[3]

"Come on! This'll be exciting," Kai argues, a pout forming on his lips.

"I don't even know anyone from this school! Why would I go to a school summer event, or whatever?" I whine.

Yesterday Gwen, Kai and I had spent our 'free' period with sharing stories about ourselves and getting to know each other better, or catching up on what we had missed out on that matter.

Today is my second day in this school and Kai has just informed me about a summer event, that the school holds ever year. It's to welcome new teachers, or new students, or to say goodbye to them. It has become kind of a tradition over the years; the first event of such kind had been held in 1998, shortly after the school was opened for the first time.

"Because it's what all the 'cool' kids do, duh," he deadpans, making me roll my eyes at him. We are currently in our english period, which is the only one that we share. I'm sitting between Kai and the window on my right, so I avert my gaze and admire the world behind the window.

It's a busy Tuesday afternoon; primary school kids are running around, enjoying their freedom, and cars are filling the streets of Denver. A couple of orange and green colored leafs are falling to the ground here and there, and the sun is throwing shadows of surrounding buildings onto the front yard of the school. It's late summer, after all.

When my eyes wander to the entrance of the school, which could be seen from the room that I'm in, I spot a glimpse of a guy with a black hoodie, who's walking into the school. His hands are pocketed and his hood is covering his head, making it hard for me to figure out who that stranger is or what he looks like. Probably a student. But then, why's he walking so calmly into the building, when he's more than 6 hours late to school?

"Mr.Covington?" the teacher's voice breaks me out of my daze and I snap my head toward her, sending her a sheepish grin.

"I know that the world outside of this classroom seems a lot more exciting for you, but please listen, yeah? Thank you." she scolds, as she taps her fingers on the book, that she's holding to her chest with the other arm.

"You good?" Kai whispers with concern lacing his voice, when the teacher has turned back to the chalkboard. I dismissively nod my head in an indication for him to not ask me any further, which he catches onto and leaves me alone for the rest of the period.

It's now the last period of the day, which I share with Gwen. I am - like all the other students - anticipating the end of the class, tapping my fingers on the desk and sparing occasional glances at the clock every two minutes. When the bell finally rings, our math teacher Mr.Holmes dismisses us and practically shooes us out of the room, which we happily comply to.

In the crowd of students, who are running through the hallway, I lose sight of Gwen and am being pushed around from one side to the other. I feel like a ball that's being kicked around by soccer players. I pull my shoulders closer to my body and try to weave my way through the students, but it's simply impossible to even take one step in this mess.

Suddenly I'm pushed with so much venom that I bump into someone hardly, which sends me straight to the ground. When I open my eyes, which I had squeezed shut when I fell to the floor, the crowd of people is no longer rushing through the hallway; instead they are looking at something behind me, a look of terror crossing their faces.

My heart rate pickes up as I imagine who could possibly stand behind me, or what they might do to me, so I quickly stand up and turn around. I'm met with two hands grabbing me by my collar and shoving me into one of the lockers, making me yelp in pain. A look of fear overtakes my features as I raise my gaze to find a guy glaring daggers at me.

His black hair is a tousled mess on the top of his head, though one side is shaved down to only an inch of hair. His hazel brown eyes, turn into a darker shade, and big rings are gracing his fingers. Also, a lot of tattoos are covering the lower half of his left arm and his knuckles.

"Did you just bump into me, freak?" he spits coldly, tightening the grip on my shirt. "Since you're new. . . I'll let it slide, but do that one more time and I'll have your head for it, got it?" With that he gives me one last push before he turns around and strutts down the hallway, pulling his hood over his head in the process. Everyone parts ways for him, with fear written all over their faces.

"Yo dude, are you ok?" Kai suddenly asks, gaining my attention.

"Yes, yes. I think so," I nod and put a hand on my racing heart. "Who was that anyways?"

"That? He. . . Well, his name is Riku Hamming. He kinda rules the school," my friend replies, fear lacing his voice.

