by Rua Hasan
I tried to give Mr. Jones all my attention but knowing that Tyler was sitting next to me just didn’t help. I watched as his lips moved up and down but I couldn’t quite figure out what he was saying. My mind was being bombarded with questions about what was going to happen next.
Was this just a phase? Maybe Tyler would get bored sooner or later. I just hoped that it would be sooner. But deep down inside, I knew that he wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted.
What did he want? I had no idea.
“Okay class. Now that you all have your partners. I’ll be describing in details what you’re supposed to do, and tomorrow you can all get started,” Mr. Jones said. I was listening to him until I heard Tyler’s annoying voice again.
“Hey, Gem. Do you have an extra pencil?” he asked. I flickered my eyes to his empty hand which I’m pretty sure had a pencil when he came in earlier. I rolled my eyes as I tried not to let him get me, but it was so hard not to when he calls me Gem. I mean, who had been using the word gem?
“No,” I answered without looking at him. Even if I had any, I wouldn’t even think of giving one to him. I know he was only pissing me off and it was working so far.
“No? But I saw you had two when you opened your pencil case earlier.”
I turned my head to look at him, and shot him a glare for the hundredth time today.
“Shut up, will you? I’m trying to pay attention to the class,” I said.
“But Gem—”
“Will you stop calling me Gem? That’s not my name,” I whispered. But Mr. Jones heard me and sent a warning glare at us. That shut me up immediately. I didn’t want to get into trouble on the second day of school just because of Tyler.
I tried to tune him out but he started to poke my shoulder for the second time.
“So Gem, what brings you back?” he asked normally, but when I looked up at him, a smirk was plastered on his face, probably because he knew that he was getting to me.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said quietly as I watched Mr. Jones gave out the details.
“Oh come on. When you left, I haven’t heard from you in years,” he said.
I looked up to him to see his serious eyes.
“I’m sorry, but do I know you?” I asked, causing his smirk to return once again.
“Oh, come on Gem. Don’t be like that,” he said, leaning closer to me.
“After all, I was expecting you to remember me,” he said, as I saw a glint in his eyes. I knew he was talking about the last day of school when he and his friends threw paint and water at me! Oh, he had the nerve to remind me that to my face. But I had to control myself. I refused to give him his satisfaction.
I took a deep breath to relax my nerves so I wouldn’t hit him in his family jewels in front of the whole class. Huh, that would be a sight I’d want to see. The hottest guy in school, adored by every girl getting kicked in the nuts.
I would totally pay a million dollars to watch that.
“I’m sorry, but you don’t ring a bell,” I said, as I looked up at him with innocent eyes.
He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Mr. Jones voice.
“Ms. Clare and Mr. Grey, would you like to share whatever you guys are talking about to the class?” he asked, as everyone turned their attention to us. I cursed in my head as I glared at Tyler. He looked like the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland with his smirk spread across his face.
I spoke before Tyler could say anything stupid that could get us both into trouble. “No, Mr. Jones. I’m very sorry, that won’t happen again,” I said.
“It better not.” I heard him say under his breath before turning away.
“Gem, that’s really not nice of you to act like you don’t know me, I thought we were friends?” he teased, as he leaned to whisper in my ear. I shot my head to look up at him and gave him the bird.
“Friends my ass! Now, leave me alone,” I said, before turning away.
It was silent for a moment before I heard him speak.
“Wow. Since when did you get so feisty?” he asked.
I kept my face looking forward as I answered.
“Since the day I moved and never saw your face again,” I said, and glanced at him, giving him a fake smile.
“Ah! See? You do remember me,” he said, but I didn’t even look at him. I wasn’t going to waste my time and energy for him. He wasn’t worth it.
Ten Minutes passed without us exchanging words. A whole freakin’ ten minutes! Could you believe that? It must be a miracle.
I was about to let my guard down, when something hit the side of my head. I groaned to myself in annoyance and turned my head to glare at Tyler. He was grinning at me while glancing at the paper ball he threw.
I tried to kill him with my eyes but unfortunately that didn’t work, so I gave up and bent down toward the floor to pick it up. Once I had it in my hand, I stared at it as if it was a bomb, ready to explode any minute.
I glanced at Tyler, then back at the paper ball. I opened it and read the words written in bold black letters.
‘Can I borrow a pencil?’
I rolled my eyes and crumbled it before throwing it to his face.
“Really? Then how on earth did you write that if you don’t have one?” I asked irritated.
Tyler shrugged his shoulders but said nothing.
He’s only doing this to tick you off. Don’t let him get to you!
Out of nowhere, the same paper ball was thrown back in my face. I grabbed it in my hands then threw it at Tyler, having enough of his stupid games.
Oh but that didn’t end there. He grabbed it then threw it again at my face.
I swear, this is the most immature and ridiculous thing I’ve ever done. I’m pretty sure we looked like two idiots throwing a paper ball at each other, because it kept going on and on.
He threw it at me, and I would throw it much harder, wishing that it could have a little effect on his gorgeous face. But we both stopped when an angry voice boomed throughout the room, causing everyone to look at us again.
