I Don't Like You [[Short Story]]

1

Emily's smile was already turning into an indecisive frown, her gaze wandering away unintentionally. "I don't know Travis..."

"Oh, come on baby! You never wanna hang out with me anymore," Travis whined, spinning Emily around easily and hugging her tightly from behind. "Look, I have to go change, but if you change your mind meet me back at the parking lot before class," he encouraged into her ear. "Hope to see you there."

In moments Emily had forgotten, Travis had left, joining his buddies to go to the changing rooms inside the gym. Her heart sped up for a little bit, the words, Should I really skip Art just to impress Travis? repeating in her brain. She stared off in thought as she subconsciously walked towards the school front doors. She ended up walking all the way upstairs and to class without even thinking about it. She's pretty sure a bunch of people said "Hi" to her on the way in but she wasn't really listening.

Emily found her familiar table at the front row of the class. Speaking of, class would start in less than 10 minutes and she still wasn't sure if she should flee or stay. Would Travis be upset with her? ...Most likely. She's tried talking her way around skipping a class before and he wasn't very happy about that. He'd called her "lame", but he was probably just joking.

Her eye caught a figure at the back of the room; her brain had been so occupied she must not have noticed them as soon as she walked in, but she'd recongized the guy pretty much instantaneously.

It was just Justin, sitting in the back as usual. Emily had recently caught him staring at her more and more in the last few days this week, even though it had probably been going on for months but she hadn't realized it. As predicted he had already started staring at her from the moment she entered the room. Usually, they were the first two to enter the classroom before anybody else, and Emily loathed it. Honestly, why can't he just fuck off already?

Justin had those big annoying clear blue eyes that always seemed to be studying something. He had messy short jet-black hair and an attractively handsome face to match. Dark brown freckles marking all over his face and down the long length of his neck, the enormous hoodie he liked to wear hiding more of them. Emily visibly grimaced at him when their eyes locked and she turned away, quickly sitting in her seat. Justin let out a small huff that could only be described as amusement and Emily could tell he was smiling. She turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him, the small ball of her tongue piercing making an appearance. Justin mocked the action back at her but with a playful grin added.

Emily rolled her eyes and turned around again, taking off her backpack and setting it on the floor. If there's one thing she didn't like, it was Justin. He was a fucking weirdo for all she cared. The last time she ever remembered giving him any attention was when she threw a paper ball at him a couple days ago, along with her friends. Makes sense since Justin was just a piece of trash in general. Emily really had to resist the urge to call him a "stupid fag" before their teacher, Mr. Rose, entered. He greeted Emily promptly and didn't seem to quite notice Justin. Emily let out a quiet "Hah" for Justin to hear.

As students began to filter in the classroom, Emily got her sketch book and pencils out. The various little drawings in her book had already made her forget about her earlier doubts about Travis, instead she focused on what art techniques they would discuss soon. A few of Emily's girlfriends sat around her in a group and immediately began to gossip about girl stuff. Lauren, one of Emily's best friends, bragged loudly about how she and Emily were going to go skinny-dipping down by the lake this weekend for a huge upcoming party. The other girls quickly jumped in on the topic and wanted to go as well. Yina was about to dare all the girls 'who could get the most guys to talk to them' on said day before the teacher quickly interrupted and forced everyone to pay attention to the board.