Social Media «ᴄᴀᴋᴇ»

Chapter 3

"The Titan's Curse!" Some of them said. Good, they remembered.

I pushed out my bottom lip, furrowing my eyebrows. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Weren't we reading The Goblet of Fire?"

"No!" the children said to me, some of them laughing. They were saying that I forgot that we were reading The Titan's Curse. I shook my head violently, pressing that we were reading The Goblet of Fire. The children opposed again, saying that they were absolutely sure that we were reading The Titan's Curse last week.

"Alright, alright," I sighed. I pulled the book out of the bookshelf, and I turned to where I had my bookmark. I told the kids to simmer down, and they sat quietly, waiting for me to read. I set the book on my lap, enunciating every word so that the children could understand me clearly. We left off at the part where Thalia and Grover were making jokes about the Hoover Dam. Some parents shot glares at me, obviously unhappy with me for introducing their kids to this kind of humor—they claimed that the kids were too young for them. I tried to ignore the glares; I've heard many young kids swearing like it was everyday language, anyway.

An hour later, it was 5:30, and I had just finished reading three more chapters. The parents were starting to take their kids home, although some kids were still trying to take some cold pizza to go. I smiled and waved as the little kids said goodbye to me; they truly were adorable. I really loved volunteering at the library—it made me feel like I was good enough to do something for once.

As soon as every child left, I sighed, picking up my backpack and heading out the door. I felt like my backpack was burning onto my skin; it was as if the failed math quiz was pushing guilt down on me. Of course, the feeling was pretty numb to me. This only added up to the numerous math quizzes and tests that I've failed.

I put my headphones on, completely blocking out the rest of the world. I decided to walk home rather than take the bus—I wanted to go home as late as possible. I didn't want to go home and face guilt. Then again, going home meant Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi meant being able to talk to Calum without using part of my data plan.

Even though I was more than halfway home, I couldn't help but check my phone constantly. Had someone messaged me? Did I get an Instagram notification? Had someone followed me on Tumblr or Twitter? Did someone comment on my story on Wattpad?

Oh, screw it.

hi :-)

hey :-(

what's wrong?

i don't wanna do my homework :-(

i always do my homework at one in the morning oops

wHY ARE YOU UP AT ONE IN THE MORNING

i always am? idk

YOU NEED YOUR BEAUTY SLEEP LUKEY-WUKEY

wtf i don't need beauty sleep i'm hideous anD YOU'RE THE ONE UP AT FOUR IN THE MORNING WATCHING SUPERNATURAL

SUPERNATURAL IS ADDICTING

AND SO IS SHERLOCK BUT IM NOT STAYING UP UNTIL FOUR AM TO WATCH IT oh wait i do that never mind

SEE?

*sigh* you have a point

you still shouldn't be up doing your homework

i like to do my homework in the middle of the night

you're weird

well, so are you, so i'm good

oh well. i'm just gonna do my homework in the morning tomorrow.

homework <<<

school <<<

school and homework <<<

life <<<

jack barakat >>>>>

alex gaskarth >>>>>

zack merrick >>>>>

rian dawson >>>>>

you >>>>>>>>>>

me <<<<<<<<<<

you >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

lol nO

lol yES

no

yes

no

yes

nah

yeah

nu-uh

yuh-huh

fUCK NO

fUCK YES

STAHP IT

NOPE :-)

FUCK YOU

I LOVE YOU, TOO

I HAVE TO EAT DINNER BYE

OKAY BYE CALLY-WALLY

"cally-wally" what the fuck

well you were the one who called me lukey-wukey

fair enough. bYE :-)

baiiiii :-)

I put my phone down with a sigh. My conversation with Calum didn't go as long as I'd hoped, but it was okay. Calum was funny; I really liked Calum. In his Instagram posts, he talks about how he's always alone at school, and it's honestly really hard for me to believe. Calum's a really nice guy, and it shocked me how he didn't have any friends at school. I really wanted to be Calum's friend. I really wanted him to be next to me, then I wouldn't feel so left out at school.

I kept my phone in my pocket while I watched Sherlock on Netflix yet again, staring intently at the screen. Sherlock was complaining about Mary smiling, and she responded how it was her wedding day. I chuckled slightly at the TV—I really liked Mary. She was sweet and adorable, and overall really good for John. I just really hope that she doesn't die...

And hour-and-a-half later, the episode ended, and I decided that I was done watching TV for the day. It was almost eight o'clock, so I should probably eat dinner. I ate my chicken dinosaurs alone, as I always did, and I ate while thinking. Perhaps Mrs. Armstrong is right. Perhaps I do need help with math—I mean, my test scores can surely vouch for that.

I put my dish in the sink and I got out my math textbook, opening it to the chapter I was currently learning. I looked through the lessons, read and reread formulas and postulates, and when I was finally done with the chapter, I felt prepared. When I started doing my homework later in the morning, however, I had forgotten everything. The only thing I saw in front of me were a whole bunch of letters.

Dammit, calculus. Why do you have to be so hard?