“Mr. Grey and Ms. Clare! I’ve had enough of your childish behavior. You can continue whatever you were doing in detention!” he said, glaring at us.
My mouth fell open and my eyes widened. I couldn’t believe I got detention on the second day of school! I’ve never gotten any detention before. I whipped my head to see Tyler looking at me smugly with a smirk on his face as if he was happy to get detention. I swear, all this guy had ever done is smirk!
“You!” I whispered angrily.
“Shh, Gem. You wouldn’t want to get into more trouble,” he said.
All I wanted to do in that moment was to rip my hair out and shove it down his throat. I wondered if I ever asked Matt to help me hide a dead body, and whether or not he would be up for it. All I know was that as long as I stay seated with Tyler, this was going to be a very rough year. Not like I expected.
I didn’t know how I am going to survive.
Chapter 7
I stomped out of the classroom as if it was on fire so I wouldn’t have to see Tyler’s annoying face any longer. Yes, it only lasted forty five minutes but it felt like hours. It was like an eternity and I couldn’t take it much longer.
I walked with the crowd making their way to the cafeteria, and hid in there just in case Tyler decided to tag along. Not like I would let him or anything.
Just great! Not only did I have to spend forty five minutes with him every day for the rest of the year. But I also had an hour of detention after school when I could have spent time lying in bed and eating Nutella.
As I got closer to the cafeteria, I could see Matt waiting there for me with Jasmine and Troy standing by his side. When he noticed me, he gave me a smile and pulled me in for a hug.
“So, how did your day go, Clare?”
I groaned, running my hand through my hair.
“Horrible! You won’t believe who I got paired up with in fourth period,” I said.
“Tyler Grey.” I grumbled.
Matt looked surprised, while Jasmine’s face morphed into shock.
“Oh, my gosh! Really? You’re so lucky! I would do anything to get paired up with him. He’s so sexy,” she said.
Troy gave her a look of disbelief and slapped the back of her head lightly.
“Babe! How can you say that!? I thought I was the sexiest person you know,” he said while pouting his lips and crossing his arms under his chest. Jasmine giggled as she wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him over for a hug. She then got on her tippy toes to peck his lips.
“I’m just kidding. You know you’re the sexiest person I know.” she cooed at him. He looked down at her with a smirk plastered on his face.
“And the handsomest?” he asked.
She nodded her head as she patted his chest.
“And the handsomest.” She confirmed.
I smiled as I looked at them in awe, loving their relationship and wishing I had someone love me like they loved each other. They were so cute together and were a perfect couple. One that nobody could tear apart. But apparently, Matt didn’t think that way. He was making disgusted faces as he gagged, pointing his finger into his mouth. I chuckled as I shook my head.
We walked into the cafeteria and I munched on French fries, as Eva and Sydney walked to the table we were sitting at. As they got closer, I could tell that one of then looked irritated at something while the other laughed.
“What’s wrong, Eva?” Matt asked the irritated twin. She turned to glare at him, as if she had gotten angrier.
“Sydney! You mean Sydney! How many times do we have to tell you? The one with dimples is Sydney,” she said, as she pointed to her dimple. Eva rolled her eyes at her twin, while Matt put his hands up in surrender.
“Sorry . . . you can’t actually blame me. You guys are like copy and paste,” he said, as he took a bite of a burger.
She groaned to herself as she ran a hand over her face and mumbled something under her breath.
“So, what is wrong Sydney?” Jasmine asked, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she took a couple of fries from Troy’s tray and shoved it in her mouth so she couldn’t speak. Everyone’s attention turned to Eva.
“Oh, come on Sydney. He probably didn’t know the difference between you and me,” Eva said.
“Even if he didn’t know, how come he didn’t ask me? Huh? Why do you always have to be the lucky one?” she asked as she laid her head on the table.
I lifted an eyebrow in confusion as Eva turned to look at us.
“Nick asked me to be his date to the party happening at John’s house this Friday,” she said. Jasmine’s mouth fell open while Troy and Matt looked at each other.
“Ugh! You’re trying to provoke me, aren’t you?” Sydney asked, as she lifted her head from the table to glare at her sister.
“No, I’m not. I was just telling them why you’re so upset,” Eva uttered. Sydney reached out her hand to take another fry from Troy’s tray, but he slapped her hand and gave her the stink eye.
“Um, guys,” I paused. “Who’s Nick?” I asked.
I felt like I’ve been missing out on everything because I’ve just started get along with the group. These were the type of people I wished to have been years ago but unfortunately never had. At least I had Matt by my side and that was all that I needed.
“Nick is Sydney’s crush,” Jasmine explained.
I looked at Sydney to see her blushing slightly.
Wow, that was a bummer. I couldn’t believe how that would feel to have your crush ask your sister, who looks exactly like you, out. But I’m pretty sure the feeling wasn’t so great. Especially when the other might not actually like him.
“Wait, what party are you guys talking about?” Matt asked.
I looked down at my tray and frowned when I saw that I ran out of fries. I looked over at Matt’s to see that he finished his too. I then glanced toward Troy’s tray to see it full of fries and smirked to myself, delighted that I have found my one true love.
Okay, maybe I was exaggerating just a little bit; but you couldn’t blame me because fries are the best.
