Chapter 2 First Days & Cold Starts
"You're new," Alice said as Tai began placing her shopping onto the conveyor belt.
"Excuse me?"
"You're new to this town," Alice said. "Sorry, I'm not being creepy. It's just that this town is quite small, so a new face is recognised from a mile away."
Tai nodded.
"Right."
"When did you get here?" Alice wondered as she started scanning Tai's food.
"That's a bit of a personal question, don't you think?" Tai asked, an edge to her voice.
Tai didn't exactly come across as friendly when she first met people. She wasn't a mean person; she simply didn't trust easily and was quite cold at first. She didn't like people knowing much about her. She was very much a closed book.
"Chill, I'm just curious," Alice shrugged.
"Learn to be a little less..." Tai muttered.
She was grateful when her phone rang. She reached into her pocket and answered it, knowing it would be Raiden.
"Good news!" he called.
Tai rolled her eyes at his cheerful tone. He was always happy.
"I doubt it."
"School starts on Monday!" he said enthusiastically.
"Do we really have to go to school?" Tai groaned. "I'm fine with not graduating. I'm more than fine with it. How about you go and I don't?"
"We start Monday," Raiden repeated. "No excuses, Tai. I'm on my way back to the supermarket now. I won't be long."
"I really don't like you," Tai grumbled.
She hung up on Raiden and shoved her phone back into her pocket.
"You're going to the local high school?" Alice wondered.
Tai raised an eyebrow at her.
"You're curious and an eavesdropper," Tai noted.
Alice frowned, looking slightly hurt.
"Sorry, I just overheard—"
"No," Tai shook her head. "I'm being a bitch. Sorry. I'm just not in the happiest of moods."
"It's fine," Alice shrugged.
She suddenly glared at the packet of cheese in her hand.
"Why won't you scan, you annoying lump of dairy?"
Tai raised her eyebrows.
"You're scanning the wrong side."
"Oh... right," Alice coughed and threw the cheese aside. "Well, I'm sure I'll see you around on Monday. I'm Alice."
"I can't wait," Tai said sarcastically.
"This town has a lot of drama," Alice said. "It may be small, but that doesn't mean it won't feel like you've just walked into a young-adult fiction book."
Tai chuckled slightly.
"I'll consider myself warned."
Tai woke up in a grouchy mood on Monday morning. She forced herself out of her uncomfortable bed and rushed into the bathroom before Raiden.
She showered and walked out wearing a towel. She smiled at Raiden, who was waiting outside with a towel in hand.
"You'd better be quick. There's not much hot water left," she said.
Raiden narrowed his eyes at her.
"You're mean."
"So are you for making me go to school!" Tai called as she walked back into her room.
She dressed in a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeved navy top. She pulled on combat boots and ran a brush through her hair before plaiting it down her back.
Once she was dressed, she made her way into the kitchen, grabbed an apple from the side and stuffed it into her bag.
"Morning," Raiden greeted as he stumbled into the kitchen.
His hair was damp, and he rubbed his tired eyes as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Morning," Tai nodded. "I'm going to take the bike today."
"Be my guest. I don't want to be anywhere near that death trap," Raiden said with a shiver. "Do you know how to get to the school?"
"I'm sure I can figure it out."
"When you get to the school, go to reception."
"Will do," Tai said. "We'd better get going, then, if we don't want to be late. Not that I care, but I know what you're like about being punctual."
Raiden chuckled.
"Drive safe, Tai."
"I always do."
"And please try to have a good day," Raiden said, his tone pleading as Tai walked towards the door.
"Impossible!"
"Be nice to people!"
"Even more impossible! Bye, Raiden!"
Tai made her way out of the house and climbed onto her motorbike. She slipped on her helmet, revved the engine and sped off down the road.
Tai felt free when she rode her bike. It was exhilarating. There was a wildness to it that she loved.
She didn't care that if she fell off, she could be hurt. She could potentially seriously injure herself, but that didn't put her off.
She viewed herself very poorly. After everything that had happened, she didn't care if she was hurt. She thought that if she ever injured herself, she would view it as penance. It would make up for the horrors she had inflicted on other people.
When Tai drove into the school car park, she was aware of many eyes following her. She couldn't help but smirk when she received shocked looks as she climbed off her motorbike and removed her helmet.
She pocketed her keys and adjusted her bag on her shoulder, briefly scanning the crowds of students before heading up the stairs into the school building.
She paid no attention to the curious looks as she walked through the hallways. She easily located reception, finding it empty apart from two students who were arguing.
"What is your problem?" a girl with curly blonde hair hissed as she glared at a blond-haired boy. "I told you to leave me alone! Why can't you freaking listen?"
"Because I want to apologise! Come on, please let me explain!"
"Explain? Now you want to explain? I don't want to speak to you ever again! Do you not understand that?"
"I didn't have a choice!"
"Yes, you did!" the girl gasped and threw her hands up in exasperation. "Because of you, my best friend is hurting every day! You've ruined her!"
"I never wanted to hurt her," the boy whispered.
His face was pale, and he looked down at the floor in shame.
"Well, you have, and you've hurt everyone else," the girl snapped, clearly having no sympathy for him. "I don't care why you did what you did. I don't care about you. I don't ever want to speak to you again. You've destroyed any hope of ever making this right."
"Please—"
"There's only one thing you could do that would make things better."
The girl spat out the last three words with such ferocity that even Tai raised her eyebrows in shock.
"Make. Him. Leave."
The girl glared at the boy.
"But you can't make that happen, can you? It was nice knowing you, Brandon. Now leave me alone. I'm waiting for someone—"
The girl stopped talking and glanced in Tai's direction. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth dropped open when she spotted Tai standing in the doorway.
"Oh... hi!"
"I can come back," Tai said, raising an eyebrow at the two people. "You two can finish... whatever this is."
"No, no, no. Don't leave! Brandon was going," the girl said.
She glared at the boy, Brandon, who scowled and stalked out.
The girl stared after him for a few moments before letting out a long sigh and rubbing her tired eyes.
"I'm awfully sorry about that. How much did you see?"
"Enough to know he's done something major to piss you off," Tai commented.
"To say the least," the girl murmured.
Suddenly, a bright smile covered her face. She held out her hand, her personality switching from distressed and annoyed to friendly and bubbly.
"You must be Tai?"
Tai raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in her personality, but reached out and shook her hand.
"That's me."
"I'm meant to show you around and get you settled in here," the girl said with a smile. "I'm Brooke."
