Unexpected | ✔️

3- Passionate Journalling

I neatly pulled out my journal and set it on my desk before class even started. Jasmine narrowed her eyes at my enthusiasm, but copied my actions.

Today was Friday, AKA journalling day. I couldn't be more excited to get all my thoughts on paper. 

Mr. Cullen walked down the aisles, making sure everyone had done the homework and bought their journals. I triumphantly smiled as he walked past me and nodded. When he finished his rounds, he stepped to the front of the classroom again.

"Alright, guys. Just a reminder, it's whatever you want to talk about. I do want it to be at least a page, but it's okay to write as much as you can. Writer's block is a very real thing," he chuckled, as if he could relate. "I will be reading these, but only to make sure you followed the assignment. These are private and I won't be commenting on what your topics are. Have fun!"

I grabbed my pencil and opened to the first page. I wrote my name on the center and flipped to the next page.

I have a weird thing where I can never use the first page of a notebook. To me, it's the equivalent of eating the first slice of bread, the one that's all crust.

Disgusting.

I smoothed out the sheet before labeling the top of the page. I knew exactly what I would write about. My family. 

I started with describing my general home life, then diving into the specifics with each person. First my mom, then my dad, then Justin. The words flowed freely and my mind thought before my hand could catch up.

Much to my dismay, my page was only 3/4ths full. I furrowed my brows. I could have sworn I had more to write about, but I was drawing a blank.

My eyes wandered to everyone around me and saw they were just as focused as I was moments before. Even Dean looked deep in thought. His eye skimmed over his writing several times as he chewed on the end of his pen. 

It's a disgusting habit, but he looked weirdly attractive doing it.

Ew, no. 

I scrunched my face in disgust and put my attention on my paper. Inspiration struck and my hand began writing again. Before I knew it, I had written a full front and back of a page.

I reread it to ensure there were no grammatical errors. As laid-back as Mr. Cullens seemed, it was an English class and grammar was the core focus of it. It would look silly to have mistakes.

My eyes widened in horror as I realized I wrote the rest of my paper on Dean. I wrote about how much he annoyed me, and how even just him breathing set me off. It was basically a full-on rant about him and his annoying tendencies. Before I could scratch it out and restart, Mr. Cullen called for us to pass our notebooks to the front of the rows. 

With a last sigh, I reluctantly closed it and handed it to the person in front of me. There was nothing I could do now. 

It could have been worse though. I could have written about Andrew and my huge crush on him. Now that would have been embarrassing. At least I got my feelings out on paper.

Jasmine nudged me and asked what I wrote about. "Family," I partially lied.

She nodded with an amused smile, making my heart stop. Did she know? "You were writing so passionately, I could have sworn it was about Drew," she teased and I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. I awkwardly laughed and packed up.

Lunch with Dean continued. He annoyingly sat with us every single day. I became increasingly irritated with his presence, but no one else felt the same way.