The Other Girl

Chapter VII

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BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

My alarm clock went off at precisely 6:43 am with the most annoying alarm my phone has, the 'alarm' tone. It was the worst sound there and it was therefore the sound that had the highest rate of successfully getting me out of my bed.

Groaning, I grabbed my phone and silenced it—heaven—and jumped out of bed. There was no time to grumble and groan on the first day of finals.

Brush teeth, general economic activities, wash face, common economic outcomes, bowl-milk-cereal, common accounting decisions, coat, shoes, ready.

Managerial accounting final, here we go.

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"Stella!"

"OH MY—" I half-shouted as I practically jumped out of my skin. "Jordan! What the hell!"

"You should see the look on your face," he said, laughing nonstop. I slapped his shoulder half-seriously, unamused.

"Brooks, I have my managerial accounting final first, so don't talk to me," I told him seriously, causing him to stop laughing.

"That sucks," he said, pursing his lips. "I'm a bio major so I wouldn't know, but the things I've heard..."

"Believe me, most of them are true," I told him. "Except that one about the day where we had an extra day to complete the huge research report— that was the teacher's idea of a joke. Needless to say, it wasn't funny."

"No kidding, you shouldn't joke about due dates," Jordan said, shaking his head dramatically. "Well, good luck on the test!"

"You too— Biochemistry, was it? That's pretty hard too," I said. Jordan shrugged, smiling.

"You know I'm smart, Reyes. You are too, so don't stress out too much," he said reassuringly.

"I don't know how you don't stress out," I said, making him smile crookedly.

"It's called believing in yourself— try it out sometime, Reyes," he said before waving and walking off to his class.

"So, do you have something to tell us?" Quinn said asked from behind me, surprising me.

"Not that I know of," I said as the posse finally showed itself. Karen gave me a flat look.

"Girl, we get that you're clueless as hell about love, but seriously, take a hint would you? The poor boy likes you!" She said as the other girls nodded affirmatively.

"What?" I asked, completely honest this time. "That's impossible. That was Jordan Brooks, you know, the notorious playboy? He's hooked, but he isn't going to stick around. That's not possible."

"Oh it's more than possible when it's you, Stell," Stacey said as the other girls nodded. "Believe me, my boyfriend still has the hots for you, not that he's in your league."

"You should open your eyes and take a look at the number of guys pining after you," Quinn told me.

"There's a lot to choose from," Whitney added, smiling as I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Whitney— girls, please. It's finals week and I really don't need any drama in my life right now," I told them sincerely. "Can we please discuss possible scenarios after I take my test?"

"Alright, but you're not off the hook!" Karen told me, patting me on the shoulder. "And I'm sure you'll do fine, miss perfection."

"Good luck on your tests as well!" I said, waving back at them as I made my way to my class. I was on my toes with nervousness when yet another person patted my shoulder.