"Look, Chayton," I swiveled around to face him, "I've had a rough night so can we please stop with the interrogation?"

Instead of waiting for a reply, I navigated around him and headed straight for class. I arrived there just in time for the bell to ring. My seat was next to Tristan girlfriend, surprisingly. Gina offered me a smile which I threw back meekly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her twirling with a strand of red hair between her fingers. I stared at the fine hair she had cut short to her chin. My hair used to be red. Father and Lucy called me Carrottop while little Sarah loves calling me Carrot, giggling about as I pretended to be annoyed. I envied those strands of flames that used to adorn my head.

"Ms. Deheart, would you care to stop staring at Ms. Richie and pay attention to me?"

My eyes widened in horror as I realized I had been staring at Gina. She had a disgruntled look on her face when the whole class broke into whispers and sniggers. I sunk deep into my seat, red as a tomato. Even Gina had a tint of redness on her cheeks, though hers are caused by shocked. This day couldn't get any worse.

Apparently I was wrong. After English, I shoved everything into my backpack and dashed to the door. I could feel the gazes of my classmates boring into my back. Luckily lunch was just around the corner so perhaps something to eat would calm things down. I made my away across the sea of people to line up at the food station. As I was busy picking food, I heard hushed whispers and giggles in front of me. It was Gina, gossiping with her friend.

"Remember that kid, Tristan's cousin?"

My ears instantly perked. I strained to hear their suppressed voices.

"Yeah, that weird kid with the strange vibe around her. What's up?"

"Today in English, she was staring at me for like, ten minutes!"

"No way! I always knew she was a creep."

My whole body stilled at their conversation. Suddenly, I don't feel like eating. I tried to shrug them off but their voices kept penetrating my ears nonetheless.

"Tell me about it," Gina continued, "I mean, I was all up to being nice to her for Tristan's sake but her presence alone makes my skin crawl."

"Is it because of her soul-less eyes staring at you?"

They burst into giggle fits as Gina smacked her friend playfully. I felt my stomach dropped to my feet and my breakfast threatened to show itself again. Without a second thought, I dumped my tray in the bin before heading to god knows where.

I didn't know where I was headed, only that I needed to get out of there fast. My mind was clouded with so many forms of emotions; anger, horror, furious, sadness. It was just too overwhelming, I felt like screaming in the middle of the hallway. I was conscious of where I was when the scent of pine trees invaded my nose. My knees buckled under my weight and my back slid on the wall of the school, before plopping on the grass mutely. I gazed solemnly at the row of trees lining the back of the school. This stupid school in the middle of nowhere.

I absentmindedly toyed with a pack of cigarettes I daringly bought last night in the pocket of my hoodie. Father used to smoke. Whenever he's planning on another business of his in the office, he would take out a box of thick cigars and puffed out clouds of smoke.

I pulled at my hair roughly and studied the brown curls twined between my fingers. The waves of mixed emotions threatened to spill over no matter how hard I tried to suppress it. So I took out a cigarette, lit it up, inhaled and willed the smoke to numb me.

The first few inhales that left me coughing and breathless made me wondered briefly how anyone could find this enjoying. The answer came to me when the awaited numbness washed over me with each drag of breath. So I repeated the same motion and rejoiced as those feelings ebbed away.

It was my 5th, maybe 10th inhalation when a hand suddenly shot up and pried the cigarette away from my fingers. I whipped around, emitting a small gasp. Immediately I was face to face with a scandalized Chayton. Enraged, I scrambled to my feet to confront him.

"What the hell, Chayton?" I shouted but his face remained unchanged, set to stone.

"And here I thought you're a shy, sweet girl," he mocked right before crushing the cigarette beneath his foot.

"Well you thought wrong!" I screamed, furious at him for interrupting my moment alone. Plus the fact that he judged me pushed me even more.

"I can tell, Adele," he spoke calmly, "you're not use to this."

"Why do you even care what I do!" I hissed through gritted teeth. Chayton seemed unfazed by my yelling, which urged me on even more. He did something unexpectedly next; he squeezed my shoulders briefly yet gently.

"I was standing right behind you in cafeteria," he answered simply. My anger instantly faded away, only to be replaced with humiliation at the memory of Gina and her friend. I collapsed to the soft patches of grass below and hid my face on my knees, horrified that Chayton had witnessed my ordeal. I felt him took a seat beside me but I refused to acknowledge him.

"They're a bunch of mean girls. You shouldn't listen to them."

"But everything they said is true," I sort of whined, my voice muffled by the fabric of my jeans. Suddenly I felt a weight around my shoulders, squeezing my upper arm comfortingly.

"You've just been through your parents' death. They wouldn't talk much if they were in your shoes," he murmured in a soothing voice.

I finally lifted my head to gaze at him. My mind was buzzing with a million questions, mainly one important question. Why was he so nice to me?

"Why are you so nice to me?" I asked just that. He stared at me right in the eyes, a soft smile adorning his lips.

"Because I know how it felt to lose someone important to you."

My lip trembled with emotions that were contained in me for so long. Chayton seemed to notice my inner struggle as he quickly enveloped me in a gentle hug. That sweet gesture was the straw that broke the camel's back. Everything I had fought for so long to contain burst out of the wall I've built. I didn't care that I barely knew Chayton. His honesty amazed me. He held me patiently as I sobbed silently into his sweater.

"It's okay, let it out," he soothed. And I did. I didn't know how long time passed nor how many classes we skipped but I was actually feeling okay just sitting here, hugging him close to me. I pulled away when I realized just how compromising our position actually was.

"Thank you," I whispered, blushing quite noticeably.

"You know you can talk to me when you're ready, right?" offered Chayton as he helped me to my feet. His kindness still struck to me as odd yet sweet.

"I don't know why you bother with me," I stated, looking anywhere but his eyes. I could sense rather than see his smile as he playfully patted my messy hair.

"Well, that's what you get when you're raised by a struggling single mother," he explained, "You learn to appreciate life more."

There he went again, blowing me away. I smiled shyly up at Chayton as we rounded the school building.

"Thank you, again."

Chayton grinned. "That's what friends are for."

Friends. He was that easy to accept me. I didn't feel like going back to class so I bid goodbye to Chayton. I've never ditched school before but the heaviness of my limbs threw my worries out of the window. All I wanted to do was sleep and maybe, just maybe I could finally dream about my family without them turning into horrifying nightmares.