Forest Lake

Chapter 4

Emma POV

“Are you ready?” Hazel asked me while we were walking toward our first class.

English with Mrs. Porter in room 207.

“No.” I shook my head. “I hope she won’t make me stand in front of the class and introduce myself.”

My stomach was doing funny things to me this morning. I couldn’t decide if it felt like it was jumping up and down or spinning in endless circles. Probably both.

“It will be okay.” Hazel said. “We will keep to ourselves. He told you to stay away from him, so he probably won’t even be looking at you.”

That is the problem. I wanted him to look at me. I wanted him to talk to me and tell me what I did wrong.

I gave Hazel a small smile and gripped the books in my arms even tighter.

We walked into the classroom, and my eyes immediately fell on Mason. He narrowed his eyes at me and looked away.

“Come on.” Hazel placed a hand on my upper arm and led me to her desk on the other side of the room.

I placed my books on the table and sat down. As I was looking around the room, my eyes stopped on two boys who were looking at me. They were sitting with Mason, so I assumed they were Chris and Jax.

They smiled at me, making me confused. Why were they smiling at me? Mason must have told them who I am. He must have told them why he hated me. Shouldn’t they be glaring at me or ignoring me as well?

I smiled back at them, not wanting to be rude, just as the teacher walked inside the classroom.

“Good morning, kids.” she said with a small smile.

“Good morning, Mrs. Porter.” we murmured back.

“Welcome back.” she said as she placed her book down on her desk. “I hope you had a great summer and I hope you are ready for your senior year.”

She smiled, looking around the room before her eyes stopped at me.

Shit.

“We have a new student this year.” she said. “Would you come up here and introduce yourself, dear?”

My heart was beating erratically in my chest and my legs were shaking so hard that I was sure I would fall down. I wasn’t really sure why. I wasn’t afraid of my brother. Maybe it was because I was nervous as hell that he would look at me the way he did yesterday. I wished that he would never look at me like that again, and something was telling me that my wish wouldn’t come true. I would be getting a lot of those looks from him.

“You got this.” Hazel whispered in my ear. “Breathe.”

I did. I took a deep breath, stood up, and walked to Mrs. Porter. I turned around and looked at my classmates. Some of them were staring at me with curiosity. A few guys were eyeing me up and down and smirking. A few girls looked like they would want to scratch me with their nails. I’m guessing those are Mason’s fans.

Mason was staring through the window with his jaw clenched tight. His friends were looking at me with small smiles on their faces.

“Hi.” I said and smiled. “My name is Emma Richardson, and I am 18 years old.”

“Richardson?” Mrs. Porter raised her eyebrows. “Are you by any chance related to our Mason?”

I gulped, looking down at my feet. I didn’t know what he wanted me to say. I mean, most of the people present here were in the dining hall yesterday. They already knew that Mason and I knew each other. They probably didn't know that I was his sister, but they knew that there was something going on. Also, some of them probably noticed that we look a lot alike.

I kept staring at my feet and Mason kept quiet. The teacher cleared her throat after a few moments of silence.

“Well, Richardson is a common surname.” she said, making me look up at her.

She was smiling softly at me. I nodded and smiled back.

“Okay, Emma, thank you.” she said, sitting down at her desk. “Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself?”

I shook my head and hurried back to my seat.

The rest of the class went by slowly. I was staring at my desk, trying to focus on what the teacher was saying and trying to ignore everyone’s eyes on me. Well, everyone’s but Mason’s.

As soon as the bell rang, Mason jumped up and ran out of the classroom, followed by his friends. I sighed, picking up my books and wondering how the hell I would survive the whole year like this.

I was about to stand up when Hazel jammed her elbow into my ribs. I looked at her and she pointed in front of me.

I looked up and saw a guy from class smiling at me.

“Hello, beautiful.” he said, sitting down at the desk next to me. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to be the first one to meet the pretty new girl. I’m Oliver.”

I gave him a small smile. “Hi, Oliver. I’m Emma.”

He smiled brightly before looking over my shoulder at Hazel. “Will you introduce me to your friend?”

I furrowed my eyebrows. He doesn’t know her? She’s been going to this school for four years.

I turned to look at her just as she sighed and rolled her eyes.

“I’m Hazel.” she said, giving him a fake smile.

“Nice to meet you, Hazel.” he said politely before looking back at me. “So, Emma, how is your first day going?”

“We will be late for the next class.” Hazel said before I could answer. “You can walk and talk.”

The next class was History. The teacher’s name was Mr. Wilson, and it was in room 211.

“My day is going great.” I lied as we stood up and walked out of the classroom. “Thank you for asking, Oliver.”

“Do you like the school?” he asked.

I groaned internally. I really didn’t want to have small talk with him. I was sad, and all I wanted to do was stare at my desk until the end of school day and then go to my room to continue sulking.

But he was the first person who approached me and talked to me, other than Hazel, and I didn’t want to offend him.

“It is really nice.” I said, smiling. “It’s like Hogwarts.”

Oliver laughed as we entered the classroom, bringing the attention of other students to us.

Mason glared at us coldly. His friends narrowed their eyes at Oliver. I averted my gaze, looking for Hazel.

She was walking toward our desk at the back of the classroom.

“I’m glad we talked, Emma.” Oliver smiled at me. “I really hope you will like it here. I am glad you joined us.”

He smiled at me while his eyes roamed up and down my body.

I was a little uncomfortable, but I smiled back at him.

“It was really nice to meet you, Oliver.” I said as I started walking toward Hazel.

I avoided looking at Mason, but I could feel his eyes on me.

Just as I sat down, the teacher walked in.
He was a young man in his mid thirties who didn’t make me introduce myself, and I was really thankful to him for that.

I took a deep breath and focused on the lecture. Mr. Wilson was a great teacher. I always loved History, but he found a way to make it even more interesting. To me, at least. When I looked around, I saw most of my classmates were either asleep or scrolling through their phones.

My eyes caught Mason’s, and the coldness I saw in them made my heart clench painfully.

I averted my gaze quickly, trying to stop the tears from gathering and falling down my cheeks.

Maybe I should leave. I could go to the principal and ask for my mom’s number. I could beg her to let me go home or let me transfer schools. She would agree, right?

I wasn’t sure about that, but I was sure I couldn’t stand how cold Mason was toward me.

It was breaking me apart.