My Best Friend, Jack ✓

8. Leather Jacket

I glared at the clock on the wall, watching as the hands moved round ever so slowly. It actually felt like time was moving backwards. Mr Ricket was pacing at the front of the class talking about how important it was to know trigonometry. I watched him walk backwards and forwards, moving his hands animatedly as he spoke about the different types of triangles. It made me wonder why I was so excited about coming back to school. One morning in the place and I was already wishing it was Summer again.  

The bell let out a harsh ringing noise all of a sudden and probably woke up half the class. Mr Ricket looked disappointed as we all packed our books away and darted out of the classroom like our lives depended on it. I met up with Nick outside and we began walking towards the lunch area. 

"What a snooze fest," he yawned, stretching his arms. "Now I remember why I hate trig."

"Me too," I agreed. "It was so hard not to fall asleep."

He chuckled. "You probably could've gotten away with it, you're at the back of the class. I'm right in the front row!"

I smirked at him. "That's because last year you put googly eyes on your eyelids and fell asleep. The snoring kind of gave you away."

He snorted. "Well I'm definitely paying for it now."

"As you should be, poor Mr Ricket. He lives to teach us all about the isosceles triangle."

Nick chuckled and we chatted about how we could possibly get away with gluing Mr Ricket to his chair, but we eventually decided that we would probably get told off and it would be more trouble than it was worth. It was still fun, planning it though. We caught sight of Mia and Jack sitting at one of the back tables in the lunch room. Mia was talking to a football player named Oscar. He was one of the most popular kids in school and every girl wanted to date him. In fact, Mia had but she'd broken it off last Summer. Ever since, he kept trying to win her back but she never went for it. I mean, it wasn't like she was short on options. 

Jack was sat on his phone, typing away and didn't notice us approach. "Hey, man. What's up?" Nick said, taking a seat beside him. 

Jack glanced up and put his phone away. "Hey."

He glanced at me as I sat down and I smiled. For the first time ever, I felt a little bit awkward and I didn't know why. But I knew one thing, I sure as hell didn't like it. "Hi," I smiled. 

"Hi," he smiled back. 

"Look, please just forget it Oscar," Mia said next to me, her voice sounding strained. 

She was perched on the table, her feet on the bench as Oscar stood over her, a determined look in his eyes. He must've been almost six feet three with a mop of curly, blonde hair. He had dimples when he smiled and the whitest teeth I had ever seen. He looked like he had just stepped out of a surfer catalogue. What was it with everyone having a growth spurt over the Summer? I felt  like a tiny, little blonde leprechaun in a sea of giants. 

I glanced at Jack and Nick and they were watching intently, trying not to laugh. I bit my lip and pretended to rummage through my bag. 

"I want you back, boo," Oscar pleaded, touching Mia's knee. 

She sighed and removed it gently. "We're over, please accept that. I've moved on."

"Fine," Oscar snapped. "Maybe I'll move on too. I've heard Britney has a crush on me, maybe I'll make a move on her."

"Good luck," Mia replied. "I hope you two will be very happy."

With that, she hopped off the table so Oscar had to step back. She plonked herself down on the seat beside me and swivelled around. I glanced at Oscar as the tips of his ears went red and he stalked off, obviously fuming at being told 'no.' I imagine he wasn't used to it happening much.