"Mia wake up!" I kept on hearing these words repeatedly as I shake my head to wake myself up. "Mia, Connor's here!" My brother shouted from my door and it instantly became my alarm clock. As I heard the words, "Connor's here", I immediately stood up. I looked at the clock and it's already 8:25am. Fuck. I must've forgotten to activate my alarm last night because I was so preoccupied.
I immediately went to my door and opened it. "Connor's here?!" I asked almost shouting.
My brother rolled his eyes. "Go see for yourself." He said.
I sighed and walked near our stairs to a spot where I can see people from downstairs but they won't see me. I saw Connor immediately, sitting on the sofa. Ugh.
"Please tell Connor to just go on without me. Tell him I just woke up and I'll just see him in school. Please?" I practically begged my brother. I can't show myself to Connor yet. I'm not yet dressed and I just woke up.
"Connor! Mia just woke up. I guess she overslept. She said you should go and she'll just meet you in school. She's not yet prepared. She said she's really sorry." My brother said, almost shouting from the top of the stairs.
I saw Connor stood up. "Nope, it's fine. I can wait for her. My first class is at 10:30am so I can still wait. Just tell her I'll stay here." He said.
Ugh, I was so mad at Connor for telling that to my brother. I know he has a class at 9am. Why lie?
I immediately went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I don't have time to put my contacts on so I just wore my glasses and put my hair up in a messy bun. I manage to put a little cologne on just in case he'll go near me. This is really stressful. I took a last look in the mirror before walking out my room. My sweatshirt and pajamas seems okay. Maybe he'll think it's cute. Lol.
"Connor." I said just barely walking down the stairs. I didn't walk until the end of the steps. I just stayed in the middle.
He looked up the second he heard my voice. He managed to let out a slight laugh. I laughed as well.
"You should go. You'll be late. I'll just catch up in school. It's fine. I'm really sorry." I said.
He stood up and walked a bit to my direction. "It's fine, Mia. I'll wait for you."
I sighed. "Connor. I know you have a class at 9am. It's already 8:30 go on. You'll be late."
"Mia." He said with his soft and gentle voice. "I said it's okay. I’ll wait for you." He added.
That made me smile. "You sure?" I asked again.
"Definitely." he replied.
"Alright. I'll be back. Sorry." I said, preparing myself to walk up again.
He smiled. "It's okay." He said, and then I immediately walked fast to my room. I quickly grabbed my towel and went straight to my bathroom.
I took a bath and I placed my contacts on afterwards. I dried my hair up a bit and placed my red beanie on. I really have this thing for beanies. I have about 6 of them of different colors. Gray, Red, Black, Violet, Dark Blue and Green. This day, I decided to put on my red one. I wore my dark skinny jeans, maroon sweatshirt and my red Toms.
This is what I hate about schools having no uniform. You have to have a bountiful of clothes so you won't repeat during the whole month. Once you do, people will notice. I placed my backpack on and grabbed my file case which I'll be holding. I made sure I grabbed everything I need because whenever I feel time pressured, I tend to forget the things I need to do. So I took a last look in my room before going downstairs.
"Sorry for taking too long." I said, while walking downstairs. Connor is just sitting in our living room, watching TV when I walked down. My parents must be out. My dad's at work although I have no idea where my mom is. Maybe she's exploring Florida. I know my brother's here because he's the one who woke me up.
"It's alright." He said, standing up and placing the remote down on the center table.
I walked towards him. "Let's go?" I asked, and I saw my brother walk to the living room through my peripheral vision.
"Mhmm." My brother said while he's eating a bowl of popcorn.
I just gave him a glare while Connor smiled while looking down. Something I find really cute.
"Let's go." I said, and then I looked at my watch. 8:53am.
"Bye!" My brother shouted to both of us.
We walked to the front door and Connor opened the door for me. "Thanks." I said.
We walked to the sidewalk together on the way to school. As much as I want to walk fast so he won’t be late for his class, I can’t. I’m just keeping up with his pace, which is really slow by the way.
"So, why did you decide to just ditch your first class? Minor subject?" I asked, looking at him with my eyes squinted since the sun is hitting my eyes. He’s wearing his black ray ban though, so yeah.
"Yeah. It's just Practical Arts. You know crafts and stuff. Not really my thing." He said. "What's your first class anyway?" he added, asking.
It took seconds for me to answer. "Algebra. I think. Later at 10 am. What's your second class?" I asked, looking up at him again. That time it really became evident to me how tall he is. It's like I'm only at his shoulder level. Poor me.
"Calculus. 10:15am." He said. "I guess we still have at least an hour to spend time together." He said, winking.
I smiled. "Yeah." Then we just talked about music, his band and other music related stuff while we walk to school. We arrived at 9:27am on my watch and it surprised me to see only a few people wandering around the school campus.
"That over there is where you can find Toby’s classroom." He pointed at his left.
I nodded. "Cool. So I guess you don't see each other often?" I asked.
"No. I only see Riley a couple of times in school. Whenever we are dismissed early, we usually go home together." He said, opening the door of the school for me again.
I smiled. "Thanks. It's really cool how you guys are so close to one another." I said, and then we walked to my locker. I placed some of my books that I won't need for the morning and I just grabbed my Algebra and Chemistry book and notebooks.
