leopard space dolphins » original ✓

eleven: attraction, pt. ii

ii.

Monday morning arrived quicker than I could imagine, and I hopped out of Valencia's car in the parking lot with too much energy for my own body. I felt good since I was wearing a nice outfit and had my makeup done to perfection. It was a great way to start off the week.

I was happy with the way the weekend went. After Friday's events, Valencia, Jasmine, and I had a girls' day, complete with face masks and sappy, romance movies. We even ended up watching Poetic Justice and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist as a joke, and we laughed all Saturday night.y

Now, as I walked through the hallways to get to my locker, I saw Serena walking towards me, but she disregarded my presence as she breezed by me. Whatever, nothing could bring me down from my mood today. Then I remembered what Valencia told me last week and I inwardly groaned. I could almost hear maybe you might not be the one she's mad at echoing in my head. I knew I was going to have to be the bigger person and I wasn't used to it, but it was part of growth.

I swiveled around and called out her name. "Serena."

Surprisingly, she turned around and stared me in the face. I thought she was just going to ignore me like she's been doing for the past two weeks. Even in Economics a couple days ago, she refused to accept her half of a graded assignment we did together until I gave the sheet to the girl who sat in front of her. She was that petty. "What?"

"I—Look, can we talk?" I asked, rubbing my temples. I knew a headache was about to form at any given moment. "I don't know how we got to this point."

"Well, let me enlighten you," she spat, walking closer to me until we stood only a foot apart. "You don't ever listen to me, unless someone that isn't me gives you the same advice. Plus, you fucked my face up."

"Um, you started it!" I said, my voice on the brink of yelling. I had to calm down, because I didn't want to get into a screaming match with her before first period even started. I sighed, before relaxing my shoulders. "Honestly Serena, I don't want to fight with you anymore."

She paused, her eyes scanning over my morose expression. When she saw I wasn't joking, her knitted eyebrows smoothed out. "I don't want to either, but I just don't think we know how to function anyway else."

I shook my head, and grabbed her hand to pull her into an empty classroom. "Serena, you've been my best friend for so long and I don't want to lose you over a petty fight. I know I'm hard to be around with how hardheaded I am, but I know everything will work out in the end."

She sighed and sat on one of the wooden desk. "I'm really sorry for being such a bitch, and I took it too far with the whole Marcus thing. I know I can be a bit of a control freak, and ever since the summer after my mom got married, I just wanted to be in control of something."

Nodding my head in understanding, I patted her on the shoulder. After her mom remarried to her stepdad, she told me how she never liked being at home with him around. He constantly tried to change her and her mom, and frequently commented on Serena's weight. I knew how much she despised him.

"Why didn't you just talk to me?" I asked, sitting next to her. "I would've understood."

"No, you wouldn't have," she said, shaking her head. "There's a lot you don't understand, but it's okay. I'm just glad we're not fighting anymore because I hate being the tough one. I'll just leave that to you."

I laughed and nudged her shoulder. "Yeah, bro. I was shocked as hell when you started that fight. It was so out of character."

We spoke some more before the first bell rang, and Serena walked me to the chemistry lab for my class. "So do you wanna hang out after school today?"