FATE

16. Together

JONAH

Sometimes, I stare at what seems to be nothing. It could be a wall, the sky or I study the smoothness of the wooden lunch tables at school. I let my mind blend into that nothing, basking in the eerie silence and calmness that comes with it.

I hear nothing.

I feel nothing.

I see nothing.

I am nothing.

If I stay too long, I might begin to doubt my own existence, believing that I am merely a product of someone else's imagination. Nevertheless, I like the feeling that comes with feeling nothing because even if it's just for a split second-

It is in that moment that I am truly free.

"So, Jonah, what do you think?"

I look up from the lunch table at the face of Britney Watson. Her lips are curved into one of the prettiest smiles I've ever seen. Her jet-black hair falls over her shoulders in luscious curls. She occasionally plays and rolls it around her perfectly red manicured nails. I force a smile at her, I can't believe she bores me this much.

"I'm sorry, what?", I ask as I sip from the smoothie in front of me.

She chuckles lightly, "I was wondering if you'd want me to come over, you know, for the Spanish homework?"

She reaches out and touches my hand, her fingers grazing over mine lightly. I do not appreciate the gesture.

"I don't think there's any need for that. I'll just work on the poem and you can translate", I move my hand away from hers and wrap it around the smoothie cup.

"Oh well..."

"I'll give it to you three days to the presentation. That should be enough time for you to work on translating it right?"

She sits up, taken aback by my statement. "Yeah sure"

I nod. I don't think I can be rude to her. It might ruin my chances of getting a good grade on this homework, even though I think it's unnecessary and ridiculous. The way I see it, Miss Banks is only using us to feed her addiction.

However, it should be easy. If I can keep my partner happy then maybe she won't make this whole thing a big challenge for me.

"Hey!", A bag drops on the table and startles Britney and her friends who decided to stay with us instead of getting to know their partners. I look up to find a frowning Hailee. She sits next to me as she looks up and stares intensely at the Britney.

"Who's this?"

"Excuse me?", Britney asks in a sassy tone.

"You heard me. Who are you and why are you sitting here?", Hailee purses her lips and raises an eyebrow.

"I happen to be Jonah's Spanish partner and we're working on something so if you could excuse us..."

Oh no.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?", Hailee snaps.

"Wait", I reach out to hold Hailee's hand and use my hand to turn her head so she's staring at me. "is everything okay", I whisper so Britney can't hear me.

She shakes her head and I understand almost immediately.

"Uhm, we're just going to go", I say to Britney as I grab Hailee's bag and stand up.

"Can I at least get your number to talk about the homework?", She asks.

I really don't like texting people.