Prologue: Waldon
When she walked into my class, with her long legs and black as death hair, she smelled oddly of lavender and coconuts. But that was not the only odd thing about her. She was covered in bruises. The black and purple type of bruises, with red gashes here and there. Some even looked like they needed a band aid and no one seemed to care or notice. It angered me that no one gave two shits about them and it angered me that I didn't know why she was covered in them. Was she abused at home? What could have happened? Did she get in a fight? All sorts of questions were running through my mind.
I shook my head, it was none of my business. She was already seated much to my dismay, far back in a corner. Alone, no one sat near her or around her, her whole demeanour screamed stay away, but that's what was pulling me towards her instead.
She was staring at me with a dark intensity, piercing my blue orbs with her green ones, daring me to question her about her face or she was probably waiting for me to begin my class, but I bet it was the former. I knew by then that, I was long gone, intrigued by her dark demeanour, lost to the intelligence of her face and left in awe by her boldness. She was going to be a distraction during class. I could feel it.
I didn't know I was spacing out until someone spoke up and broke through my reverie, I sadly had to look away, because if I didn't I was going to get lost in the forest of her eyes.
"Sorry, Miss Carlston, what were you saying?" She was the headmistress of the new high school I was going to teach at, what she was doing here was beyond me. She had already briefed me about the two previous semesters and two remaining ones, before my class. She looked a few years older than me, by maybe five years give or take. But who cared. I didn't like her, she looked at me with eager, hungry eyes. I didn't care for women like her. Woman who stared at me like some golden trophy they couldn't wait to possess.
"I asked, Mr Coleman, how you're finding your new class so far? I assume you are settling in quite well?" I could hear the irritation that laced her voice, being ignored didn't sit well with her it seemed. Well, good, let her get irritated, maybe she would leave sooner. The quicker she could leave the happier I would be.
"Oh, the class, right, they are good. They are all new to me, so I think I am going to take my time to get a feel for the class today, get going with introductions that kind of thing." I said, looking directly at the brown haired beauty in the back. Well, she would be more beautiful if her face was not so marred.
She was also staring at me, surprisingly enough. I could stare at her all day, but I was the first to break eye contact again. What was it about her that fascinated me so much?
"You take your time to settle in Waldon. You're new and all. I understand." Carlston told me, smiling and patting me on the back. I flinched back at the contact, I did not like the physical contact. No one touched me without permission. Ever. Not even my family. I said nothing though, I only took a step back from her so that her hands were firmly out of my reach.
"Thank you, Miss." I smiled back as kindly as I could manage, but still she took a step closer to me and I almost let lose a snarl. This fucking woman! I did not have time to take another step back when she whispered:
"Watch out for the dark haired one in the corner, she's a bit of trouble sometimes." My head automatically spun to the corner of the room where she sat. Still staring.
Carlston thankfully left after that, I was grateful. My personal space had suffered enough from her sharp perfume and unwanted touches to last me a year.
"Good, now that she finally left we can get on with introductions. I am sure you all know each other, but I don't know you." I addressed the whole class, looking over all of them, there where not many students to my surprise. The class was small and intimate.
"I am Mister Coleman. Your new literature teacher. I don't know how your old teacher worked or did things and I know getting a new teacher in the middle of the semester is horrible, but knowing your names and who you are, helps me know your individual style of work; be it on essays, assignments, poems and what have you. Let's start with you, Miss, right there in the corner." I looked straight at her.
The whole class turned to look at her, with wide eyes, astonished that I even had the balls to address her. Normal girls would have blushed from having so much attention on them, but she only stared right at me ignoring all the staring eyes of her classmates. Not a drop of pink on her cheeks. Or at least from what I could see.
"My name is Lauren Lucinda Jamerson." It was the only words she spoke before she looked away to get her notebook out of her bag. This time she was the one to break eye contact.
Lauren was odd indeed.
The rest of the class introduced themselves, but I could not focus on any of them, their names went straight over my head and out the door. My attention kept going back to her table. Something about her intrigued me, very much. Too much if I were honest.
