Something Bad

Chapter Twenty-Four: Tim Gunn Would've Been Proud

      “I don’t know, Livy. Sorry,” he apologized as we began to walk through the busy hallway. His arm was still slung over my shoulder, and all I could think about was how I had prepared absolutely nothing for the class ahead—yes, I happened to have English as my next class, as it turned out.

      As we walked down the prep school corridor of bustling teens in designer clothes, I felt like I had failed completely. It was a bad feeling. Then, when I thought that all was completely lost and I would give up entirely, I found the answer I hadn’t been looking for, walking towards me with a smirk on his face and a leather jacket covering his torso. Luke Daniels. I wasn’t entirely sure how he would help, but as Tim Gunn always said on Project Runway (the best reality show of all time), I would just have to make it work.

      “Luke Daniels!” I shouted frantically, flying from Preston so that I stood in front of the other boy, almost colliding into him. He put both hands on my waist to steady me, and kept them there for a lingering few seconds.

      “Well, hello to you too, Olivia,” he laughed at my greeting just as Preston joined us, standing firmly beside me.

      “I need your help,” I stated plainly. “You have a free period now, don’t you?”

      “Yeah, I do. Why do you need my help?” he inquired, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his scuffed up jeans.

      “Just come to my English class, Luke. Why I need you isn’t important. Just come,” I practically begged, desperate for the new idea that had formed within my mind to work out. It relied on Luke, so that was kind of a downside, but if he agreed, everything might be okay.

      “What will I get out this?”

      “The joy of knowing you’ve helped me, and the power of holding that over me,” I replied almost instantaneously, expecting the question to arise.

      “Good enough for me. Let’s go,” he smirked.

      And like the Tin Man (Luke), Scarecrow (Preston, because he lacked brains), and Dorothy (me, because I was the only female in the group) of the dreadfully inaccurate Wizard of Oz, the three of us skipped (well, ran) down the yellow brick road (hallway) all the way to Oz (my English classroom). When we got to the room, there were a fair amount of adolescents already gathered within, but the two seats in the front always claimed by Preston and me had yet to be taken. We went to our normal seats, and Luke sat directly behind me.

      A few people in the room were whispering and discreetly pointing at the alien senior boy with a reputation for being “bad,” wondering why he was making a reappearance in their English class. Luke didn’t care though, and neither did I. Preston was tapping away on his laptop, making final touches to his gloriously finished power point. All I could do was think, hoping that it would spark something else within me. I had Luke, now all I needed were words.

      Dr. G. finally sauntered in at around the same time that the entire class was settled, sitting in the normal arrangement with Luke Daniels as an unexpected bump. When Dr. G. noticed Luke after about ten seconds, he just nodded to him, not saying a word and silently accepting his presence. And then he told us that since our presentations were due today, and there were about six groups in the class, we would try to squeeze everyone in. As unfortunate as it may have been, when he read off the order of presentations, my “group” was second. Fun.

      The first group went, and showed a ten-minute video that they had created, exploring the topics discussed. It was okay, but I didn’t really pay attention, because I was so consumed in trying to figure out what I was going to do. It was an AP English class, and considering the first group that had gone came up with a video that looked professionally produced, I was really hoping that Preston’s “winging-it” skills would rub off on me.