Someone else

So We're Friends?

       I awkwardly shuffle to the group, and stand a comfortable distance away from them, as we all wait together for our teacher to come.
Two minutes till the bell and the teacher comes, Mr. Kuzniki jogging across the hall. He politely parts the crowd to get to the door, and unlocks it, letting the flood of students in

"Okay everyone, stay standing, and I'll read out the seating chart. Yay seating charts!"

    The enthusiasm in his voice lifts a bit of my nerves, I'm still not quite excited for the class, but I'm not dreading it anymore either.
He starts with the first seat on the far row of the classroom
"James Galway"  he calls, expectantly scanning the crowd of students. A joyful hum escapes his mouth when a student, presumably James, starts heading towards the desk.

——This is.. the glasses guy? I didn't see him when I approached the class, it's possible he was within the group of people, but I am still surprised to see him.——

He sets his books on the desk, and sits down. Mr. Kuzniki nods, and points to the desk directly behind James
"Mallory Dean" he calls, looking up at the crowd again

I looked around too, forgetting for a moment, that this was my name

"Oh!" I say, hurrying to the desk that I will have for the next semester

I sit, my face burning slightly from embarrassment, but it's okay, it's fine.
    I'm fine.

Mr. kuzniki continues to go down the list, calling out names of the students to be placed.

James turns around, his eyes moving slowly around the room, before landing on me.
    —Now that I am close like this, I can take note of his appearance. His eyes are an intriguing mixture Halfway between dark blue and grey, I would describe it as being similar to the color of a sky before a storm, but that seems almost too poetic. His brown hair is cut short at the sides, and slightly longer at the top, resembling the haircut of a soldier. As does his body, which isn't as intimidating while he's sitting, but still one that could beat me in a fight if needed—
"Ah I saw you this morning! I was blocking your locker"
he laughs softly
"sorry about that"
"It's okay, I got to it fine" I said politely, setting my books on the floor and settling into my desk.

An acquaintance, or rather, a coworker of mine, Ramsey, is placed in the desk to the right of me.  He is one of the tallest people in his class, with dark brown eyes and matching hair, which is cut in no particular style.

"Hey Mal! Haven't seen you in awhile" he says, jokingly

"Ha ha, you saw me practically every day this summer" I say

"Oh and what a blessing it was" he dramatically clasps his hands over his heart,
"Every shift was like a dream"

"A nightmare, maybe" I say, laughing slightly

James turns towards both of us, looking at Ramsey
"Hey Ram! You said we would hang this summer!"

"Yeah dude, sorry" he says gesturing in my direction
"Manager lady had me working ALL summer!"

James and Ram snicker, looking at me. I stutter, trying to find a response for his accusation
"I don't make the work schedule!" I say, slightly flustered "and I only got the manager position a couple of weeks ago!"  

Their laughter continues with this comment, but my face must have given away my emotions, for Ram looks at me and stops laughing, but continues to smirk slightly

"Look Mal, I'm sorry, I don't blame you for the extra hours I picked up, and you earned that manager position" he says, I can hear the sincerity in his voice

"T-thank you, I work hard" I say, at a final attempt to defend myself.

"I believe it" James says "if you can make Ram do his job then you really do deserve that position" he punches Ramsey on the shoulder, jokingly

Mr Kuzniki finishes with the seating chart and stands in front of the class, his presence there ceases the conversations happening across the room.

James, also, turns towards the from of the classroom
      —What's this smell? It's like... like lemon candies and citrus, I kind of like it. Where is it from?—
The thought is forgotten as soon as it came

"it is my honor to officially welcome you to geometry class!" He says,  seeming actually excited to be there " I hope you like your seats! I chose them with care" he smirks slyly, and.. winks?

—-Did he just wink? What does that mean?—

"Ooookay! Who can tell me the definition of  the terms point, line, and
plane?"
—————-

The rest of class passes without  disruption, it's hard not to respect Kuzniki, and his passion for teaching.

The bell tolls to signal the end of the period,  James grabs his items, stands up, and turns towards me,
"Bye friend!" He says, then promptly exists the room

——Friend..What? Was he mocking me? When did we become ..friends? —-

The confusion bounces through my mind for the rest of the day, just enough for me to ignore another unnameable feeling somewhere in my head.