and it was so nice to have a fatherly figure again, obviously no one could replace my father, but he was closed enough. It was nice to finally have people that cared, they wanted to know how I was feeling, how I was doing, if I needed a shoulder to lean on, this was the best thing I think that came out of this arrangement. After showering and taking extra care on straightening my hair I re did the same makeup from the party. I pulled on blue jeans without any rips because according to Jeannie that “isn’t lady like” whatever… and my new brown UGG boots. After I put on my bra, I stood straight and was facing the door when Derrick busted into the room, “Can you knock?!” I said turning away covering myself. I pulled on a white long sleeve and faced him. “Hurry up, we’re leaving in 30 minutes” he looked me up and down again, “You look great by the way” he said with a half smile. I rolled my eyes, he bit his lip and left. After Derrick left I wrapped a pink scarf around my neck, put in the diamond earrings I received the night I met the Bakers and slipped the silver watch over my left wrist. I looked at myself, I felt…different. More confident! The bruises were fading along with the shit I’ve had to deal with from the previous years of my life. A huge smile was planted on my face. This was a new start for me, I was a new person, and this time around things were going to be different. Walking into school with Derrick made me feel like a celebrity. As we walked down the hall and he gave high fives or handshakes to every guy that walked by and small hugs to the girls. He introduced to me to a few people who were very nice and welcoming; I even received a few hugs. Everyone had an adorable country accent, and they giggled at my valley girl/west coast accent. Compliments poured in from my hair down to my shoes, this was a lot more refreshing than the kids at Preston High, Oh if they could see me now! The invisible mousey little girl was now on the arm of the most handsome guy in school being complimented by all the popular kids. Derrick didn’t introduce me as his fiancé or girlfriend or whatever the hell we were which was fine with me since I was still pretty pissed off about the whole Julia thing but he beamed down at me, smiling, like he was so proud to have me on his arm. The bell rang and Derrick introduced me to a sweet girl named Hannah, she had short brown hair, and green eyes that were covered with black glasses. She was taller than me, about 5’6 and was wearing a pink Victoria secret sweatshirt, black jeans and black UGG boots. “She has first period with you and she can show you around, we all have 4th lunch so I’ll see you then” Derrick said and smiled at me, “Thanks Derrick I’ll…” my voice trailed off as Julia came bouncing down the hall and put her hands over Derrick’s eyes. His smiled faded and he laughed an uneasy laugh. “Guess who” she said kissing his cheek. I looked at Hannah who shrugged and motioned with her head to follow her to class. I looked back at Derrick who looked at me like he was sorry but still took Julia’s hand and walked with her down the hallway. As we took our seats Hannah said “Don’t worry about those two; she’s been stuck on Derrick since freshman year. He’s denied her before but she’s like low-key crazy” Hannah leaned in closer to me and was almost whispering now; “I heard she showed up at his house in the middle of the night crying on the front yard” we both giggled. She pushed her glasses back, popped her gum and sat up straight “Derrick is just too much of a sweetheart to reject her so he’s been putting up with it for a little while” she said in a matter of fact tone. My heart fluttered a little bit with the hope that, maybe I wasn’t crazy and the way Derrick looked at me was something special. After a few classes it was lunch time, Hannah and I walked outside to the usual spot where Derrick and the rest of the gang of friends sat, the wind whipped my hair over my face, I saw Derrick, he was laughing and talking to the group of friends. I waved a little. “Crushing hard huh?” Hannah said and nudged me a little. I blushed and smiled back at her. Derrick continued to talk when he finally saw us; then motioned for us over to sit with him. Hannah and I sat opposite of Derrick, and a few girls and guys introduced themselves to me. I was in the middle of a conversation with the girls when I was interrupted by a voice, “Well hello, who do we have here?” I turned and looked at the voice, a boy probably the same height as Derrick walked over. “Wow, you’re gorgeous” he said smiling down. He shoved the boy that was sitting to my right to make room for himself and sat beside me. I looked at his face; He had icy blue eyes and a wide grin with perfect white teeth that fit his round face. He had long wavy blonde hair that touched his shoulders; the top of his head was covered