Sea Breeze 01 - Breathe

that I’m coming home to you for Sunday at least.”
    “I’ll be waiting.”
    “Have fun at school today for me, please. Remember, you’re experiencing high school for both of us.”
    I sighed. “I’ll keep that in mind when I am being picked on in the halls and eating bad cafeteria food.”
    He chuckled, and then his voice got very serious. “If anyone picks on you, threaten them with me.”
    This time I laughed. “Sure thing. That’ll help me fit in real nicely.”
    “I love you, Sadie.”
    My heart still raced when he said those words. “I love you, too.”
    “I’m going to let you go because Kane should be pulling up at school.”
    I glanced outside the window and realized he was right. “Yes, he just stopped. Bye. Have a good day.”
    “You, too. Bye.”
    I pressed end on the phone and sighed. I reached for my backpack as Kane opened my door.
    Smiling at him, I said, “Thank you, Kane.”
    He nodded, and I could have sworn I saw him smile. I headed for my locker. I was going to have tons of makeup work. I needed to empty my book bag so it could hold it all.
    “Sadie, I’m glad you’re back at school. Bum thing that happened.” Dylan McCovey had come up beside me. He glanced back at Kane leaving and grinned. “You sure got a sweeter set of wheels now.”
    I had to try hard not to roll my eyes. Instead, I nodded. “I can’t ride my bike for a while.”
    Dylan laughed. “Yeah, well, I doubt you’re going to be riding your bike again ever. The whole town’s talking about the way Jax Stone sat in your hospital room and sang to you until you came out of your coma. Then he apparently wouldn’t leave you alone for a minute. The boy sounds hooked.”
    I smiled at Dylan’s words, but I didn’t respond. We stepped inside the school building.
    “I’ve got to get to class. See ya later, Dylan,” I called over my shoulder as I walked away from him. I didn’t want to talk about my private life to anyone.
    The moment I stepped into the hallway, people stopped and stared. I wanted to turn around and run back outside. Instead, I forced my feet to walk to my locker. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone, but it didn’t seem to matter. Before I got five steps, people began to attack.
    “I’m so glad you’re better, Sadie.”
    “Sadie, is it true Jax Stone was with you in the hospital?”
    “Was that Jax’s Hummer that brought you to school?”
    “Are you living with him?”
    “Is Jax Stone going to move here?”
    I wanted to put my hands over my ears and scream for them all to go away. More voices joined in, and people kept asking questions that I didn’t want to answer since it was none of their business.
    “Move! You all have classes to be at, so I suggest you get to them,” Principal Farmer called over the vultures.
    They moved away, but they all did so reluctantly. I turned back to my locker and got what I needed.
    “Miss White, we’re sure glad you’re back and doing well,” Mr. Farmer said from behind me.
    I turned and smiled at him. “Thank you.”
    He nodded and cleared his throat. “I want you to know, if you need anything or you are having problems like the one I just encountered, you can let me know and I’ll fix it. I want your experience here at Sea Breeze High to be a great one.”
    He had never spoken to me before, so his sudden desire to make sure I was happy was strange.
    “Thank you, sir,” I said, despite my confusion.
    “Yes, well, I also want you to know that if your, uh, boyfriend wants to attend any of our functions here, we would love to have him. He is more than welcome.”
    It all made sense to me then, and I wanted to burst out laughing. Mr. Farmer was just as star crazed as everyone else. I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I nodded and headed to class. I was probably already late.
    Lunch in the cafeteria was some sort of tomato and pasta mixture that was hard to swallow. I did the best I could, but after a few bites I just resigned myself to drinking my water. I found Amanda and sat with her. We were surrounded by her friends and people who wanted to know about Jax. I didn’t say much. I managed to ignore most everyone’s questions, and Amanda worked hard to get them to leave me alone.
    “So, who’s ready for homecoming this Friday night?” Amanda asked, trying to get everyone’s mind on something else.
    “I found the cutest dress last week in Mobile,” a girl on the other side of Amanda gushed. Several other girls started talking about