Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Chapter 5

Nancy's POV

It was about halfway through the school day now. There were nine periods in the school day and I had successfully made it through the first five. School wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It wasn't great either, but it was manageable.

Fifth period just ended and I was at my locker. I had to grab all my school supplies for the second half of the day. Bertram was doing the exact same thing beside me.
"Hey, uhh this might seem a little random, but are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah...why wouldn't I be?" I was caught off guard by his question. It came out of nowhere.
"I heard Ham has a girlfriend. I know you like him or at least liked him at one point. I can't imagine you would happy about his new relationship," he said.
"Well you are right, I'm not thrilled about it, but I'm okay," I confessed.
"You sure you're okay?" He asked again.
"Yes I'm sure, but thank you for the concern," I smiled.
"Of course," he smiled back.
"Quick question," I said, "how do you know I like Ham?"
"Everyone knows," Bertram shrugged. "Listen, we made the mistake of not knowing about our friend's crushes once already. We don't want to do it again."
"Fair enough," I laughed. We continued to talk as we made our way to the cafeteria. I have to admit, Bertram asking if I was okay was really sweet. June asked as well, she slipped me a note during history class, but it was different coming from Bertram. I don't know how or why it was different, but it was. It put a smile on my face. It even made me blush a little bit. I don't know why I was reacting in such a way. I also don't why Bertram was the only thing on my mind for the rest of the day.

Lunch was the only time I was able to interact with everyone. Everyone had lunch together. The fact that that happened was truly a blessing.

I walked over to our lunch table and sat down beside June. Bertram sat on the other side of me. Everything seemed normal, but at the same time it was peculiar. We were missing something or perhaps, we were missing someone. It took me about a minute to identify the missing person. "Where's Ham?"
"We don't know," Squints said.
"Maybe he is with Alicia," Yeah-Yeah added a weird and almost humorous emphasis on Alicia's name.
"Why did you say it like that?" June asked.
"It was for effect," Yeah-Yeah answered.
"I don't know what effect you were going for, but it definitely didn't work," she said bluntly.
"Whatever," Yeah-Yeah rolled his eyes. "The point is, we have no idea where Ham is."
"There is a good chance he is with Alicia," Squints added.
"Have any of you ever seen her before?" I asked. Since I was new at this school, it would make sense for me to not know people. I thought that since everyone else had been attending this school for years, it was likely that they knew who she was.
"I have literally never seen her until today," Benny said. Everyone else nodded or did some other gesture to show their agreement.
"This is weird," I said.
Bertram laughed. "That's an understatement Nance." I smiled and caught myself blushing again. What was going on with me? It was funny, ironic even, how when I was talking about Ham I was still thinking about Bertram.
"It's like Alicia didn't exist until today," June remarked. "Maybe she's a ghost or something like that."
"Yes babe, Ham is totally dating a ghost," Benny chuckled.
"You never know!" June replied.
"How did this conversation get so out of hand?" Smalls asked.
"I don't know," Benny said.
"Guys look!" June directed everyone's attention towards the doors of the cafeteria. Ham was strutting through the doors with Alicia by his side, their fingers were intertwined. They were walking through the cafeteria as if they were models on a runway. I couldn't tell which of my emotions was overpowering my body. Was I more sad, jealous, annoyed, or angry? The answer was nonexistent. My emotions had turned into a disastrous melting pot.

Ham and Alicia made their way to our lunch table, they were still strutting like runway models. Alicia was leading the way, though it seemed like she was dragging Ham instead of leading him, but that could just be my jealousy talking. They, unfortunately, reached our table and began speaking to us. Ham opened his mouth but we only heard Alicia's voice. "Ham is going to sit with me and my friends today. I want to introduce him to all my friends. He will sit with all of you again tomorrow." Ham smiled wearily while Alicia went on her tangent. He didn't say a single word for the entire interaction. Alicia did all the talking and then they walked away.
June turned to Smalls, Yeah-Yeah, and Squints. "You see what I was talking about earlier?"
"Yeah, I definitely see it," Smalls said. "She's nice, but also mean at the same time."
"I told you, there's a major tone issue," June explained.
"Right, you can't call her mean because what she is saying is nice," Squints explained further.
"Was I the only one who felt she was being a little bit controlling?" Bertram asked.
"I felt that too," I said. "She basically talked for him and she decided where he sat at lunch."
"Yeah yeah, she didn't let him make a choice for himself," Yeah-Yeah replied.
"Should we ask him to blink twice if he's being held against his will?" June joked.
"Guys, let's give her a chance. We barely know her. Maybe she's really sweet," Benny suggested.
June sighed quietly. "Yeah, you're right. We should give her a shot." Everyone else expressed agreement in some fashion. June laughed. "I don't know how you're always so nice to people." Benny shrugged and laughed with June.

Everyone had come to a consensus. It was settled. Despite our worries about Alicia, we would give her a chance. Maybe she wasn't the controlling and rude person we thought she was.

Author's Note: Chapter 5!! More tea is being spilt in this chapter!! This story is just full of drama. Y'all aren't ready for it! 😂
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! 😊❤️
Like always, I proofread but if you see any typos please let me know! 👍