I Don't Bite

Chapter 1: Junior Year

     Time ticked by at a snail's pace. The first day of junior year and I was already tired. Math class just had to be my first class of the morning. I stifle a yawn and sink back into my chair. Thirty more minutes and then I could relax in art class with Ryan. Two more years and we'll officially have beat the odds. Friends from childhood, all through high school, and straight into college together.

     "Violet," Mr. Wallace called from the front of the class. "Would you like to come up and answer this equation for us?"

    I dug, pressed my lips into a tight smile, and stood. Because of course, he would call on me when four other people had their hands up, including Zink, his freaking favorite student.

    "Mr. Wallace." Zink half stood from his chair, his knees knocking against the desk so hard the desk lurched forward. The massive growth spurt he had over the summer was really making him clumsy. Over four inches in only a few months, that had to hurt. "I can do it."

    "Sit down, Zink." Mr. Wallace waved a dismissive hand. "Violet will solve the equation. She's plenty capable." He lifted a brow at me and extended the blue dry-erase marker toward me. Acid rose to the back of my throat as I dragged my feet across the tiles. I snatched the marker out of his hand and uncapped it.

    "Take your time, Violet." He glanced at the clock hanging over the door. "You've got plenty of it."

    I swallowed the lump in my throat and pressed the marker to the board. My pulse pounded in my ears, drowning out the classroom around me. My hand shook as I started to solve the basic equation, but my shoulder knotted up, pulling up to my ears.

    "It's an easy equation, Violet." He sighed and sat on the edge of his desk, arms crossed in front of him.

    "I know it is." I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, just like mom told me to do, and tries to let it out as quietly as possible.

    "Are you having trouble?" Mr. Wallace's finger tapped against his arm as he stared at me.

    "I'm fine." My face grew hotter with each passing second as my hands shook over each number, making my lines wobbly.

    A loud scrape came from behind me, and a large familiar shadow fell over me.

    "Zink." Mr. Wallace snapped. "Sit dow—"

     Zink rested a hand on my shoulder "I got it," he whispered as he slipped the marker out of my hand and quickly solved the equation, his newly expanded frame making a perfect shield against the backdrop of students.

     "Violet," Mr. Wallace sighed. "Stay after class for a moment."

    Zink handed the marker back to him and walked with me back to my seat. A few snickered followed me back to my seat, but Zink patted my shoulder before we took our seats.

    "I know you could have done it." He smiled as he took his seat.

    "Thank you." I sank back into my chair and folded my arms over my chest.

    A few moments later, the bell rang. I grabbed my bag and strode up to Mr. Wallace's desk.

    He tapped a few more things at his keyboard and took his dear sweet time as I waited. After two and a half minutes, he turned to me.

    "You're going to have to get over that, you know?" he tapped a heavy finger against his wooden desk.

    "That was mean." I ground my teeth together. "You calling me up when I didn't have my hand raised wasn't going to magically fix my anxiety."