Shadows In Durango

Chapter 6

*****Sofia's POV*****

I sat at the back of my English class, tapping my pen absentmindedly on the desk.

Mr. Thompson's voice droned on about Shakespeare, but my mind was elsewhere. Tonight would be my first night of training at Intensity, and I couldn't shake the nervous excitement coursing through me - grateful to have finally landed a job. What would it be like? Would Tito be patient with me or a nightmare boss? I had never worked in a bar before, let alone one with the kind of reputation Intensity seemed to have. He even mentioned something about me working upstairs in the VIP lounge whatever that meant...

Lost in my thoughts, I barely noticed the hum of chatter from the other students whispering around me. The classroom, with its faded posters and rows of wooden desks, seemed distant.

I was so engrossed in imagining what the bar would look like in full swing that I almost missed the scrunched-up piece of paper that landed squarely on my desk in a swift motion.

Startled, I glanced around and saw Vincent smirking at me from across the room. He gestured for me to open the note, his eyes twinkling with mischief as I opened and closed my mouth dreading whatever was on it.

My heart sank. The last thing I wanted was more attention, especially from Vincent, who already seemed to enjoy making me the center of unwanted jokes.

I was hoping that he would have meant to pass it to someone else, but judging by his thrilled expression I had guessed wrong...

With nervous fingers, I unfolded the paper, aware of the curious stares from the other girls in the class, some of which not looking so pleased with the interaction.

My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I smoothed out the crumpled sheet. Inside, I found a quick comic-like sketch that Vincent had drawn. The first panel showed a girl, clearly meant to be me, carrying a lunch tray towards two guy characters.

bubble that read, "Meh" as the character seemed to judge the lunch with a disgusted look on its face - evidently

flat on her face, a comical shriek emanating from her open mouth, reenacting the way his

turned an even deeper shade of red as I realised the sketch was a cruel parody of my encounter during lunch yesterday. Embarrassed and hurt, I quickly scrunched the paper back up

good enough for Vincent though, as I glanced over at him briefly to see his smug arrogant look plastered

Why me?

and I could hear a few stifled giggles from nearby - clearly having peaked at the paper as I was inspecting it. Vincent chuckled softly, clearly pleased with himself, as I checked

his mockery had affected me. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on Mr.

as I fumbled to open it. He evidently put a lot of time in to it too with the

about to sink further into my seat, Daryl, a guy I only knew thanks to the register at the beginning of class, leaned over and whispered, "Ignore him, he's just being an ass to get a reaction. You're his new play thing it seems." He explains, seeming openly comfortable to talk

the other

reply softly, allowing myself to melt in to Daryl's

yet the style suited him well. He was another guy at this school with an athletic build and great height on his side. Maybe

by you!" Daryl laughs loudly at his

once in a while which causes me to squirm and shift in my chair. "Yeah I guess you could say that, I do live with

time here at school a living nightmare. Daryl leaned back in his

at least seemed somewhat decent compared

continued, I forced myself to concentrate on the lesson, knowing that dwelling on Vincent's antics and his relationship to Daryl would only make

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be over so I could focus on my new job since that was all that truly mattered to me right now. Despite my nervousness, the thought of earning my own money and gaining some independence was

end of class as I