"I...I...I won't do it."

I never knew I had the guts but apparently, it seemed like I did. I did have the guts to refuse someone like Eric Warnard and beckon his wrath upon me.

"...What." He just uttered one word, and I didn't need to look at him to know he was as furious as a mother whose baby you had just annoyed after she spent hours to lull him to sleep.

I will not lie. I was scared shitless. I had never had to deal with anyone like Eric Warnard before. Wait...I never even had to deal with anyone before I came here. My heart was banging against my ribs and all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and wait for someone to rescue me. But I knew no one would. So even if I ended up getting chewed alive I was determined not to go down without a fight. "I-I said I won't do it." I found myself speak more firmly than I thought I could manage.

"...And why is that?" I looked at him in shock and in the flicker of a moment I saw what I was in his proud eyes. An expendable good he could use when required and throw away after a job well done. Like he owned everything this world had to offer including me. I was taken aback as well as pissed by the lack of sincerity I saw in his eyes. How could a person be this conceited!

At that moment my anger conquered my fear and I spoke, rather...I burst. "Why is that!" I scoffed, "Eric Warnard, you may be a big shot around here but it doesn't mean crap to me. Don't make the mistake of lumping me together with those ass-licking teachers of yours. I may seem timid but I am not some dog who will lick your shoes at the flick of your fingers, nor am I gonna follow you around like a lost little puppy. You'd better keep that in mind." By the time I was finished I was a puffy-faced frustrated ball of stress and Eric Warnard was staring at me like I had three heads and eight limbs.

I did not want to deal with Eric Warnard anymore than this today. So I took the chance to escape while he was still in an astounded trance.

~*******~

I was in general, having a bad day but Delilah Adwell just had to pop in front of me and worsen it all.

"Hey Sara!" She chirped.

"Hi." I replied rather dryly. Why was she in front of my locker again?

"Mrs. Huggins told me to pass this assignment to you since you were absent last time."

"Oh, thanks." I almost felt bad for thinking of her as irritating but she forced me to stick to my prior opinion the very next moment she opened her mouth, "By the way, I saw you and Warnard having a tiff today morning. Is everything alright?"

The snoopy witch.

"It's nothing." I wanted to get away from her as soon as possible but then, she was a persistent one.

"Oh Sara, if you're having trouble with Warnard you can always ask for help," she shone her doleful eyes at me brimming them with pretend pity.

I had this intense urge to roll my eyes but I held back.

"No I..."

"Hey Sara!" I heard my name being called and then came Lena looking like my saving grace. "Mr. Elijah is looking for you."

"Mr Elijah is? Yes, I will go find him right away, see ya around Delilah." I fled the scene as soon as I could.

Finding Mr. Elijah was no trouble but when he gave me the confused look I couldn't help understand what was going on.

"I didn't ask for you Miss Veldaz." He said.

"You didn't..." Confusion clouded my mind as I frowned.

"No, I didn't." I heard him say. In utter puzzlement I turned my heels to leave the teachers office when I saw Lena standing outside looking much painfully out of place, like a pepperoni that had mistakenly made its way onto a vegetarian pizza.

"Lena, what's up," I smiled at her awkwardly, very much expecting an explanation for all this confusion.

"I...yeah, well as you've already guessed, I ... I kind of lied about Mr Elijah. I saw Delilah bothering you so...," she pursed her lips in awkwardness.

"Oh!Thanks." I mumbled in equal awkwardness.

Lena looked troubled, struggling with words as she babbled, "Now I know that we are not that close and you might not even consider me a friend, and honestly I'm not the flash friend that everyone wants to have around but I ... I would like to be friends with you and get to know you better Sarah." She looked like a fish out of water when she was done.

An uncouth atmosphere settled around us and it was becoming harder and harder for me to break the ice with each passing second. But I had to say something, I felt bad for Lena who took so much trouble to ask me to be her friend. But honestly, people tired me and even though I was reluctant I didn't have the heart to reject her. Then, what should I say to ease the awkwardness.

"..Erm...Should we go and grab lunch?"

~********~

The cafeteria was a cacophony of loud chatter, each table a cosseted huddle of people raising their voices to be heard above the din. The food was secondary to the information that was exchanged here. Over the over-salted fries, alliances are formed and gossip traded like poker chips. As I stood in the queue with Lena for my plate of nothing fresh, I casted my eyes about as if in a wandering daydream but really I was taking note of who to avoid and who to steer clear of.

On the other hand, Lena looked like she was on the ninth cloud. Watching her being so happy was kind of making me guilty but at the same time, somewhere at the back of my mind I guess I was pleased too.

We choose a table far away from the chatty crowd just so I could have a little peace of mind but I guess peace was not meant for me.

When I saw Eric Warnard, who never visited the cafeteria walk jovially towards me, my heart went into overtime and my sweat glands kicked into high gear, while I in turn willed myself to forget that I ever saw Warnard before me, else I feared my sanity- yes, I don't see anything close to Eric Warnard. There is just a little speck of blue here and an oblong of pink there, and crows flying around in circle with a twenty pound baby tied to them. Yeah! That's all I see. Rainbows and butterflies and the beautiful fat lunch lady in bright dazzling orange.

"Yo! You seem like you are gonna shrivel into a poodle of goo any moment now," Yes. I was certain now. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And now he was seated beside me to make my life more miserable than it already was. And, to top it all, everyone was staring, seeping up every bit of the drama that was taking place, clinging to each word as if their lives depended on it.

I could feel the eyes of every person in the cafeteria on me as I tried to appear as unassuming as possible, turning my attention back to my sack lunch and taking a small bite of my peanut butter sandwich.

"You're cursing me in your head, aren't you?" He squinted his eyes at me as if he could read me like an open book, and I don't doubt his reading skills a bit, because he got the bull's eye. But it's not like I was gonna admit that to him just 'cause he got it right.

"What! No, I would never." I shook my head in utter denial.

"Uh-Huh!" His eyes got squintier, now resembling very much a weasel's as he looked like he didn't believe a word I said. "You thought you could get away with what you pulled earlier today, didn't you." And

I shook my head vehemently. Oh God, a moment of loosing myself to my temper was going to cost me so dearly, I could feel it.

"Well never mind! I guess I will let it go just this once since I am feeling so generous today." He waved his hand like the evil step-mother from Cinderella did every time she was done bullying Cinderella's poor soul. Why was he so talkative around me whereas he hardly said two words to the entire populace of Verona High? And mind you, those two words would usually be the words of absolute insult.

"After classes, I will wait for you by your locker. You will come, won't you?" His tone was promising me many tragic demise and under the pressure I couldn't do anything but nod my head in compliance. "Good. Don't take any detours and be late, I'm not a patient person." He glared at me for a second and walked out of the cafeteria in a very majestic manner, leaving a miserable me and a curious crowd behind.

TO BE CONTINUED...