"How was your time with your dad?" Erica asked Liam as they walked to the bus stop.
"It was good, but are you sure that you're not still mad at me?"
"Why would I be mad?"
"I only spent time with you 4 out of our 14 days off," he said, obviously feeling guilty or embarrassed.
"It's fine. Really. I was mad at first, but I realized that was stupid. I shouldn't be mad at you for spending time with your family. I had to do some thinking anyways," Erica said shrugging.
"Thinking? What kind of thinking?"
"I'm just thinking about high school. Actually, more about my future. I have no idea what I want to do with my life."
"How about spending time with me?"
"I can't get paid for that," she joked.
He laughed and shrugged. "I'll talk to my parents about paying you then."
Erica brushed her arm against his as the bus pulled up. They waited for the bus driver to give the hand signal to cross the street, so when he finally took his hand down, Erica and Liam hurried across the street. "Morning," Liam said nicely as him and Erica walked toward the middle of the bus. The farthest they could go was seat 14, so they decided to sit in seat 12 which was one of the only seats opened.
"I hate this bus," Erica groaned.
"It's not that bad. It's a free ride, and you don't have to help pay for gas."
Erica smiled and shrugged. "I guess."
"I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up in 5 minutes."
"You'll have better luck asking the 6th grader in the front of the bus to wake you up," Erica said, smiling.
Liam rolled his eyes and gave up on his nap.
"Fine, I'll sleep in math class. At least my desk buddy will wake me up when the teacher starts walking back to my seat," Liam said, pretending to be mad.
Erica laughed and looked out the bus window. They were two minutes from getting to the middle school. They were taking a left turn, and she felt like the bus was going to tip over of how far it was turning. I swear...Putting kids on a bus is dangerous for their health.
"I hope you know that you said that out loud," Liam told her.
"I did?"
"Yeah. Caught a couple of the kids attention in front of you," Liam said, laughing.
Erica rolled her eyes as she noticed a few kids standing up which caused the bus driver to get mad. He always thought it was unsafe to stand up on the bus while he was driving. That's why Erica waited until he was two seconds till stopping, so the bus driver wouldn't yell at her as much as the other kids. Liam got up with Erica, and a girl in a grade higher than them let them out in front of her. Her name was Eleanor Amos. She had long dark brown hair that was curly and went down to the middle of her back, she had brown eyes, was a straight A student, had lots of friends, was very liked and was very funny and nice. She also was supposed to wear glasses, but she transferred to contacts a few months ago. When she let them out, Erica said, "thank you" to her and continued on her way.
Eleanor nodded and followed her off the bus, and she followed quietly behind them to the middle school since she was only in 8th grade. Erica turned around and smiled at her. "Hi. You're Eleanor Amos, right? The smartest kid in the 8th grade?" Erica asked.
Eleanor smiled and nodded. "I wouldn't say I'm the smartest, but I do have mostly A's. People always judge me by my grades, and they think I'm some smart chick that knows everything. There's more to me than that, though," Eleanor replied.
"Yeah, I understand. Everyone's just judging you at what you can or can't do."
"Yeah... What about you? Do you have A's or B's?"
"Actually. I'm not too bad, but I'm having trouble in math though. Math is my lowest grade, and it's my first ever C."
Eleanor giggled. "A 'C' isn't the worst thing in the world. As long as you don't fail, you should be alright."
Erica just looked at her. "Would you be fine with a C?"
"I was just kidding, but really. So. You're having trouble in math? That's my best subject, other than Language Arts or Writing and Reading. Depending on what grade you're in."
"I'm in 7th, but I need desperate help in math."
They were just walking into the school, and Erica noticed that Liam was sitting by Bradley at one of the lunch tables. They also use the tables for breakfast. "Do you need a tutor? I could always help you in math," Eleanor suggested.
"Really? You would really do that?" Erica asked, trying to keep her voice down.
"Of course. Just tell me when you need it. Here's my number..." Eleanor trailed off, grabbing a piece of paper and pen as she wrote her number down. Eleanor handed the paper to her and smiled as she walked to her locker.
"Thanks!" Erica called after her. Eleanor turned around and smiled at her before turning back to her locker.
Erica looked around and Liam was still talking to Bradley. Erica rolled her eyes as she walked past him towards the classrooms and lockers that belonged to the 7th graders. "Hey. I'll catch up with you in Science. We have it first this week!" Liam called after her.
"Joy," she said sarcastically to herself as she opened her locker.
She looked through her book bag and noticed that she didn't have her phone. She set her book bag in her locker and kept looking, but she couldn't find it at all. I left it at home. Crap. Erica shoved her bookbag and coat in her locker, and she grabbed her books she needed for her next classes before lunch. The bell rang, but she was in no rush to class. While she was walking, she could hear the mob coming through behind her, so she quickened her pace. Most of them were athletes with their girlfriends or buddies, so she wouldn't have to walk too fast. She wasn't the only one not in the mood to go to class....
That's for sure.
*****
Liam met Erica at lunch. Liam plopped down across from her, making a big PLUNK sound as he turned towards her. "What's for lunch?"
"Bosco sticks, sauce and the usual-fruit, milk, a cup of veggies..." Erica replied.
"Where's your phone?"
"What? I always have to be on my phone? I can't just admire my lovely classmates and teachers roaming around? Can't listen to the birds whistling in the trees, and the tree branches swinging in the wind. Why do we need phones, anyways?"
