Stay Awake

Introduction

I glanced over my shoulder as I slipped through the double doors, silently jogging down the art corridor. I didn't want to walk with my so called 'friends' so I decided to cut down the back stairwell and go out the back door. As I quickly rushed past the continuous rows of classes something caught my attention. I retraced my steps and peeked around one of the doors. There was a girl in the corner of the room. She was making a weird noise. After a short yet heated debate I decided to see if she was alright. I quietly crept into the room and made my way towards her. I was only a few feet away when I decided to speak up.

"Hey, a- are you okay?" I asked softly.

She jumped out of her skin, quite literally but her sobbing stopped as she slowly turned to face me. "Who are you, creeping Jesus?" She joked. Well... I think she was joking. I laughed awkwardly rubbing my neck.

"Uhm no. I'm Cooper." I smiled politely. She subconsciously wiped her eyes with her sleeve and smiled.

"Nora."

"Wait..." I said, narrowing my eyes at her.

"What?" She asked, worry evident in her eyes.

"You were in my PE last year, weren't you?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"I don't-

"No you were! You were the girl who always wore the white Adidas T-shirt with the Nike leggings and the pumas!" I stated. Not going to lie I was extremely shocked this was the same girl. She looked so- so different. And no, not because she had been crying.

"Oh no." She giggled shyly, burying her head in her hands. "Oh my god, wait! You were the boy who ragequit during the game of football when one of your players fell and broke their arm!" She gasped, covering her dangling mouth.

I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as I relived the moment. "Oh god. I forgot about that." I laughed shaking my head.

"I don't understand how. It was all I heard about for a literal year!" She reminded me. She used a lot of hand gestures.

"Yeah, yeah. I remember well enough thanks." I chuckled, rolling my eyes. I couldn't help but smile though.

"Yeah... That class sucked though." She said smiling.

"True to be fair." I nodded. "I would hate it even more now." I added quietly.

"Why?" Her eyes were alert. Dark like the night. I looked away.

I shrugged, "I mean c'mon. What class would you like?" She laughed and nodded. I smiled satisfied. She looked happier than she did a few minutes ago.

"I would like my old English back." She sighed.

"God why? All of my English classes sucked!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air.

"Rude!" She gasped. I looked at her confused. I leaned against the desk facing the one she was sitting at so I was still facing her.

"I was in your English." She laughed. I looked at her with a blank expression. "Don't you remember? We had to do the presentation on your favourite day of the week and then debate on why yours is better than your partners?"

"Oh my god!" I grinned. "That was you?" I asked, jumping back to stand myself. She nodded. "No way!"

"Crazy, right?" She laughed. I nodded in agreement, laughing subtly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah but you might not get an answer." She warned me. I ignored it.

"Why are you crying in here yourself?"

"Well truth is I kind of failed my art exam which is practically impossible. My teacher was going over it with me but he just left to get the rest of the papers. Kind of broke down as you can tell." She laughed shyly. Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. Cute. Wait what?

I didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." She smiled. "Can I ask you something?"

"Why did you come in here?"

"Nora I got the—

I turned around to see my most hated teacher in the world. Mr Jones. I smiled falsely.

"Cooper what are you doing in here distracting my pupil?" He sneered, adding emphasis onto the 'my.' If I didn't know any better he was trying to tell me something. I mentally rolled my eyes.

"Just leaving sir." I replied blandly. I turned back to look at Nora. She stared at the scene unfold. "Bye babe." I winked, smugly. Now her face was bright red.

"Out now!" Sir yelled making me groan.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going. Keep your hair on." I chuckled as I slowly strolled out the class. I waited a few seconds to hear what she said. He asked her if I was her boyfriend and she said yes. I held my hands to my mouth as I suppressed a laugh and jogged the rest of the way home.