“John is having a party at his parent’s mansion this Friday because they’re on vacation,” Eva said.
Troy’s attention was focused on Eva’s words and I didn’t know why. I mean, when you had fries in front of you, then that should be your first priority. I scoot over just a little bit so no one would notice my hand stretching out to Troy’s plate, but it seemed like he was some kind of a ninja because he reached his hand out to slap mine away.
“No,” he said firmly.
I huffed as a sigh of defeat escaped my lips.
“Yup, and we are all going,” Sydney said, with her obvious change of mood.
Troy lifted an eyebrow as he looked at her suspiciously while resting his chin on his hand.
“Oh, really? And does it have anything to do with you pretending to be your sister for Nick’s date?” he asked with a smirk. Sydney grabbed some fries from her tray and threw it at Troy. Luckily, I caught it in time before it could hit his face, and shoved it in my mouth to let the salty taste hit my taste buds.
“Oh, my god! That’s a brilliant idea!” Eva squealed.
We all turned to look at her.
“So, you’re saying . . . you are willing to let your sister take your place for Friday’s party?” I asked.
She nodded her head and wrapped her arms around her sister’s shoulder, as she pinched her cheek playfully before it got slapped away.
“Yup! I don’t even like him anyway, so I guess it could work out. Right, Sydney?” she asked.
Sydney looked at Eva and bit her lip, as she tapped her fingers against the table. It took her a moment to answer.
“Um I don’t know . . . ” she said.
“Oh, come on Sydney. I’m pretty sure it will work out. As Matt said, you guys are copy and paste,” Jasmine said as we all nodded our heads. Probably a bad idea if Nick actually knew the difference between them but it was worth a shot.
“Fine,” she muttered with a smile.
Looks like we have a party to attend this Friday.
***
My eyes had been staring at the clock ever since I’ve gotten here, and watched it tick as time went by. I mean, why was it always like this? When I wanted time to slow down, it would go by so fast. But when I wanted it to go fast, it would go by even slower! I guess it was just my luck.
Another reason why my luck wasn’t so great was sitting in the last class of the day with Tyler! Just great with another forty-five minutes of looking at his annoying face. At least he wasn’t sitting anywhere near me.
The seating arrangement was a bit different. The seats were split in half. Half of them were on one side of the room, while the other was right across from it. Tyler and I, seated in the front row and there he was again, staring right across from me. I made sure to glare at him at every chance I got.
At one point, when the teacher wasn’t looking, he would grab paper balls and throw them at me. Some were empty while the others had immature jokes written on them. I rolled my eyes as I tried to control my anger. I sure learned my lesson this morning. I wasn’t going to throw them at his face to avoid another detention. I just wanted to make it through this day then go home. It was probably the longest day in my whole entire life.
When the bell finally rang, the teacher’s assistant gave Mr. Schubert a folder. He walked to the front of the class and opened it. He then started to read the names of people for detention and I was hoping that Mr. Jones didn’t give us detention or that he forgot. Maybe I’d be able to go home after all without spending it with Tyler any longer.
All my hopes came crashing down to the ground when I heard my name roll off the teacher’s tongue, the same went for Tyler. I groaned to myself as I ran my hand through my hair. I tried to ignore Tyler’s gaze as I look around the class.
O
nly a few students got detention today. I mean I couldn’t blame them because it was the second day of school. The same would go for me if it wasn’t for Tyler.
All the students who got called for detention got up from their seats and we formed a line, waiting for someone to assist us. I made sure not to stand behind or in front of Tyler, and had a couple of students between us. I played with the hem of my shirt as I prayed that the hour of detention would go by quickly. I then forced my legs to move and follow the group of students who were making their way to a classroom.
As I glanced at each person, I tried to figure out what they had done to get into trouble on the second day of school. It could probably be tardiness or getting into a fight. But the one thing I knew for sure was that they were certainly not here because of a specific bully. I was really starting to pity myself as I already felt homesick.
You see what Tyler had done to me!?
I walked into the class and saw a teacher standing by the door. She had the look that shouts out, “I-don’t-really-want-to-be here” which usually ended up with everyone doing whatever they wanted during detention. Probably a bad idea because that would mean Tyler bothering me as much as his heart would please.
I sighed to myself as I ran my hands through my hair and watched Tyler sit in a seat by the window. I took the advantage of him not being focused on me, and sat all the way across the room, far away from him.
I placed my bag on the ground and laid my head on the desk as I tried to prevent the headache that was trying to take over. I pulled my head up when I heard the chair next to mine scrape against the ground. I looked up, hoping that it wasn’t Tyler who decided to change seats just to bother me, and saw a familiar face.
“Hi,” Dan said with a bright smile on his face.
“Hi,” I said awkwardly but gave him a smile.
“Didn’t know the new girl was bad,” he teased.
I let a laugh escape my lips as a grin formed on my face.
“Well, obviously you don’t know me,” I said.
He opened his mouth to say something but was stopped when the teacher told everyone to be silent. I laid my back against the chair as I glanced toward Tyler, seeing him glare at the seat next to mine. He obviously wanted to be the one to torment me through the hour.