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Chapter Two: So We Meet
Ben knocked carefully on the door of his sister’s room. He heard sniffles and sobs echo softly through the large mahogany door. “Sam, can you please open the door…?” he said quietly. Nothing was heard for awhile until the door opened slowly.
Ben stepped inside the room and saw Samantha, her eyes red and brimming with tears. He gently closed the door and immediately wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her. “They don’t care,” Sam sobbed on his shoulder.
“Yes, they do,” he reassured softly, trying to convince her. Samantha glared up at him and he gently wiped the tears from her eyes, tucking strands of her loose hair behind her ear. “Of course Mom and Dad love you, who wouldn’t?”
“Yeah, sure, they love me,” Samantha said flatly. “They go to all my competitions, they are so glad to see all my trophies and they hug me close and whisper ‘I love you’ in my ear. No, that’s not me. That’s you. Of course, you’re the smart one. All I have is soccer and a bit of my wit.”
Ben stared at her with his blue-grey eyes. No doubt, he knew what she said was true. Samantha’s grey eyes spilled more tears. “Screw this, Ben. I have no use here. All I do is fill one of the rooms,” she muttered softly under her breath.
“No, you’re not. You do have a use here.” Ben hugged her close and kissed the top of her head. Samantha wrapped her arms around his waist tighter and kept on crying. She’s scarred…
Cody gently wrapped a bandage around his torso before putting on a black shirt. He checked on the bruise on his shoulder. “Crud,” he grumbled, running a hand through his hair. He slung his backpack over his shoulder, wincing slightly at the pain.
He walked slowly to school, the pain searing through his body. Shit, I can’t even walk without feeling the stupid scar, he thought in irritation. A group of people drove past him, laughing and enjoying themselves. Lucky them, at least they have fun, he commented wryly in his mind.
“Hey, dork,” a voice called. Cody rolled his eyes as a red Ferrari came up where a group of mixed guys and girls were driving. Josh Morales, the driver, smirked at him. “So, dork, you’re walking alone again.”
“Who’s Cody?” she asked curiously. Alexandra tilted her head towards the boy walking by their car, looking as if they didn’t exist. She noticed a dark forming bruise on his cheek and shuddered slightly. “Hey, what are you guys doing?”
“The dork’s ignoring us,” Josh said, tilting his head and kissing her cheek. Samantha waited until he looked back at Cody before wiping her cheek in disgust. She wasn’t about public displays of affection. It openly irritated and disgusted her.
“Then leave him alone,” she said. Josh didn’t listen, he was back to taunting the poor kid. Samantha gritted her teeth before slapping his shoulder HARD. “I said: Leave him alone.”
Cody glanced sideways in surprise and Samantha’s storm grey eyes met his deep blue ones. Samantha was taken aback. Josh looked between them before putting an arm protectively around Samantha. “Back off, buster, she’s my girl.”
“I’m nobody’s girl,” Samantha said furiously. Josh shrugged before turning to the front and speeding away. Samantha ran a hand through her hair in annoyance before slumping back down in her seat, staring off into the distance.
“Preparing us for motherhood?” Alexandra suggested with a wry smile. Samantha laughed and doodled on her paper. Alexandra tied her hair up in a ponytail. “Besides, I wanna be a professional soccer player. I have to teach my husband to take care of the kids.”
Cody entered the classroom, his hair hiding his face. Somehow he caught Samantha’s eye. Her brow wrinkled slightly. He turned his head slightly, making Samantha’s heart beat faster. “What’s up with him?” she questioned, glancing at Alexandra.
“Um, I dunno,” Alexandra replied. “I don’t know him that much… He seems pretty cool, and his eyes are awesome.”
“Students, shut up!” a voice growled. The students immediately faced forward and saw their old teacher, Mr. White stand in front of the class. He had ugly knobby knees and a set scowl on his face. “Today we will assign partners for your project. You have to act as a married couple for a whole semester.”
Samantha rolled her eyes and tapped her pen on her binder. “God, not this project again…” she groaned. The teacher called out the names until he reached Samantha’s name.
“Samantha Leary… Cody O’Brien.”
“Who?!” Samantha and Cody asked at the same time. They stood up and glanced at each other. Cody’s heart started beating a bit faster when he saw her. No, you have to concentrate with the task at hand, he thought. He glanced back at the teacher.
“Mr. White, I am never partnered with anyone. It’s like an unspoken rule here.” He glared at his teacher, who glared back just as dangerously.
“Mr. O’Brien, if you think it’s an unspoken rule to partner you up, I must ask why you even joined this class in the first place,” he scolded. “Now if you keep complaining, it’s detention for you. Sit your butt down.”
Cody rolled his eyes before sitting down in defeat. Samantha looked at Mr. White in horror. “You’re telling me I’m stuck for the whole semester with a whining brat?” she asked irritably. “He just complains about everything!”
“Whining brat?” Cody snapped. “At least I’m not the b-i-t-c-h of a stupid football player! You don’t know what it’s like to be me, so you just leave me alone!”
“That’s it! Both of you, detention!” Mr. White spat. Samantha shot him a glare before whipping around, grabbing her bag and stalking out the door. Cody rolled his eyes before grabbing his backpack and dragging it out the door.
“This is stupid, I shouldn’t be here because of you,” Samantha hissed, clenching her fists. Cody glanced sideways at her, his eyebrow raised. “God, just because you don’t want a partner in Home Economics doesn’t mean you can just dump—”
“Sorry, Your Highness,” Cody interrupted sarcastically. “I apologize greatly for my lack of respect for your high powers and dragging you into this dungeon.” He smiled wryly. “It’s such an honor sitting in this detention with you.”
“And how dare you call me a bitch just because Josh is my boyfriend,” Samantha continued, “It’s not my fault he likes me and you oh-so happen to be jealous—”
“Jealous? I don’t even know who you are,” Cody said, laughing bitterly. “God, you and all your jock friends think everyone loves you when you’re the opposite of being loved. Bet you don’t know how it feels thinking that you’ll never be good enough.”
Samantha looked at him in surprise. His head was bent low and his fists were closed into tight balls. She took a deep breath. “Oh, really? It just so happens my family shadows me. My brother is Mr. Perfect. I’m just… not.”
Cody stared up at the ceiling. Somehow he had run out of words to say. He gulped before glancing sideways at her, meeting her eyes for the second time that day. “You know, Leary, you’re not too bad.” He smiled in amusement.
“You’re not so bad yourself, O’Brien.” She grinned back. “So, are you related to Conan O’Brien? You two don’t exactly have the same hair.”
Cody wrinkled his nose, making him look absolutely attractive. “Gross. His red hair is, like, SO fake,” he imitated a cheerleader. Samantha laughed, stray tresses of her hair falling into her eyes. Cody smiled as shivers went down his spine.
“So why don’t you like partnering for projects and stuff?” she asked, leaning back and tucking strands of her hair behind her ear. Cody paused, threading his hands through his silky brown locks. He leaned back in his seat and stared blankly at the desk.
“Well, I can’t exactly depend on people. I’m more of the independent type. I was abandoned by my mom when I was a kid,” Cody blurted out. Samantha shifted her stare to him in surprise. I can’t believe I just said that, he thought nervously.
“That must be very harsh,” she said softly. Cody laughed bitterly, trying to cover the hurt in his laugh. Samantha looked at him sternly and he glanced back at her. For that moment, it was as if nobody seemed to matter. It was a connection.
