I'm On Your Side

1 | The Universe Has, Once Again, Failed Me

"B-But what if it's not interesting?" I figure since I already have April's attention, I should use it to my advantage. I don't know the next time my dumbass will be brave enough to blurt out something like this.

"Oh, honey, that's fine! To you it might not seem interesting since you've done it multiple times, but to your partner it will be," she smiles and I return with a meek smile. "Okay. Does anybody else have any questions?" She looks around the room. "Please don't be afraid. I won't judge you for your question or anything like that."

Almost immediately, a red-haired boy's hand shoots up. April nods her head, signifying for him to ask his question. "How long does the activity need to be? Like, what's the minimum amount of time?"

"Oh, hon', there's no minimum amount of time for the activity," she assures him, but he doesn't seem to be assured because he stares at her confused. "I would say thirty minutes at least."

"Okay," the boy nods his head.

"Great!" April says, smiling. I can't tell if she's faking her smile or not―it's so hard to tell. Like, it's impossible to smile for that long so she must be faking it... and also because it's irritating me. "Okay," April says, checking her watch, "class is going in five seconds so if anyone has any questions, you can stay behind after class and ask me." She looks around the room. "But, other than that, class is over. I hope you all enjoyed this session and have fun interacting with your partner over the week. Have a nice night!" As soon as she finishes talking, everyone scrambles for their paraphernalia and scram for the door; but me being me, I take my time to get my phone before heading out the door. "Wait!" I turn my head to face April. "Isha, right?"

I nod my head slowly. "Yeah... why?"

"I'm just taking attendance. I forgot to earlier, so I'm doing it now," she says, looking at me with a sheepish smile.

"Oh... I wish I could help, but I don't really know anyone here except Mason," I say.

"Oh, no, it's okay! I have the list of people here I was calling out earlier for the groups so I'm good. Thank you though!" she stops checking off names on a separate piece of paper (probably the attendance list) to look at me. "You know Mason, though?"

I bite my lip. Is it wrong to know Mason? "Uh yeah. Is that bad?"

"No, no. I just―I don't think it's good for you to be partners if you already know each other..." she looks at me with doubt as I process what she just said.

"Oh, no. I don't really know him that well. We go to the same school and have a few classes together, but we aren't friends or anything like that."

"Oh, okay," April hesitates, "well if you ever need to change partners just let me know as soon as possible." I nod my head quickly. I don't want to spend any more time here. What the hell is wrong with my brain? Of course, I want to get away from Mason! Didn't I just say that I don't want to spend ten days with Mason?

"Okay, thank you! Although I won't need to change my partner but thank you and, um, I have to go. My mom's waiting for me," I say in a rush.

"Okay," April says, "have a great night!"

"You too!" I say as I fast walk out of the classroom. I take in a few breaths before contemplating what just happened. Poor girl. Why did I have to lie to April like that? She just wants the best for me. My mom isn't actually waiting for me. Or is she? I pull out my phone. I put it on silent mode earlier, so if my mom messaged me, I won't know until now.

One missed call from Mom, my phone reads. Fuck! I walk even faster as I click on my mom's contact information to call her. "Hello?" my mom asks.