Page 14 (1/2)

Whilst she went to gather a few things from her house that she lived in with her uncle Mr Aleksandrov, the headmaster of the school, I went to talk to Eli I wanted to thank hi me with my little panic attack I was still confused why it occurred out of nowhere and in front of so many people instead of when I was alone and at my most vulnerable I found Eli; he was still in the auditoriu rubbish

"I thought I’d find you here," I called

"Someone has to clean it"

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me"

Eli sat down and I sat on a chair next to hian "I should be the one apologizing; I put you in that position--"

"You didn’t put , I put you in that position I took advantage of your emotions to benefit myself, and for that I’m sorry I think it would be better for our situation if we only see each other when other people are around And only in extreether"

"You make me sound like a rapist," I scoffed

Eli didn’t find my comment humorous "I’m serious, Ruby"

"So we can’t even be friends and hang out casually?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because…" he paused, planning his next words carefully "I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep my hands off you I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist you"

I followed Eli’s eyes down to ain "I’m sure you could"

"No, I can’t"

Eli leant in and ere definitely going to kiss again; ht of our lips connecting

Da We were still inches apart as he answered his phone

"Hello On et you to your dorm irabbedout of the auditoriuht I ran as fast as I could toward hts were all over the place; it wasn’t Hank, it was the ardless, the school was char As we ran, I repeatedly asked Eli to tellWe reachedfor me

"Get inside, both of you Remember what I said, Ruby," he ordered and then sprinted off

I locked Mila and I intodown her face

"What’s wrong?" I asked, panic rising in my throat

"It’s Cloud She’s dead"

Death and a Letter

I felt so s all at once I felt dizzy and then nauseous, the nausea soon turned into nu anted nothing more than to use her skills to watch over and protect newborn babies She was so simple and compassionate, and now she was dead Apparently she had slipped and fallen, banging her head into a rock early this , probably when she was on her way to the auditorium I didn’t know Cloud too well, we’d only s about her The majority of my pain lay not with arten, just like Caht of Caht about her since our last conversation on Eli’s cell phone

My mind drifted over toand if they had ht about Kyle and if he had made any new friends Lastly, my ing sexual comments at me daily, a boy who claiood one Darren had cornered els cae a sexual favor in place ofoffer, he tried to killthrough els followed suit

Mila had been lying on my bed since she informed me of Cloud’s death Her mascara and eyeliner stainedher whilst saddening rief We juestured to Mila to be quiet I grasped my whistle and prepared to blow it Within seconds, in ne and hear hi, when i focused on Eli I felt that he was close by I ran to the door and opened it, just like I thought, it was Eli

"You already know?" asked Eli

I nodded Our red-riiven it away

"Aleksandrov told her what happened and she told ed up beside Eli "Mila, your uncle demands that you come home immediately"

The look on Mila’s face told us she didn’t want to but she wasn’t about to fight her uncle She grabbed her stuff and left

"Are you okay?" Eli asked