TYPICAL POPULAR

16. No Way

(This chapter and some future chapters contain scenes of unhealthy relationships with food and eating disorders that may be triggering for some readers)

As I continue to lead us away from the hallway of our awkward encounter and into the bathroom, I remember that I am supposed to be on my best behavior today, and me hurriedly dragging two confused T's by their arms is probably looking a tad suspicious, so I drop their arms and convert to a slow, but purposed walk. 

We open the bathroom doors and watch as the two girls inside begin to rush out. When we are finally alone, I let out a long-awaited breath. I close my eyes and lean back against a wall. Due to the silence, I forget that the T's are still in here with me. When I open my eyes, I see them gaping at me and looking at me like I have escaped a nut house. I can't say I blame them. 

"What?" I ask in fake confusion. 
"What do you mean what?" Talia responds. 
"You just dragged us down the hallway like a madwoman, after a very awkward encounter with Damian." She continues. 
"And who knows where Luke practically ran away to. Not to mention the wrong attention you are attracting on the worst possible day to attract it. We barely took two steps into the school and we are already falling back on our plan to fix your image." Taylor adds as Talia nods in agreement.

"You guys are reading too much into it. Nothing weird is going on, I'm just rushed and anxious because of the polls, which need I remind you, we are supposed to be working to fix right now, and we only have like fifteen minutes before math class, so how about we stop with the Q&A and focus a little more on helping Tiffany get prepared?" I breathe.
They exchange looks of incredulity and disbelief before sighing and getting to work on my newly messy hair. 

We emerge from the bathroom, composed, and finally, actually, ready to turn heads. With confidence in our strides, we walk past students and hand out buttons asking people to vote Tiffany for Homecoming Queen. Even though no one dares to refuse a button, I can see the fake smiles I am receiving from some people and know that they are not actually planning on doing what the button says. I realize now that Jasmine Bee's claws are deeper than I thought. This is a problem I might have to tackle at the source. I will handle this later today. Right now we have to get to class. 

The T's and I arrive at the lovely Ms. Bellard's class and ignore the deep scowl she throws our way despite the fact that we are perfectly on time. There's just no pleasing this woman.
As we walk to our seats, I can't help but scan the room and look for Luke. To my satisfaction, he is sitting in the third row, slouched in his seat, twirling a pencil between his fingers. What's odd though, is that he is not positioned beside Damian and some boys from the soccer team like he normally is. Instead he is a few seats away from them, keeping his focus set on the front of the classroom.

I rip my curious eyes away from Luke and take my seat in the second row.
"Alright students, today we are going to talk about antiderivatives." Ms. Bellard says.
Collective sighs are heard throughout the classroom. 
"Yes, yes, you hate math, I get it. To add to your misery, a lot of you did very poorly on our last exam, so it is clear you need a little more coverage on the derivatives topic before we move on from it. So, I am mandating study buddies for the next week or so since I do not have class time to spare on the topic. We will have a retake for the exam after giving you all some time to learn it better on your own time. You are not allowed to pair with the people you normally sit with. So go ahead and take the next ten minutes and find your partner." Ms. Bellard says.
Well isn't this just great. 

I watch as herds of people rush to the nerd section to try and find partners. When I look to my left, I see Damian approaching me. I ignore the childish "oos" coming from the T's as Damian reaches me. 
"What do ya say Tiff?" Damian grins at me. Even though he tries to hide it, I still see the nervousness behind his smile, caused by unresolved events of the ball.
I find myself looking up to Luke's seat again as if silently asking for permission for some reason. We lock eyes for a second before Luke quickly looks away and tenses his jaw. 
"Sure." I respond as I turn my attention back to Damian.
"Great, I'll text so we can meet up." Damian smiles again before returning to his seat.
Once again, my head turns to Luke who seems to have chosen someone from the soccer team as his study buddy.