by a gray beanie. He was wearing a letterman jacket like Derrick and light blue jeans with black sneakers. “Hi, I’m Logan” he said in a cocky tone, like I should already know who he is. He reached his large hand out; I shook it and said “Hi, I’m Remi.” Everyone was quiet and staring at us. “Remi?!” he exclaimed, “That’s a dope name. You must be new huh?” He said still smiling, still holding my hand, his cologne was amazing, maybe a little better than Derricks. I nodded, I was entranced by him, he was looking into my eyes, he was an attractive guy and he talked with a cockiness I wasn’t use to. “Why is it that the new girls always flock to his highness Derrick?” he said laughing. I looked at Derrick who was not laughing, he clenched his jaw. “Logan, you’re so pathetic” Derrick said and stood up. Everyone started to whisper a little. Logan stood and smiled at Derrick, “Ha what the fuck ever dude, I can talk to whoever I want” he grabbed his bag then leaned down next to me. He pushed my hair behind my ear and whispered in it “See you around… Remi” I turned and looked into his eyes, he winked and I blushed slightly. He stood and looked at Derrick again, “Pff chump” he said under his breath and walked away. Derrick lunged slightly at him, but a few guys pushed him back into his seat. “Relax dude” said one guy, “He’s a nobody” “Yeah don’t waste your time” said another. “What was that about?” I finally said, everyone turned and looked at me. Derrick faced me and looked very serious, “That kid is a fucking loser. He’s a shit talker and shit starter. He tried to have to me kicked off the team and thrown out of school because I had to punk his ass for staring shit.” Derrick relaxed a little and sat back “If you know what’s good for you keep away from him. He’s just ugh… He’s so fucking annoying” I gulped, and nodded. After a few moments of silence Hannah asked what I was going to wear for the dance, “What dance?” I said “oh yeah you’re new” she said rolling her eyes. “Well the winter formal is coming up, we’re all going as a group and you should come just bring a date” Hannah said as she nudged my arm. I smiled and looked at Derrick who was busy talking to his friends.
Chapter XII
As the weeks of school went on I was a new person, I was pretty, popular, and had friends. Weekends and after school were spent with the girls. I was going to parties, shopping at the mall, and sleepovers. Slowly the old quiet, abused Remi was melting away, I finally coming out of my shell. Ballet was going amazingly too! There were so many talented dancers that were equally amazed by how young and talented I was. Hans (who is the ballet director) said I was the best dancer he had seen. Rehearsal for the first show had started and when I wasn’t spending time with my friends I was practicing. The first show was the Nutcracker; I had auditioned for Clara but was put as a sugar plum fairy which was fine with me. The experience is what I lived for. Derrick and I spent little time together, he drove me to school and we were hanging around the same friends but it started to feel awkward being around each other. His mother started to plan the wedding and a huge party where we would formally announce the engagement. I think why we grew apart was that we were trying to keep this secret of why I was really here from all of our friends. I half hoped we would start to fall in love and maybe this forced marriage would work out but I had to snap myself back into reality and let go of that fantasy, I wanted nothing more than to be close to him, to be with him but I didn’t get the feeling he wanted the same the thing. I was conflicted with my feelings and Derrick wasn’t making it easier. One minute he would flirt with me, and give me that look of desire… of wanting me more than a human can want another human, and then next he would completely ignore me. He did manage to get rid of Julia which again gave me hope. I had been asked out on dates and was hit on constantly by the boys at school but I was polite and let them down easy. It started to become a game at school for the boys to see who could win me over but I knew I was holding out for Derrick… well not entirely. The way Derrick was so annoyed with Logan intrigued me to no end, like who was this kid? What was his story? He was so mysterious; it was the biggest turn on. So Logan and I had been texting on the low-key. We never hooked up or anything, but I started to like him he would call me every morning and every night to tell me I was beautiful and I felt special for once, It was nice to feel wanted and I enjoyed teasing Logan. The Thursday before the dance Logan came up to me, and blocked the entrance to my classroom. “Hey Logan what’s up?” I said a little nervous, he smiled and said, “What’s the rush? Look this little dance thing
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