"What do you mean 'he rules the school'?" I question curiously.

"Everyone's afraid of him, even the teacher's and the principal. Just- Just stay away from him as far as possible, Chester." The way he calls me by my full name, leaves me with the conclusion that he's very serious about this, which he rarely ever is.

"Why?" I know that he isn't good news just by seeing the way he acted when I accidentally bumped into him and also, because everyone parts ways for him like he's satan himself, but I don't know why. Why are they so afraid of him other than his intimidating exterior?

"He's a psychopath."

This one sentence leads to dozens of questions that form in my mind, occupying what was left of the free space up there. I just keep silent, my eyes trailing after the retreating figure of the guy.

To refer to someone as psychotic is a very hard accusation, which makes me question why Kai would conclude it.

"Just last year he put a teacher into the hospital, because she gave him detention, since she was new and nobody had warned her about him. Well, he had lost his temper and attacked her which resulted in her lying in a comatose state for over two months," he explains, his voice getting lower - just like my heartbeat picks up its pace - with every word that leaves his mouth.

"Anyway," Gwen cuts in, dragging the word out far too long. "We gotta get going, right?"

I silently agree with her, following the both of them out of the school building and onto the parking lot, where we eventually part ways. The sun is slowly disappearing behind the horizon and a cold breeze of wind rushes through the air, ruffling up my hair. When I glance at my watch, I notice that it's already half an hour after 4PM. So, cursing in my head for letting myself get so carried away because of that weird guy, I hurry over to my aunt's car and quickly get in.

"Why are you late?" she questions, sending me a concerned expression through the rear view mirror. She knows that I'm very organized and practically never come too late, though I sometimes just zone out and lose track of time.

"The teacher had some questions for me," I lie, not wanting to worry her any further. It isn't that big of a deal anyways, right? I mean, it's just some guy - a very dangerous one to be exact - who shoved me into a locker and threatened to kill me if I don't stay away from him.

I let out a shaky sigh and put my earbuds in, humming to some of my favorite songs.

When the beige colored facade comes into view, I put my earbuds into my back pocket and wait for the car to come to an halt. As my aunt pulls into the driveway, the car grumbles underneath us, complaining about the stony path that it has to drive on. I pay no mind to that and open the car door with one swift movement, before I storm up the stairs to my room. The front door is fortunately open, because my aunt never closes it when she picks us up from school.

After I had closed my door, I throw myself on the bed, groaning in frustration when the pain in my shoulder makes itself known once again. I roll over, so I'm lying on my back, and stare at the ceiling, thoughts flooding my mind.

It was only my second day in that school and I already had an horrible encounter with the scariest and most intimidating guy in the whole school. I bite my lower lip as I recall the memory from the incident. His brown eyes looked almost black and they were so dull, that I don't even know whether he's a human being or a walking corpse. Never have I seen such a scary person, such a lifeless one.

I understand why everyone is afraid of him, but why hasn't the principal kicked him out yet?

I huff when I come to no reasonable conclusion and slip off my sneakers, before I stroll down the stairs and put them in their usual place. When I was about to turn around, a delicious smell drags me into the kitchen, where my aunt is already standing behind the stove and tosses something around with her spatula.

"What are you cooking?" I ask quietly as I make my way over to the kitchen island, almost stumbling over Chloe's shoes which are standing in the middle of the hallway. I roll my eyes and plop down on one of the chairs.

"Jesus Christ, you gave me a heart attack! Why are you so quiet when you're walking? Chloe is always either stomping or running," my aunt exclaims.

"Sorry," I mumble apologetically whereupon her features soften.

"It's fine, darling. I just have to get used to it," she reassures and sends me a smile. "Oh and, I'm making lasagne for dinner."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey there, I finally published the story today, after some complications with my overthinking mind.

So, what do you think about Riku?

I'm so excited about how their second encounter will turn out ☺

Love y'all, ya wonderful people! Stay safe!

❤

- L I S A