you belong with me - Olivia Rodrigo

who the fuck is Rodrigo?

Mom takes a deep breath, composing herself. "I promise to try my best now, Y/N. I'm not going to make the same mistakes I did in Glendale."

I nod and hug her before saying goodbye and stepping out of the door.

"Have a good first day, honey!" Mom calls out.

I take out my bike and start riding to school. Perhaps I could persuade my mom to use the inheritance money from my grandpa to buy me a car. Then I could finally get my driver's license.

--

I lock my bike and step through the main entrance, pausing in the center of the hallway to take in the familiar surroundings. It strikes me how, for the past three years, this place remains unchanged. The lockers, the floors, and the walls have retained their identical appearance.

While most of the faces I see are familiar, there are a few new ones in the mix. However, I can't help but notice the absence of Jenna and Isa.

I don't need a map or a guide; I remember exactly where everything is. I feel quite at home, actually.

My first class is English with Mrs. Reynolds. I enter the classroom to find the desks arranged just as they used to be. I glance at the unassigned assigned seat I occupied three years ago, and it's empty. Mrs. Reynolds is sitting at her desk in the front of the class.

I walk up to her with a cheeky smile on my face, "Hi Mrs Reynolds! Did you miss me?".

"Y/N, what a surprise! I can't believe how much you've grown since the last time I saw you" Mrs Reynolds greets me

"You look even younger since the last time I saw you, Miss!" I say with my most charming smile.

Mrs Reynolds was one of the only teachers that actually liked me back then. English wasn't my strongest subject, so I always put in effort to make her like me to improve my grades.

She chuckles and waves me off, "Kissing up to me won't get you any better grades, Y/N. Take a seat wherever you'd like."

Well, it was worth a try.

I go to my unassigned assigned seat and take my books out. This seat was perfect because it was quite a distance from the teachers desk but it wasn't too far from the whiteboard.

I also liked it because it was next to the window so I had a nice view outside when I was bored in class. Jenna also used to sit in the seat next to me.

I hope we're in the same English class this year.

I sit patiently, my eyes glued to the door, hoping that the familiar figure I'm thinking of walks in.

Minutes later, another familiar figure arrives, but it wasn't the one I was hoping for. It was my neighbour, dressed in a grey mini skirt and a graphic t-shirt.

She approaches me with her signature bored expression and folds her arms in front of her. "That's my seat."

Oh, so I'm sitting in her unassigned assigned seat. I briefly consider moving until I remind myself that this was MY unassigned assigned seat first—well, three years ago.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. What kind of psycho confronts someone for sitting in their unassigned assigned seat? The seat isn't actually hers. Is she the queen or something?

I could make this easy by finding a new seat, but I wanted to have some fun first. Plus, if Jenna actually still sits in her unassigned assigned seat (which is the seat next to me), then I don't want to move. So, I decided to mess with Olivia first.

I put my eyebrows together and act innocent. "Hi, neighbor. Oh, this is your seat? Mrs. Reynolds said I could sit anywhere I want."

"Yeah, you can sit anywhere except that seat because it's mine."

"I don't see your name on it."

"I don't see yours."

This time, I smirk, pointing to the corner of the desk where I scratched 'Y/L/N' on it three years ago.

"Who the heck is Y/L/N?" Olivia asks.

"That's my last name, idiot."

She responds with a smirk and points her finger to a name scratched into the desk's opposite corner, reading 'Rodrigo.'

"Who the fuck is Rodrigo?"

"That's MY last name, loser."

We start arguing, talking over each other until Mrs. Reynolds interrupts us both, "Girls! Just find a seat, will you? Olivia, sit in the seat next to Y/N."

In a sign of defeat, Olivia sighed and shot me an intense glare. I couldn't help but wear a smug expression as she muttered, "Watch your back, Y/L/N."

"I'd rather watch you, Rodrigo," I winked

Her face turned a deep shade of red as she mumbled to herself, "Perv."

I know I was supposed to get her to like me, but I realised that annoying her was way more fun.

Olivia takes the seat next to me, the one Jenna was meant to occupy. I can't help but steal one last hopeful glance at the door, praying she might walk in. However, my hopes fade as Mrs. Reynolds closes the door and begins the lesson, with Jenna nowhere in sight.