted metal.
My eyes land on a girl leaning against the lockers smoking a cigarette. She has bright blue hair and several facial piercings. Her dark brown eyes swirling with a hint of mischief. Her dark skin seems to glow in the low light of the back hallway. Slowly, she blows the smoke from between her darkly painted lips and smirks. Her tongue flicks out to lick her lips, and I catch a glimpse of metal. Pierced tongue. My core clenches. Fuck me. She’s hot as hell.
“Hi!” a bubbly voice sings songs from behind me. Reluctantly, I break eye contact with the blue-haired beauty. “You must be Jessica!”
I turn to see who’s talking to me and am met with a blonde girl bobbing on her toes. She’s pale and pretty, withperfectly curled hair falling just beneath her shoulders. Her petite form is clothed in a soft pink sweater, plaid skirt, and thigh high knit socks. She looks like a ski lodge catalogue come to life.
“I’m Lacey, your official Sunnyvale leadership society ambassador.” She smiles widely, revealing a set of perfect white teeth between her pink glossed lips.
“My what?” I ask as I take her in. She looks preppy.
“Your leadership society ambassador.” She smiles again. “I’m here to show you around.”
As much as I want to despise her preppy little ass, she seems sincere. The look on her face holds a hint of vulnerability as she smiles timidly.
“You don’t have to show me around,” I tell her as I turn to my locker and spin the lock, double checking the numbers printed on the paper. “Not like it’s a huge complex. I’m sure I can manage to find Algebra with Ms…”
I glance back down at the paper.
“Ms. Semons. She’s a bitch.” Lacey whispers the last word and glances over her shoulder. “Just try to sit in the back and avoid her wrath.”
Hearing this little good girl curse brings a smile to my face. I feel my defenses lower slightly.
“Who else do you have?” she asks, glancing down at the schedule I’m holding.
“RUN PIGGIES! RUN PIGGIES! RUN! RUN! RUN!” Booming voices fill the halls, the deep male tone bouncing off thewalls and echoing through the space.
We turn to look as a group of guys come storming down the hallway. Students part like the Red Sea, desperate to get out of the path of the horror thundering towards us. There are at least five of them—all dressed in jeans and letterman jackets. And all of them are wearing disgusting looking pig masks. They alternate between the chant and horrific noises of fighting boars. The sounds of grunts and squeals and screams is almost too much to bear.
Next to me, Lacey laughs. “They do this before every game,” she tells me. “It’s a hype up ritual.”
I look around at the faces of the other students. Some look like Lacey, entertained. Others have fear streaking their expressions. Clearly not everyone thinks this is all fun and games.
“Who are they?” I ask Lacey as the masked men circle around a boy who looks terrified. They snort and snark in his face as he shakes with fear.
“The senior football players,” she tells me.
Of fucking course.
One of the pig men spots us and freezes. He crouches low and lets out a feral noise. He sounds like a beast about to attack. I instinctively step away until my back hits the metal lockers behind me. He stalks towards us, the swine mask obscuring his eyes completely. My entire body is on edge, my nervous system screaming for me to flee as the predator closes in.
“Kiss for the piggie?” he asks as he approaches, and I slip myhand into my bag where I keep my blade.
“Ew,” Lacey whines before giggling. “Not with that mask on, babe.”
Babe?
My brain struggles to catch up as I watch the mask slide up his head. Beneath the porcine facade is the most striking guy I’ve ever seen. Dark, shaggy hair hangs across his forehead, falling across his emerald eyes. A square jaw and straight nose were hidden behind the horrific mask. He licks his full lips. I watch the path his tongue traces. He smirks and I realize I’m gawking.
“Jess.” Lacey’s voice breaks the spell I seem to have found myself under. “It’s cool if I call you Jess, right?” She doesn’t wait for my reply. “This is my boyfriend, Sam. Sam, this is Jess, the new girl.”
Boyfriend? Heat flames my cheeks and I avert my eyes, staring at my worn out Chucks.
“New girl, huh?” Sam’s voice is deep and smooth. It sends a shiver across my skin despite my best effort to not let him affect me. “Welcome. If you need anything, just let us know. My sister and I moved here a few years ago. It’ll be nice to not be the newbies.”
I chance a glance up. His emerald eyes bore into me. I shift uncomfortably.
