Becoming Beautiful (Wattys2014)

| Chapter 3 |

I looked around and saw Noah shaking his head while he stared at his notebook, his earbuds now plugged into his ears. I’m glad he’s having a good time. At least one of us is.

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“Any questions?” Ms. Knightly asked, her eyes skimming the classroom. I wanted to reach my hand into the air and ask why we were studying this. It was totally irrelevant and if it wasn’t going to be on the test, like she previously stated, then what’s the point of even learning this?

She nodded and lifted up a pile of papers. “This will be your homework.” She glanced at the clock. “Since we have ten minutes left, you can start to work on it now.”

I looked at the paper as it touched my desk and suppressed a groan. It was a bunch of questions about stupid things. I sighed before lifting my pen and circling answers. When the bell rang, I was halfway finished. I might as well finish the rest at lunch or during my free period, which I have right after lunch.

Scuttling towards American Literature, I stuffed my paper into my bag, trying to keep it unscathed as it was shoved between two text books. I failed. Ignoring the urge to fix it, I began picking up the pace. I needed to get to class quickly. Glancing back over my shoulder every few seconds, I rammed into a petite yet tall figure. My head whipped around to see Marissa staring at me with furrowed eyebrows, laughing lightly as I offered her my hand, a panicked look on my face. I kept glancing behind me and jumping nervously at every sudden noise. “Paranoid?”

I nodded, looking around anxiously. “I don’t know if this will help you but he won’t cause you physical pain.” I didn’t miss the quieter, ‘I think,’ at the end of her sentence.

“Thank you, that makes me feel ten times better than I previously felt,” I muttered sarcastically.

“You know, I wouldn’t have pegged you as the sarcastic type if we wouldn’t have talked in that bathroom. I always thought you were just another quiet, shy girl,” she told me, dusting off the back of her pants.

I nervously nodded before glancing over my shoulder. “That’s a common misconception. Well, I have to get to American Literature, I’ll see you later.”

“Wait. I wanted to know if you want to sit next to me today at lunch.” She grabbed my elbow but released it when I turned to look at her.

I bit my lip. “I’m not sure… the other volleyball players probably won’t like me. Besides, I do play the game terribly.”

She laughed. “Well, if you want to- there’s always an open seat. They’ll like you, trust me.”

I highly doubt that but I smiled and nodded before sprinting towards my next class. Okay, so maybe I didn’t sprint- but I walked at a pretty daring speed in a half filled hallway. I was going to be late if I didn’t get to class in about 30 seconds. I sighed as I sat down in my usual seat, glancing around casually before my eyes caught sight of someone. All this time, I wasn’t running from him- I was running to him!

Noah was seated in the front of the class, his eyes glued to a thick book on the table. For the most part, he was almost finished with the book. I was curious as to what the book was but I’m definitely not going to ask him. I’ll have to wait until he puts it away. Or maybe when the teacher takes it away; our teacher isn’t a fan of reading during class unless we’re supposed to be. Despite the fact that this is an English class, reading is prohibited unless you’re granted permission.  

The teacher came into the class and I was waiting until she’d yell at him to put his book away. I mean, she did it to me numerous times! Even though this is American Literature, it doesn’t mean we can read random books and ignore her teaching. Mrs. Walters continued to teach and I swear I saw her glance at Noah every few minutes, her eyes flickering from him to his book. Yet she never said a single thing to him. How unfair.