Liam stared at her. "As moving as that was, it's winter. There's hardly any birds."
"Fine," she said. "I forgot it at home."
"Oh. I guess I shouldn't have rushed you this morning," Liam said.
"No. I usually put it in my bookbag before I go to bed, but I don't know why I didn't yesterday."
Liam nodded as their table lined up for their lunch. There was at least 18 kids sitting with them at their lunch table. Most of the football players were friends with Liam even though Liam disagrees on what 'football' belongs to which sport. There was 15 football players(including Liam), and 2 of Erica's friends who got along with the football players. Her friends and her were sorta popular, but there was competition between them and Briana and her buddies. Erica and her friends were leaning against the wall as they were waiting for the boys to get their food.
"How was your vacation?" one of her friends named Taylor said. Taylor was a inch taller than Erica, had lighter blonde hair, had a group of pimples on her chin, blue eyes and was quiet.
"It was good. Liam was with his dad most of the time, so I spent too much time with my parents," Erica replied.
"Same here. I never thought my parents were so annoying," her other friend, AJ said, smiling.
Erica laughed as the line finally started to move up. "Gosh! How long does it take? Just take your tray and go," AJ complained.
"Stop complaining. Respect your elders," Bradley said since he was towards the back of the line.
Erica looked up and saw that Liam and a few others were already back at the table. "Yeah AJ. Just be patient," she agreed.
AJ crossed her arms and sighed. Taylor smiled as she went up to the counter to get her tray since she was behind Bradley.
"You took an hour up there!" Liam said.
"It's not my fault. AJ couldn't decide if she wanted carrots or broccoli," Erica said, pointing at AJ who was sitting right by her. AJ took a bite of her carrots and shrugged.
"I'm happy with my choice," she said.
Erica laughed and looked at Liam. "Is everything okay with your dad?"
"Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?"
"Oh...Because..."
"I know he left for awhile. He was gone for a year, but now he's back. He promised he'll stay this time, so I have nothing to worry about," he said like it was no big deal.
"Okay. I hope you're right. I want you to have your father in your life, it wouldn't be right if you didn't," Erica said.
"Thanks," he said.
He didn't say anything for a few minutes, but he had to since Erica decided to break the ice. "Is he staying with you or does he have a place of his own?"
"He's staying with us for a while, but I don't know how long," Liam replied, finishing off his bosco sticks as he chugged his milk at the same time. Erica smiled as she watched him eat. Why do I think it's cute when he eats like that? He takes a bite of something than chugs his milk like he's dying of thirst... Maybe it's just him that I think is cute...
"Why are you smiling at your milk?" AJ whispered to Erica.
Erica came back to reality and looked down. She had her milk in her hand, but she didn't know she was smiling. "I..I don't know. I guess chocolate milk makes me happy," she said, shrugging.
Liam smiled as he started a conversation with one of his friends. Taylor tapped Erica on the shoulder and looked at her. "What?" Erica said.
"Are you guys dating?" she whispered.
"Everyone knows we are."
"How come I didn't?"
"I don't know. I figured you would since you have all the friends in the world," Erica said, laughing.
"Anyways... How long?"
"A month, going on two. We started dating in November."
"Wow. Okay. We're talking about this," Taylor said.
Erica saw AJ roll her eyes as she tossed her black hair over her shoulder. She had glossy black hair that went down past her shoulders, green eyes, a clear face-no one could remember last time she had a breakout-, was 5'3, had a skinny figure, was liked by most of the boys that were cute but smart, and she was one of the friendlier girls in the school. Erica laughed and shrugged. "Whatever Taylor."
******
"Taylor's coming over this weekend?" Liam asked as Erica walked up to her door.
"Yeah. She wants to hang out. No big deal."
"I wanted to see you this weekend."
Erica turned to him and smiled. "Liam...You realize that I see you everyday, right?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"So?" he said, scraping his foot on the ground.
Erica laughed and kissed his cheek. "You'll be fine. I have to do some homework. See ya," she said, closing the door behind her. She left Liam standing in front of her house rubbing his cheek that she kissed. He, eventually, walked to his house to start his own homework.
Erica smiled to herself as she walked upstairs. I kissed his cheek... She realized as she sat down on her bed. "I can't believe I did that," she said, but she couldn't help but smile. She glanced over on her bed and saw her phone. She smiled and grabbed it. Why did I leave it here on my bed?
She looked at her last message she sent Liam, and it explains everything. She fell asleep around 10:00 texting him, and it said: I'm going to pass out any minute now. Erica laughed to herself and got an idea. She grabbed the number from Eleanor and called her. She answered with the second ring...
"Hello?"
"Hey Eleanor. It's Erica."
"Oh hey. What's up?"
"I was just wondering if you wanted to come over next weekend to help me with my math."
"Tutoring during the weekend? Okay..."
"Would you rather do it during the week?"
"Well, it's really up to you. I thought you would want to spend time with your boyfriend on weekends."
"I see him everyday, he lives by me...Wait, how did you know I had a boyfriend?"
"His name is Liam, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Everyone knows. Everyone is going around school saying how cute you guys are, and I agree with them. Liam is a cutie. You're a lucky girl."
"Thanks, but about the tutoring..."
"Yeah...I can come over next weekend."
"Great! See you there."
"See ya."