Page 3 of Until Us

After closing my locker with the click of the lock, I see a girl with short black hair and expressive dark eyes smiling at me. I look nervously behind me to see if she is smiling at me or someone behind me. When I turn back around, she gives me a smirk.

“Hi, I’m Exie, and you must be Aura.”

Confused, I pinch my brows together. “How do you know my name?”

“That’s easy, silly. Kalum already let everyone know that you are the hired help in his house. The new housekeeper and his mom’s new pet project.”

I flinch at how cruel Kalum is by telling everyone my business. Now everyone will know I’m the charity case on top of being the new girl.

Her eyes soften. “It’s okay. He’s a dick to everyone. Well, except the bitch crew.”

“Who’s the?—”

Three girls wearing their uniform skirts shorter than customary, paired with thigh-high stockings and heels, walk down the hallway in unison. Girls look with envy, and guys turn around to check them out. Two brunettes flank the blonde in the middle.

“Wait,” the blonde demands, and the other two stop and turn around with raised eyebrows. The blonde looks at me from head to toe. “Yep, that’s her. The maid Kalum told me about staying at his house.”

I cross my hands over my chest and remember that the shirt is too snug on my breasts. Thanks to my mother, I have medium-size breasts and a plump backside that makes it difficult finding clothes that properly fit, leaving three inches of room on my waist. It wouldn’t be a problem if I wasn’t short and petite everywhere else. I had to quickly pin and sew the sides with a sewing kit because the skirt fit funny when I tried it on. Thesegirls don’t have that problem. They just hike the skirt to make it shorter. I’m the opposite. I’m trying to make it longer so I don’t flash my ass to the world.

“Don’t get any ideas with Kalum, bitch. He’s taken.”

I snort and walk up to her. “You know, insecurity is a real turnoff.”

The hallway becomes quiet as students stand and watch. I guess no one talks down to this prissy bitch.

She glares at me, and four guys looking like Greek gods walk down the hallway. My eyes are trained on a particular one. Kalum sidles up to the blond prissy skank, and I watch as he slides his hand around her waist. She leans into him with familiarity. Come to think of it, it looks like a match made in heaven.

“What’s up, baby?” he says in a sultry voice.

He turns to me and gives me a sarcastic smirk. “How was your walk?”

Before I can answer, wanting nothing more than to wipe that smug grin off his face, the blonde speaks up.

“I was just warning your maid here when it comes to you.” She purses her lips as she looks up. “You know how these common skanks hired to work get ideas.”

Rolling my eyes, I avert my gaze, and it lands on honey-brown eyes. It’s one of his friends standing to his left. His eyes soften, and then he looks at Kalum and who I’m assuming is Kalum’s girlfriend with the way she took her claws out, ready to attack. I can’t decipher his expression, but it looks to me like annoyance.

The other three eye me with amusement.

One of them is brave enough and says, “Hey, I’m Jimmy. Aura, right?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

When the bell rings, signaling the start of first period, everyone walks away like a bunch of ants on an ant farm. Once I find my assigned English class, I find an empty seat.

I notice the people who go here all act like Kalum. Rich snobs who haven’t had a hard day in their lives. I take out the string I have been braiding, place my book on top to hold it in place, and begin braiding the strings together to make a friendship bracelet.

When I was twelve, my mother taught me how to make them. When I started high school, I kept growing out of my clothes, and things were expensive. She showed me how to braid the different colors and make different lengths with letters inside the bracelets to sell at school. Then I opened an Etsy account and began to take custom orders and turn a profit. It wasn’t much at first, but now I’m making a little bit of money. That was when I didn’t have to worry about being on my own so soon with no support. There is no mom or dad to give me more life lessons or guidance. I bite down on my lower lip to keep it from trembling. From the grief that consumes me when I think about them being gone so soon.

I begin braiding when I feel eyes boring into me. When I turn my head, intense gray eyes narrow. The hairs on the back of my neck stand in awareness. Kalum stares at me from across the room, and I would give anything to know what is on his mind. Our gazes connect, but I keep threading. The teacher doesn’t even notice. Mr. Krupp is busy writing notes on the smart board. When he finishes, I pull out my phone and snap a picture when he isn’t looking.

It’s the best way to take notes. Why write everything down in a rush when all you have to do is snap a picture and have all the notes saved instantly.

It’s lunchtime, and I enter the cafeteria. It’s fancy with tables and actual wood chairs instead of the custom picnic tables you see in public high school. Thinking about my old school, I miss Gina and Marcus. I tried texting Marcus this morning, but he didn’t answer.

At first, I was mad he didn’t respond right away. My fear was that he would find someone else and forget about me. I accepted that he would, but I didn’t think he would ghost me so soon. It stings, and I guess it hurts more because I have no one. I’m all alone, and even Gina will find new friends to hang out with. They will all move on.

Getting over feeling sorry for myself, I push all my doubts aside and scroll through my phone to my bank app and calculate how much I will need to save for an Uber for rainy days, snow days, and lunch at school. I quickly figured out that I would have to bring a homemade lunch from now on to save enough.

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