Forces of Nature

Twisted Fate

I had been looking forward to World History. It had always been one of my favourite subjects, along with Gym. But when I walked into the classroom, I stopped dead in my tracks and had to talk myself out of skipping for the rest of the year. Sitting in the middle of the room with a smug look on his face was Aidan. God dammit! Was I ever going to get a break? As if in answer to my question, Aidan caught sight of me standing in the doorway and winked, removing his bag from the chair next to him. Well, there it was. No breaks for me. Thinking I'd missed his not so subtle hint, he tapped the table, an inviting smile on his face. I sighed. I found it hard to believe that once upon a very short time ago I'd found him attractive. Had wanted to date him. Had ended up dating him. I looked him over in an entirely objective manner and fought a grimace. Courtney was right. I must have been insane to want him. Where the contours of his face had once seemed smooth and angular, they now looked sharp and rigid. I also remembered thinking those sparkling green eyes of his held a secret that I alone could uncover. Now I knew all that twinkle meant was that he was feeling particularly horny. I used to fantasize about running my hands through his thick, glossy black hair. Only once I was finally able to do it, I found out that gloss was really a thick layer of wax, the result of Aidan's reasoning that chicks "digged the wet look". It was a real pain getting the gunk out from under my nails afterwards.

Aidan cleared his throat, growing impatient. That was another thing that bothered me about him. His short temper and how easy it was to set him off on a rampage. I think the vivid scar on my hand was testament enough of that. But right now, the thing that was aggravating me the most was his refusal to accept reality. Even after a month of me avoiding him, of not returning his calls or messages, he still wouldn't concede that we were over. In his eyes, we'd just had a minor spat and a little sweet talking on his part was going to make it all better. How many times did I have to tell him that there was no way in hell I was going to waltz back into his arms? The way he was looking at me told me it'd take a few more firm words; words strong enough to penetrate his thick skull. Gnashing my teeth together in fury, I strove for nonchalance as I held my head up high and walked straight past him to claim one of the empty seats in the back. Luckily for him, he didn't get up to follow me to my seat. See, I was this close to losing my cool and if someone was going to be on the receiving end, I'd love for it to be him. He simply adopted a perturbed expression, eyes narrowed at my defiant behaviour. And being the mature, sophisticated person that I was, I resisted the urge to poke my tongue at him and instead averted my gaze. I shrugged out of my backpack and placed it on the bench beside me, hoping to deter anyone from sitting next to me. Formerly a science lab, the classroom was furnished with benches for two rather than separate desks, allowing close workstations for students partaking in science experiments. All it did for the World History class was provide the perfect way for students to covertly cuddle up against each other or play an advanced version of footsy - one that involved the whole leg from hip to toes - when the teacher wasn't paying attention. Now I had no problems with touchy feely people. I just had problems with people touchy feeling me. Hence the bag as a reinforcement. I patted it reassuringly and was just about to rest my head on my arms when Serena Holden strutted in. Oh, for the love of god! Was this some kind of karmic retribution or something? Had I done something in my past life to put me at the top of someone's shit list? Because the way things were panning out today, the odds definitely weren't in my favour. Feeling the eyes of most of the class on her, Serena paused in the doorway striking a pose that Tyra Banks would say was CoverGirl material, but that I thought was a definite and unhealthy strain on the old hamstrings. She took in the room with one sweeping glance before her steel gray eyes settled on me, a wicked grin curling her lips. And the torture begins, I thought sardonically, a headache from the days stress taking up residence right behind my eyes. Small blessings, I told myself. Like thanking god that it was last period.