Philophobia

7. Allodoxaphobia

Allodoxaphobia - Fear of Opinions

*Norah Cohen*

  It's the Monday after my first date with Sean and I have told Kim and Flo everything about what happened at the date, but I didn't tell them how I felt about the kiss because I was scared of the reactions I would get from them. I am probably the allodoxaphobic kind. Kim was so happy for me and surprisingly, so was Flo. I think being back with Ross has been a good influence on her.

  We were all sitting at the same old bench at lunchtime talking, then suddenly, Sean came up to our bench and spoke to me for the first time at school since Owen's party.

  "Hey, I haven't done the English homework," he said. "Could I get some ideas from you, please?" he asked. Of course I had to, I could not look like some kind of goody-goody for him. I took out my English book and passed it over to him.

  "Copy the whole thing if you want!" I offered as he pulled out his pen and sat down at the bench. He took out his English book and copied out every inch of my homework. He did it in about ten minutes then quickly passed my work back.

  "Cheers!" he leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. As soon as he left, Kim and Flo turned to me slightly shocked.

  "Did you really just let him copy off your English homework?" Flo asked.

  "Yeah... So?"

  "So that's going to get you and Sean in trouble when Mr Kingston finds out," Kim announced.

  I just shrugged.

  "Come on, will it be worth it?" Flo asked.

  "Well, you would do the same for Ross and Kim, you would do the same for Jonah, even if you are not in a relationship," I explained.

  "I wouldn't need to; he's a nerd," Kim smiled. "Owen told me he does his homework at lunchtimes sometimes."

  "You told Owen?" Flo asked in disapproval. "You know he is a complete blabbermouth."

  "I don't care if he tells Jonah, I really don't," Kim didn't care? This surprised me, in the past, I would have hated for anyone to find out who I had feelings for, so I always kept my mouth shut.

  "Speak of the devil," I said when I saw Jonah and his friend walk past the bench we were sitting at. Jonah approached the bench by creeping up behind Kim.

  "Hey babes," he snickered. "How are you doing?"

  "Good, thank you," Kim sarcastically responded.

  "Oh come on baby, don't be like that," he said. He bit his lip to resist laughing. Luckily, Kim wasn't looking at him, but she could probably already tell he was messing around.

  "Don't you have something better to do?" Flo asked right in Jonah's face. Kim had a look of relief that Flo had stepped in like that.

  Jonah and his group of friends laughed and walked away. Flo sighed and looked at Kim, neither Flo or I had never seen Kim so pushed down and quiet.

  "Forget about him, he's just showing off for his friends," Flo said to comfort her.

  "I know, I know..."

*Kim Franklin*

  "To Ash,

  I have had absolutely no luck with Jonah whatsoever. All week, he has been mocking me and pretending to flirt with me in front of his friends. Owen told me that he said he was doing that to drive me away. So clearly, I have no chance if he is that desperate for me to move on.