Page 30 of Barron's Second Chance
Eden stormed down the stairs, giving a tight smile to the group gathered at the bottom. She spotted Ryan in the corner scoffing down a hotdog and made a beeline for him. She grabbed the bottle of alcohol he was holding in his other hand and took a long gulp.
"What's wrong?" Ryan mumbled, crumbs flying out.
She shook her head. "Nothing," she denied.
He cocked his head at her and lifted his brow.
"I'll tell you later," she amended - no need to ruin the mood again. Unfortunately, thanks to Barron, she didn't think hers would pick up again as quickly as before.
9
Icebreaker
Edenstoodatthefront of the room, her hands were clasped in front of her, and she had a welcoming smile on her face as a group of loud and excitable teen girls filtered into the classroom.
Kelly was permitted to use the music room at their old high school. It had enough space to give them room to move around but not big enough to make the girls, and herself, feel intimidated. Kelly wanted everyone to feel comfortable and not have it seem like an impersonal lecture hall for something that she hoped would be impactful for them.
"Welcome, girls," Eden warmly greeted as they strode past her, shooting her a mixture of enthusiastic smiles and shy murmurs of acknowledgment.
"Take a seat anywhere.” She considered how to set up the classroom for a long time before deciding to have the seats in an extended semi-circle of three rows of ten.
Eden watched as they all took their seats, internally smirking as they subtly fought to have the chairs in the front row. She knew from Kelly that the girls ranged in age from thirteen to fifteen. They didn't want the age difference to be too wide, and Kelly had classes already for the older girls, which were more concentrated on adult topics.
She didn't have a speech planned per se, just a casual timeline of how the talk today would go. Eden needed to make allowances for questions that could veer their conversation off-course, so she didn't want to be too rigid with the day's layout.
As everyone settled with excited energy, their chatter died down until they all focused on her expectantly. Eden took a deep calming breath.
Show time.
"Hi, ladies," she welcomed as she took her seat in the front of the room. She purposely asked for a tall stool so that everyone would be able to see her clearly.
"It's great to see you all; thank you so much for coming today. As you may know, I'm Eden. I really want to get to know you all since we're going to be together for the next two hours or so. So!" She clapped her hands and stood. "We're going to do a little icebreaker."
She held her hands up and laughed as some of their faces twisted in discomfort. She disliked icebreakers as much as the next person, but sometimes they were critical in ejecting any awkwardness and setting the mood for the day.
"I know, I know, I hate icebreakers, too. I'm going to let you all into my life a little bit, so I genuinely want to get to know you all in the process. I want you to partner up with the person next to you and ask them their name and age, what their hobbies are, which app they use the most, what their favorite TV or movie is and what they would love to do when they leave school."
She gestured behind her. "I have the list of questions behind me on the whiteboard if you forget. I'll give you ten minutes, and at the end, I want you to introduce us to your partner by telling us their answers. So you must listen carefully and remember what they tell you."
Her nervousness started to fade the more she talked, especially as the girls smiled at each other knowingly. Most of the girls would be sitting next to their friends, and more than likely knew some of the answers themselves, but she hated forced interactions, and the fact that she was making them speak up in front of the class was enough for her.
"Okay, turn to your partners, and your time starts now."
She sat down to set the timer on her phone while the chatter in the room increased as the girls conversed with their neighbor.
Eden’s brow furrowed as she saw that a new text message had come through while she was greeting the girls.
Eden's heart reeled as she recognized the number.
Good luck today :)
The fucking nerve of him.
She stuffed her phone into her pocket to avoid throwing it across the room. Her face was serene as she observed the girls, but inside she was seething. Eden hadn't heard boo from Barron since the morning after the party, so it was a little jarring to hear from him again.
Her thoughts drifted back a week ago to when he ambushed her in his parent's room. After she finished off Ryan's drink, her mind was still sour. She had stopped shaking in fury but couldn't muster up the energy to socialize anymore. So she approached Kelly and made up an excuse about being tired from all the travel the previous day and having drunk more than she should have. She might've blabbered on about the sun also affecting her or something; she wasn't sure; she just knew that she needed to get out of there before she brought the mood down.
Barron had come down the stairs, his gaze moving through the crowd before he caught her eye. His expression read regret and sadness, but she intentionally ignored him and went about saying her goodbyes. She heard her mom come home around two am and knock on her door, but she pretended to be asleep.
