Diary of a Stereotypical Queen Bee

Entry 3 - Cold Blood and Kindness

He smirked, finally dropping his icy exterior. "You know you're the last person in this school who needs any kind of flattery."

I smiled back, not bothering to deny it. There was another slight pause and I hesitated. "Well, I wanted to be alone, too."

Preston raised an eyebrow.

"I have my moments," I defended. For some reason, I felt like I owed him an explanation. "I guess I was feeling a little out of control, and I don't know how to handle that, so I left."

He checked to see if I was serious, too. "Huh," he replied thoughtfully after a while.

"What?" I asked, defensive for some reason.

"I don't know," he replied and smiled again. "I guess it's just strange to find out that the supposedly ruthless dictator of our social system has feelings, too."

I gave him a flat look.

"Joking. Again, you don't seem that bad."

I watched him warily as he stood up to throw his tray away, brushed himself off, then offered me a hand.

I hesitantly took it, then stood. "Where are we going?"

He laughed, a warm, friendly sound. "To class. I'm pretty sure lunch is over."

I checked my phone to find out he was right. "Oh."

Lunch flew by quickly, and I was musing over whether this was due to Chase, Tiffany, or this guy, when I noticed he was starting to leave. I caught up and grabbed his hand. "Hey, Preston! Wait, I just wanted to say thanks."

"For what?"

I shrugged. I wasn't even completely sure, but I smiled. "For listening, I guess? I don't know, it just felt appropriate."

He gave me one last strange look, then seemed to shrug it off. "Okay, then you're welcome. By the way, no one calls me Preston. I go by Andrew."

"Really?" This meant my sources were wrong, then.

He shrugged. "Yeah. It's my middle name. My dad and my granddad go by Preston, and it's too posh for me."

"Okay, Andrew," I tested the name out and laughed a little. "I guess I understand that. My grandmother's name is Claire."

♕ ♕ ♕ ♕ ♕

We both arrived outside of the classroom together. Turns out he was in quite a few of my classes.

The teacher opened the door for us with a stern look. "You're late."

"Sorry, Madame Marie. We both forgot the bells weren't working." Andrew gave her an apologetic smile.

"We? Oh, Claire." She glanced down, and to my horror, our hands were still clasped together. We both pulled away quickly as if there was a flame ignited.

Madame Marie pursed her lips, considering. "Well, come in when you're ready I suppose," she said as she walked in and shut the door.

I was pretty sure her sudden change in attitude was because of me. The teachers at this school weren't necessarily afraid of me, but they were certainly wary.

Andrew was about to follow her but I, very carefully, grabbed his wrist.

"Listen, this never happened, okay?"

He seemed taken aback for a second, before his expression tightened a little and he shook his head over something. "Agreed."

I was just as surprised from sudden hostility as he shoved past me to walk in the door. I almost followed him in to apologize, but then I stopped myself and asked again: What was I doing?