Pied Piper ☓ myg

3

I got nauseous. "Don't worry, I know. It was a dumb mistake and it won't happen again."

She nodded and sent a smile my way, giving my shoulder a gentle and reassuring squeeze before standing up. "I gotta go to chemistry, need extra credit if I want my parents to stay happy with me."

"Alright, see you later then."

"See ya!" She skipped out of the cafeteria, making me chuckle. I have no idea how she has so much energy all the time, but I cherish her.

I pushed my empty tray to the middle of the table and pulled out my phone, immediately texting Harley about my predicament.

———

It's the middle of class and I have already concluded he definitely heard enough of my conversation with Riley. I have made accidental eye contact with him too many times.  It keeps making my anxiety get worse. My heart felt icky and scared and my stomach felt like it was going to fall out of my ass. Instead of paying attention, I was trying my hardest to avoid his gaze. I had no idea what he was saying and at this point I did not care. I just wanted to get out of here, deal with the rest of my classes, and go home.

Maybe I should switch classes. It felt like a lightbulb just went off above my head.

It's the answer that makes the most sense, and the thought also immediately relieved my anxiety by a lot. I don't want to deal with him, he probably doesn't want to deal with me, knowing I lied. It's time I got over this stupid crush anyways. I feel a little embarrassed about talking to Harley about it the way I did earlier, but at least now I won't have to lie to Riley. Or my mom. Or anyone.

Feeling satisfied with my solution, I sat up straighter, not really bothering to pay attention still since a quick glance at the clock told me we had about ten minutes left of class. I was ready to get out of here and it took too much strength than I'd like to admit to keep myself from packing up this early.

As soon as the clock told me we had two minutes, though, I took my chance and started getting ready. I guess everyone was feeling the same way, I noticed a few dozen other classmates start packing up along with me. I heard Mr. Min sigh and go back to his desk, probably getting things ready for his next class.

I ended up waiting what felt like forever but was only a minute due to how fast I was. I feel anxious. I want to get out of here, now. I don't want to look at him. I don't want to be around him. I feel sick.

The bell rang and I shot up just a little too fast, and yet still had to wait to get out of the classroom since everyone else had the same idea.

"Thalia, may I have a word with you?"

God damn it.

That's my luck I guess.

I stopped where I was and reluctantly turned to face Mr. Min, bracing myself for whatever he had to say. Fingers crossed it was about schoolwork. I glanced around as we waited for the students to clear out and saw some heads quickly turn away. Of course people were staring.

As soon as the last person left, I turned my gaze back towards Mr. Min. "I'm sorry," I started, terrified and not wanting to give him a chance to say something first. I want this to be over as fast as possible. "I lied, I screwed up, it was a dumb mistake. I'm sorry." I sighed. "It won't happen again."

My body tensed as I waited for his response. I think this was the most fucking awkward experience I've ever had. We were just staring at each other.

It took about what I'm assuming was four minutes, which was when the next class started filing in for him to say, "Okay."

And that was it.

I was about to ask him what was up, but I realized I wanted to get out of there more than I wanted to know what the hell that meant. I hightailed it out of there and had to speed-walk to my fifth period. Damn him, keeping me that late. And for what, a staring contest?

I was anxious throughout the next periods, my leg bouncing at high speeds through bio and my heart racing through P.E.. I just wanted to get pulled out of his class as soon as possible.

As soon as the bell rang, I practically sprinted to the locker rooms and changed faster than I ever have before. I slowed down my pace on the way to the office, but it was still on the verge of a run. I sighed in relief when I walked in and didn't see a line, ready to just get this over with.

"Hello, dear! What can I do for you today?" The receptionist lady greeted me. I looked around her desk and found that her name is Linda.

"Hello! I was wondering if I could switch humanities classes?"

"Oh! Um," She spun in her chair to face her computer again. "Let me see if we have any openings, because last time I checked, everybody was full.."

My lungs felt tighter and I crossed my fingers. Please, please, please, please-

"This isn't really necessary, but do you mind me asking why you want to switch?" Linda questioned. "From what I've heard, Mr. Min's the talk of the school," She wiggled her eyebrows at me, "I've honestly had the opposite problem. People won't stop asking about being in his class."

I had to think for a second of what to say. "Well, I don't know. A huge part of it is everyone being obsessed with him. I'd like to be able to focus without hearing every girl whisper about him when he calls on them." Big, fat lie.

She nods. "It's nice to hear a young lady really focused on her work! A nice change of pace." She turns to smile at me before looking back at her computer and clicking on a few more things.

She sighed before spinning her chair towards myself. "I am so sorry, sweetheart, but everything is still full."

I sighed too. God damn it. "It's alright, I appreciate your help anyways." I smiled at her and turned to leave.

"Oh, wait! What's your name, sweetie?" She calls out after me.

"Thalia."

"Last name?"

"Smith."

She typed a few things in before looking at me. "Would you like me to notify you when there is an opening? I'd hate to make you work in an uncomfortable environment."

My heart melted. "Yes please! I would love that. Thank you!"

She smiled at me and nodded. "It's no problem. Now get home safe, okay?"

"You got it!"

I left the building with a little bit of a skip in my step, the gross and sick feeling in my tummy slowly melting away. I am just glad something will be done at some point. All that is left is to see how long it'll take.