Page 13 of Rescuer

CHAPTER6

Angel

Monday morning came fast.I hadn’t spoken to Halt since Saturday after I admitted my biggest fear about having the surgery done. On the bright side, Angie texted me all weekend, and we even stayed up late talking to each other last night. I was pretty sure we were going to be best friends sooner rather than later. And it felt nice to confide in someone else besides Halt.

I found out she actually went to our school, but she was in all honors classes, which was on the other side of the campus, so that explained why I never met her before Saturday. We made plans to meet up before school and during lunch. I was excited, and I could only hope that Halt would be okay with letting her into our little bubble.

"Ryan called to say that Halt is coming in late today, so I'll give you a ride and walk you to first period," Renee said, taking my hand and guiding me outside.

"I can get to the car by myself." I yanked my hand out of hers and felt around with my cane.

"Something wrong, Lee?" Renee whispered as Mom’s voice sounded down the hall.

"Nothing,” I grumbled. I couldn’t let her know about the surgery. “I just want to do it."

"Are you and Halt fighting?" she asked a minute later as I made it out of the house.

"No,” I huffed. “Aren't you going to be late if you walk me in? I'm sure I can find someone to walk me."

"I can walk my baby sister to class. My professors understand if I'm late, so if you need me to come back—"

"I'll be fine," I cut her off, letting her help me into her car.

"If you say so."

I was thankful that Renee didn't like listening to the radio and preferred to listen to her favorite bands from her Spotify playlist on her phone. I had heard the same advertisement a few times over the weekend while the radio played in my room. It had just soured my mood more and more.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Renee called from the window as I stood a few feet away from the car.

"Yeah," I whispered, suddenly feeling very alone. Maybe I should have stopped being a brat and just let her walk me into school. A hand suddenly grabbed mine, making me shriek.

"Hey, Noalie!" Angie chirped. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I practically melted into her.

"Angie!" I cried, wrapping my arms around her.

"Where's Halt?" she asked, quickly hugging me back.

"Avoiding me, so my sister gave me a ride." I began to tell her everything as she walked me to class. I hadn’t told her about this over the weekend, but I felt like I could trust her not to say anything.

"You're kidding, right?" she asked as we stood outside the classroom.

I shook my head. "I'm not, but thanks, Angel," I said, hearing the bell ring.

"Angel?" she asked in confusion, still holding my hand tightly.

"You saved me today, so now I'm calling you Angel."I shrugged. For me, it was that simple.

She giggled. "Thanks, Lee. I'll see you later. Text me if Halt is a no-show." With that, her grasp on my hand disappeared.

Walking into my first-period class, which was World Economics, I felt all eyes fall on me. I had never come to class by myself.

"Is Halt sick?" my teacher's light voice called out to me.

"No, just had a bad night. He should be in later today." I cringed as the lie rolled off of my tongue. Honestly, I wasn’t sure.

"Olivia, help Noalie to her seat please?"

"Of course, Mrs. L." Olivia's hand roughly grabbed my arm as she dragged me through the room to the back where I usually sat with Halt. I stumbled into a few desks thanks to her help and stifled my groan of pain each time when I heard her slight giggle.

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