Girls vs. Boys

Girls vs. Boys (24) - Library

November 10th, 2008

“I don’t like studying,” Aimee scowled, staring down at her math book as the girls and I sat in the town’s library. “It’s just… so boring. Like, who wants to do it? I don’t. Who has the time? I don’t. I’d rather be… like… I don’t know…”

“Okay, Aimee, we understand,” Lexi groaned, her nose also buried in a book. “You don’t like studying. None of us do. Except, well, Jordan.”

My nose twitched, my face shoved into my own math textbook. Was there a problem with me liking to study? It got me to the top of my class, and that was all I really cared about.

“Studying is fun,” I excused, and all four girls made faces at me.

“I want to go home,” Aimee groaned, slumping over in her seat now. “There’s no point of me studying. I’m going to fail this stupid math test anyway, no matter how hard I study for it. I’m not smart.”

“You are smart,” AJ sighed, rolling her eyes at her best friend as she flipped through her own textbook. “You just don’t try. If you did try, you’d probably be as smart as Jordan.”

“Well…” Chelsea started, not even looking up from her book, which was actually a normal book and not a textbook. “I don’t think anyone can be as smart as Jordan. In academics, at least. I’m pretty sure everyone else is smarter than her in everything else.”

“Hey,” I snapped, my eyebrows furrowing at my four friends as I finally looked up from my textbook. “I’m right here. I’m not stupid in things other than academics.”

My friends gave me a look, but I ignored it and went back to my textbook. There wasn’t any point in fighting with them, because I kind of agreed with them just a little bit. I was stupid for falling with Dallas, and I was stupid for fighting with Jesse.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Aimee now suddenly said when her phone rang, which got us many mean stares from the people around us. I sunk in my seat a little as my friend looked at her phone. “My mom’s here to pick AJ and me up.”

“That means my mom should be here to pick Chelsea and me up, too,” Lexi said, and I couldn’t help but notice that she sounded relieved. I stared at them flatly as they all packed up their things to leave, leaving me alone until Austin came to pick me up.

I was used to my brother being late, since he had always been late when he picked me up from school. Dallas had always been late as well, so it was just something that I had been used to for a while.

I sat there alone for the next ten minutes, not believing that Austin was still not there. I was all alone, and I felt like people were staring at me, even though I knew that no one was.

I almost fell out of my chair when I saw who entered the library now. I looked around for a place to escape, but there was nowhere for me to run. He already saw me.

This was the first time I had seen him since Halloween. He had a bandage on his hand, and he luckily hadn’t lost it like I thought he would have. I wondered if he had trouble writing or not, since I didn’t know if he was right handed or left handed.

But I didn’t expect him to be in the library, of all places. I had seen him in the mall a bunch of times, but that was only because we lived in such a small town and there was only one mall in the entire town.

“Well, Emery,” he smirked, taking the spot next to me.

I shot him a flat look. “Jacobsen.”

“I guess I’m not surprised that you’re here,” Jesse sighed, leaning back in his chair so the front legs were no longer on the ground. “You look like the type that likes to study.”