DEVYN POV
"You going to the winter dance?" Gabriel asks while pointing to a paper he was holding.
"Err- I don't know. I have a lot of things to study for." I whispered back.
"Come on it's our last year, you have to-"
"What are you two whispering about?" Ms. Hendrix asks. The class turns around and follows her gaze to look at us in the back.
"Nothing at all." I say.
"No, no. It sounds pretty important, why don't you share it with the class?"
"Um- we were talking about how amazing literature is." Gabriel says while looking at me.
"Hmm. Why don't you two join in on the conversation we were just having. Do you think that Anne made the right decision to stay and go along with the decisions her family made for her, or do you think she should have fought for her love, Timothy?" Gabriel immediately looks at me with horror because we both know he hasn't read the novel yet. I on the other hand finished the novel By the Shore the first week we got it.
"I think she made the right decision."
"Why?" This time it's the new girl who asks. She twists in her seat to look back at me.
"Well, her decision would have affected so many other people. Her family's reputation was on the line, and they literally pleaded to her to stay."
"That doesn't make it right." Andrea says in a stern voice.
"Why isn't it right?" The whole class is listening to us go back and forth.
"Because her family should have fought for her. They should have put her happiness first, instead of stupid opinions that others have."
"The world doesn't work like that. Sometimes you have to give up on things, even if it's love."
"Her staying at the end of the book is like death. She's not even living anymore."
"She is. She just had the courage to let go of certain attachments."
"You don't need courage to die, you need courage to live. She should have chased Timothy and not let him go." I'm about to say something but I can't find the words. She turns back around and stares at the board.
"That's an interesting take Ms.Ackerman." Ms.Hendrix sits back at her desk. I start to work on my worksheet but my eyes travel towards Andrea. She runs her hand through her hair. Something about her angered me. The way she carried herself. The way she walked around not caring about a thing. And definitely the way that she's always trying to one up me.
The bell rings and I walk out of class with Gabriel. We walk over to our meeting spot to wait for Brianna, Sierra, and Ashton. I hear Ashton's obnoxious laugh and look up to see them walking towards us.
"Sooo... winter dance?" Sierra asks.
"I'm going. I heard there's gonna be booze." Brianna answers.
"Then I will be going too." Gabriel says.
"I think I'm going to go, what about you Ashton?"
"Yeah, I might. I might even ask someone to be my date."
"OOO and who might that be?"
"You'll see."
"What about you dev?"
"I don't know. Not really feeling it." We walk out of school and towards our dorm.
"Why not? It'll be fun."
"In what way?"
"There'll be booze, cute boys, and all of us together."
"I'll think about it."
"Well, me, Gabe and Brianna are gonna grab something to eat, wanna come?" Ashton asks.
"Me and Sierra have a game today. But you all can swing by later?"
"Sure.We'll actually come watch your game. And then we can come hang altogether." With that, they left and Sierra and I finally got into our dorm.
"So why don't you want to go? You've never turned down a dance."
"Just have a lot on my mind."
"Like?"
"Just stuff with my father, don't worry about it."
"Dev, you know dances are a big deal. Every four year intensive school is invited. It's gonna be huge."
"Yeah, yeah. Do you know where it's being held this year?"
"Not sure. But somewhere BIG."
"I figured."
"Oh c'mon. You forced me to join soccer and now I'M going to force you to go to the dance with me."
"I guess I do owe you one."
"So is that a yes?"
"Fine. But I'm not wearing a dress. Do you remember the disaster last year?"
"When Ashton spilled booze all over your lavish dress?"
"Exactly. I don't even know how I ended up going with him."
"You guys were dating. So it kind of made sense."
"Talk about a bad mistake."
"I can tell that he still likes you. Why don't you give him another chance."
"I don't want to. I think we're better off as friends you know? I just don't feel as strongly for him as he does for me." I sigh and lay on my bed.
"He is a good guy though. Half the school is crazy after him. And the one girl he wants, keeps rejecting him."
"We dated for a few months, okay? It's not like we were star crossed lovers. It didn't work out. That's it."
"Anyways, do you know who he might ask out?"
"Don't know."
"Hmmm."
"What about you? Have you gotten over Jacob yet?"
"Yeah totally." Sierra says in the most unconvincing way. I get back up to look at her, and she starts to smile.
"No you didn't."
"I didn't."
"You better have not. C'mon Sierra he's a bad one you can do better."
"I know, but I just keep finding myself going back to him."
"Oh man."
"I know." I get up to give her a side hug.
"It'll be fine. We're gonna graduate soon anyway. Then we'll have a lot more people to meet."
"Yeah."
"Come on, get dressed. We got a game against Reese school."
"I know, I know." We gathered our belongings and a quick snack. I got in a mini workout and tied my hair up into a ponytail.
We made our way to the field where the team was waiting.
"There you guys are." Coach Xu exclaimed.
"Sorry got caught up with some stuff."
"It's okay, start warming up." We start to stretch and warm up as the other team arrives, in their eye catching red uniforms. From the corner of my eye I see Andrea eyeing them. She looks a bit nervous, and that makes me smile. Maybe she's not so confident after all.
"Alright team, Huddle." I call in all the girls.
"So here's the plan, Mia will be on-"
"Andrea will actually be up top." I interrupt Sierra and she looks at me with a questioning glare. Andrea gives a small nod. We go over the team formation and get ready to play.
The whistle blows and the game starts. Andrea is quick and she passes me the ball. Our team dribbles up and gets through their mid fielders. I pass it to Laila and she scores. We burst out into a little cheer. The other team gets more frustrated by the minute, and they start to push and shove. One of their forwards starts to chase down Andrea as she dribbles up. I run parallel to her incase she needs to pass it off. In the blink of an eye, the forward grabs Andrea's uniform and pulls her to the ground.
"Stay down, bitch." Anger flows through my veins and I run over there. As the forward turns around from Andrea who's on the ground, she bumps into me. I stare at her and she smiles. I smile back as I make my hand into a fist, and punch her in the face. She lets out a cry and falls to the floor. Blood starts to trickle onto the field. I look at Andrea who is in utter shock.
I get closer to the forward to whisper, "Try to get up, and I'll knock you right down.....bitch." I give her another smile. By this time the referee has given me a red card and their whole team wants a piece of me. I walk off the field with a smile and two middle fingers. Coach Xu looks at me and shakes her head.
I look down at my knuckles that sting. Having enough of the game, I grabbed my things and left.
Author's Note:
Hey y'all! Let me know what you guys think so far. Any suggestions or just comments? Would really appreciate besties <3