Restless

Chapter 1

Lockers slammed shut as soon as the bell rung. As usual, the preppy group made their way to class together, taking their time and most probably ended up late. I, on the other hand, rapidly walked to class to avoid that. Even at eight in the morning, the moon was out on an otherwise sunny day. That was the first thing I saw when I sat down at my desk and automatically gazed out the window.

My watch beeped which meant the teacher should have been there any minute since it was eight on the dot now. Following my assumption, he did.
"Good morning, class." He rapidly greeted, placing papers on the desk before turning and scribbling something on the board behind him. No one bothered to greet back.
"So today I guess you're going to start with-" He started but I hastily interrupted by raising my hand and grabbing his attention. Everyone's attention, actually.
"Mr. Sang you forgot roll call." My hand sank back down and Mr. Sang adjusted his glasses, a look of confusion on his face before it was quickly replaced by nodding and muttering that I am indeed right. Again.

Names were called one by one and it went smoothly until we reached a certain name.
"Emily." There was no answer to the teacher's call. "Emily?" He repeated but still no answer. One by one, students started muttering but one student in particular gained dominance by shouting the loudest so everyone had no choice but to listen.
"Oh who cares!" Faye yelled, laughing as she did. The rest of the preppy group laughed along with her but I was too busy with my nose buried in a book to care.
"Does anyone know where she is?" Nobody dared to answer except once again, Faye did the courtesy.
"I don't know, hell maybe?" They all laughed along again but silenced themselves so abruptly. I lowered my book out of curiosity and saw the very girl at the door, bent over with her hands on her knees gasping for air. Through those gasps, we heard her muttering an abundance of apologies to the teacher before seating herself at her desk and she straightened her bow.

By third period, the list I'd kept of everything Emily had forgotten finished with an eraser. The list consisted of essentials such as textbooks, pencils, pens and even her locker key. Needless to say, the teachers were not happy.

The teacher droned on and on during the lesson about things I already knew. I'd been told by my detective father that my knowledge surpassed his even at my age of fifteen. Who surpasses a detective at that age?

When the end of lunch bell ordered everyone back to their classes, I headed to the infirmary instead since I agreed with the student council I would be on infirmary duty that day. When I entered, it was empty. The nurse must've left early. She was a woman who usually did. Fortunately for me, there was a bookshelf in there by the beds so I sat on one and took a book next to me.

Not long after I did so, the door opened and small sniffles could be heard. They were extremely recognisable. I closed my book and laid it down flat on a nearby desk before going over to the weeping girl.
"Emily, it's only been five minutes. What could you have possibly done within five minutes of maths?" I knew she had maths since I was in the same maths class as her. Her sobs ceased and she wiped the tears away from her eyes, looking at me with a face of recognition. She stuttered my name and fell into my arms.
"Bella!" She then cried into my shoulder.

That small window of peace I once had in there was shattered by Emily's loud wails and non-stop chatting. Needless to say I just wanted to get her healed and out of there. Her petite frame made her extremely frail but the worst thing was the fact her feelings were just as sensitive and knowing her, that was the thing that hurt most back then.

She whined on the side of the bed while I put a plaster on the last of the wounds and got up to wash my hands but to my surprise, she grabbed my wrist before I could. Her eyes were sparkling but I brushed it off as the tears.
"Bella, you're so kind." She mumbled which caught me off guard. Friends are something I never wanted and from what I could sense, she was trying so hard to become one of mine. She was trouble. Even for the teachers, of course with her forgetfulness. However, I could not let that small act of kindness go unappreciated so I returned the favour by pretending to care about what happened. Thinking about it now, it was kind of mean but for all I knew it would only be her being clumsy like always.

"Well," she started, taking a shaky breath. Clearly, she wanted to tell me everything in full detail but something was holding her back. That's when my uneasiness around her morphed into curiosity. "It was Faye, Matthew, Molly, Adam and Rebecca!" It was strange hearing her say that since I knew that she used to be in that group. Last year, I think, is when they all broke apart from her but I can't be sure.

Of course, she cried and whined even more when I got her to recite the exact scene that happened just moments ago but I got the answer from her eventually.

Her problem was bullying and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I was an introvert, I blended in and barely anyone in that wretched class has heard my voice in normal conversation. It was unclear to me whether she wanted me to help her but there was nothing I could do even if I wanted to.

I was a no one and if I helped her, I would become bullied too.

I couldn't.