After School with Mr. Obnoxious

Chapter 1

——Sam

"Samantha Banks! Get a hold of yourself, woman! I have a girlfriend!"

And as if on cue, everyone's snooping eyes in the entire Lediville High universe were on me, awaiting my reaction as they held their breath. It wasn't too long ago when I, Samantha Banks, heedlessly involved myself in the school's scandal of the year with the most popular and pompous jerk, Aaron Lanter. Well, I gave the full credit to my one and only best friend, Chloe Windsor, for what really happened.

Ever since our little scandal, he had reduced me from being non-existent to a jester—Lediville High's source of entertainment. Aaron Lanter was obnoxious and a bully, but everyone couldn't seem to see that. They were so blinded by his ridiculously mesmerizing blue eyes, stupid blond hair and absurdly perfect smile. Unbelievably, they couldn't see past those shallow attributes.

Today was another demonstration on how to strip me an ounce of my slowly decreasing dignity—by announcing to everyone in the cafeteria that I was into him.

I wasn't, and I would never be, but they didn't know that. They eat on whatever he would feed them.

I woke up late this morning, and my stomach was already growling when lunch period came. And with an empty stomach and an unstable disposition, I looked down at my tray as an idea formed in my mind. I did the unthinkable without hesitation. I flung my tray at him.

Swoosh!

Bam!

Splat!

"What the f—" Aaron hollered as the sticky spaghetti and salad hit him. His blond, tousled hair was now smeared with a common shade of spaghetti sauce.

"Woah!" The students that had circled us gasped; eyes in horror and anticipation for Aaron's retaliation. But, I wasn't an idiot to just stand there and wait for him to do something to me. I knew what had needed to be done next—run.

"Douchebag!" I managed to yell over my shoulder as I bolted out of the cafeteria door like the great Jesse Owens.

We played this game so many times already that I could already predict Aaron's move. I knew he would order his pathetic little helpers, Zack and Jasper, to come after me.

I dashed and sprinted to my haven—the girls' washroom. I had realized a month ago that none of his brute sidekicks could actually touch me there. And so, it had become my place of refuge and hiding there had become so frequent too, that the last cubicle on the left had become my favorite spot.

Sitting on the toilet, catching my breath and tending my hunger, my mind brought me back to the night my world first rammed hard with Aaron's, like how some planets smacked into each other over billions of years ago. Before the collision, I was happy and peaceful in my own orbit, until I attended Diana's stupid party and got drunk. We played one of the most cliché games humanity invented to extract information forcefully and give the desperate an exclusive chance to exchange saliva with each other. As humiliating as it may sound, I had exchanged saliva with someone, and the worst part was that someone had to be Aaron Lanter, the most bigheaded prick in the universe.

I hated him so much that I could no longer count the terrible adjectives I used to describe him. He was that terrible of a person. I seriously think he should be awarded Bully of the Year and be pushed off the cliff as a reward for everything he did to me. But, bullies couldn't scare me. I could manage them on my own.

But why am I in here now? Hiding?

I checked my watch. Thirty minutes had already passed. I could go and grab a sandwich on my way to my next class. When I was completely sure that the coast was free of Aaron's sidekicks, I left my cubicle.