The Ember In The Dark novel Chapter 7

The bell rang releasing us to our last period of the day. It's been a really long first day, so this class couldn't come sooner. Yet I also didn't want it to come at all, knowing Toni will be there.

The teacher was waiting to greet us by the door. She was a younger teacher, probably mid 20s. She had long straight brown hair with naturally blonde streaks. She had a sweet smile and pretty dark brown eyes.

"Hi there, are you my other new student?" She asked me. Her voice was sweet as honey.

"Yes ma'am. Ember Viseron." I introduced myself.

"So nice to meet you Ember. Welcome to the school. I hope it's been a good first day. My name is Mrs. Allen. Please come in and take a seat. There should be an empty chair at one other table. We sit in groups of 4 in my class." She explained and I nodded my head.

I walked in and saw Ash sitting at a table with Rachel, Leti, and one other male student. I looked around for that one empty seat and of course it's in front of Toni and beside Josh, and let's not forget queen B herself, Myra.

'Traitor!' I mind linked Ash and he just smiled at me.

'No way I'm sitting by her. I've heard stories from Toni. I'm staying clear.' He explained, and I guess I could understand that.

I drug my feet as I walked to the empty chair. Toni noticed me right away giving me that sexy crooked smirk. Myra rolled her eyes at me and Josh still wasn't aware of my presence. He's gotta be just human. I plopped my things down before taking a seat.

"Hey, if it isn't my girl Ember." Josh greeted me. He held out his first for me to bump and I did awkwardly. Toni stiffened in his chair. "Dude, I had no idea you were in this class." Josh smiled at me.

"Well I do need English class." I took my seat finally. I tapped Toni's foot purposefully, trying to give him some type of hidden attention to calm him. He relaxed a bit at that.

"Happy you could finally join me." Toni smiled at me and I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help the corner of my lips twitching up.

A hand suddenly touched my shoulder, an unwelcome one. Toni tried hard not to growl.

"Hey, it's Ember right? Remember me from this morning?" Micheal asked, his hand still on my shoulder.

"How could I forget? Now remove your hand before you lose it." I seethed, but he didn't take me seriously.

"I would do what she says, Micheal." Toni added through gritted teeth.

Micheal finally removed his hand.

"Listen, my folks are going out of town this weekend and I'm throwing a rager at my house. You should come. It would be a lot more fun with you there."

Josh laughed beside me, lightening my mood.

"Of course, because without her there it would turn into more of a bro fest. No girls ever show up to your 'parties'." Josh shook his head.

"What did you say emo?" Micheal got mad.

"Are you deaf now too? Maybe you should stop taking too many hits to the head in football." Josh retorded. Oh I very much like Josh. He's very entertaining.

Micheal stepped over to Josh's seat towering over him. I could see Ash fighting the urge to come help. He was respecting my wishes. Micheal pulled his fist back ready to punch Josh. I jumped out of my seat and caught Micheal's fist inches from Josh's face. They both stared at me surprised. I squeezed hard on Micheal's knuckles causing him to wince in pain. I stepped closer to him, placing my lips right next to his ear.

"Touch me or my friends again, and I'll break your hand so bad you'll need surgery to fix it." I whispered to him. "Nod if you got the message."

He nodded his head and I let him go, sitting back at my desk. Micheal scurried away like the cockroach he is. Mrs. Allen walked in right as he took his seat.

"Thanks for that." Josh leaned in towards me. Toni stiffened again. He's going to have a hard time in this class.

"Thank you too." I haven't had a friend insult someone for me before. He nodded his head.

Mrs. Allen is a sweet and caring teacher. Her lessons seem pretty fun too. We worked in our groups to read and analyze a passage. Josh was very insightful and Myra was definitely our weakest link.

"Wait, so what's the answer to number #2?" She asked again, lost.

Toni seemed to lose his patience and scooted his paper over for her to just copy. He leaned forward on the desk. His hand stretched out close to my desk. I think he was hoping I would do the same so our hands would graze. Too obvious Toni, try harder. The bell rang finally and we all scrambled up, grabbing our things and packing up.

"Great job everyone. We'll continue this tomorrow. Have a nice day!" Ms. Allen called out.

"I think I like our new friend even more now. She's very intelligent, Rachel." Josh told her as he headed out. "See you tomorrow." He called back to us both. We waved.

"I think I like you more after what you did to Micheal." Rachel laughed. "Toni, why are your friends such tools?"

"They aren't my friends. More like 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' kind of thing." Toni explained.

"Sure, sure." Rachel said sarcastically.

"Ready?" Ash asked me.

"Yup let's go."

"We need to hurry home. Mom's gonna flip." Ash said excitedly. I elbowed him in the side.

"Hush." I warned him.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow." We both waved as we stepped out.

"Ember wait!' Toni called out to me in the hall. I sighed, but I waited for him. "I decided to ask this time. Can I please use you to calm Reep down? Just one more time before you leave. Please."

Toni sounded so desperate when he asked, his eyes pleading with me. There aren't many people around right now so no one would really see. I contemplated for a moment before nodding my head.

He quickly closed the space between us, his strong arms wrapping around my waist. His nose tickled my neck as he inhaled me more. He did it for a lot longer this time than the last two. My face felt hot, unable to fight the blush. I almost lost it when his lips lightly grazed against my neck. I immediately pulled away, feeling too much of a pull to him.

"I'm sorry." His eyes were wide with horror. He couldn't believe he had done that. I just shook my head at him, grabbing Ash's hand and leaving.