"Hey, bro! What's up are we on for later?" I heard an unfamiliar voice from my back. As I finish arranging my stuff I closed my locker and looked back. Connor's talking to a guy with black pointy hair. He's a bit shorter than Connor. Then I notice he's familiar to me. Then I realized he’s Thomas, Before You Exit's drummer. I remember him from the band's cover of Some Nights which Connor made me watch.
"I'm not sure. But if yes, where should we go?" Connor asked.
Thomas rubbed his chin. "Oh! By the way. Thomas, this is Mia. Mia, this is Thomas, our drummer." Connor introduced me and Thomas let his hand out for me to shake.
I shook it immediately. "Hey Thomas." I said.
"Hi. Finally, I got the chance to meet the famous Mia." He said then I looked at Connor who is giving him a glare.
We all laughed. "Hey, Mia. Since Connor's not yet sure for later, maybe you should come with us? So he’ll go for sure." He asked, laughing at himself afterwards.
I flashed my eyes to Connor. "Yeah, Mia. You should come! So you can hang out with the whole band." He said.
I smiled. "Hmmm."
"Pleaaaaaaaaase?" Thomas and Connor kind of pleaded in unison.
I giggled. "Alright." I said.
"Great! So I'll see you both later, okay?" Thomas asked.
I nodded while Connor said we'll just meet him up front after school.
So Connor and I just decided to sit out the grounds of the school. He showed me the football field and we sat on the bleachers as we watch the football team as well as the cheerleading team practice. It's now 9:35 on my watch. 25 minutes before my first class.
"Hey, Connor!" A girl voice from our right erupted.
We both looked to the direction of where the voice came from and 3 girls are waving at us. I squint my eyes to have a clearer view of who these 3 girls were, and I was surprised to see Kristin, Laura and Brittany waving at us. Or probably at Connor only. The same girls whom I saw flirting with Alex the other day. I even saw her gave Connor a flying kiss then she flaunted with her cheerleading uniform. Annoying. I am exchanging my looks between her and Connor. I think Connor is just giving her a smile the whole time. He is still wearing his black ray ban so I don't really know what his eyes are doing. I mean, whether he's really looking at Kristin or what. But he waved at them, so maybe he flashed his attention to them. Before returning to practice, I think I saw Kristin gave me a bitch look or a glare. I rolled my eyes, how desperate.
I looked at my watch, 9:45 am. I sighed after and just played with my phone. I admit, I got hurt somehow with the way Connor acted. Then I remembered something Alex said to me before. No, I don't even like her. Others say she has a thing with a senior. Could this senior probably be Connor? I just sighed with the thought that Kristin and Connor are dating.
I didn't really talk that much the whole time. I wait until Connor opens up a topic because I don't feel like talking with him about anything after what happened. I'm a bit shallow, I know. I was just hurt somehow, and I know it's not his fault.
"I have to go, Connor." I said, looking at my watch again which reads 9:51am.
He looked at the ground. "Alright, where's your room?" he asked.
"208." I responded.
He stood up immediately and reached out his hand.
"Let's go.”
I smiled because I was so moved by the way he smiled at me. I grabbed his hand and stood up. We walked slowly together to the second floor. We reached my room at 9:57am. 3 minutes before my class. I sighed in relief.
"3 minutes. Wooh, thanks Connor." I said, placing my phone in my pocket. "Where's your room?" I asked as I fix my bag.
"414, go in. I'll text you, alright? Maybe we can eat lunch together later with Riley." He said, checking his phone. "It's already 9:59 go on in." He added.
I nodded. "See you later." Then I gave him a final smile then I opened the door.
Just in time, the bell rang as I took a seat at the back. Did I mention that eyes followed me as I walk to my seat? Maybe I was the final one to arrive. Oh well, I'm not considered late since I'm in when the bell rang. Plus, the teacher's not yet here anyway.
"Good thing Ms. Adams didn't come in before you did." My seatmate said once I settled in.
I looked at her and she's giving me a slight smile. I smiled back. "Yeah. I'm not considered late right?" I asked.
She rolled her eyes. "Not yet. You're late when the teacher arrives before you. I'm guessing you're new here. Ms. Adams is one of the terror teachers here so good thing you came in before she did." She said, grabbing her notebook and pen afterwards. "I'm Ana by the way." She added.
The teacher, who's probably Ms. Adams came in rushing. She looked old, probably in her late 50's or something. I can tell why Ana called her one of the terror teachers. She looks scary.
"I'm Mia." I whispered then grabbed my pen and notebook from my bag. Ana's giving me two thumbs up when I looked at her. I just smiled.
Ms. Adams started the class first with a math prayer then she asked us to answer some problems on our book which is about functions and its types. I've learned about this before already so I didn't have a hard time answering. I finished fast, I guess because I see Ms. Adams giving me a look. So I just reviewed my answers and browsed the other lessons on our book.
After I think 10 minutes, Ms. Adams stood up and started walking around the classroom.
"Let's answer together." She shouted to the class. My eyes widened. "Exercise number one. Anyone wants to answer on the board?" She asked, looking at each one of us. I looked down so she won't call me. Well, that didn't work.
"New girl. Ms. Javier, please answer number one on the board." She said, staring directly at me. I bit my lip in fear. What if my answer's wrong and the others laugh at me? I ignored that thought and I just stood up and head straight to the blackboard. I'm more afraid that Ms. Adams will scold at me that others opinions.
I wrote my solution carefully, reviewing it first before moving to another part of the equation to make sure it's correct. After I finish writing the solution, I gave it a final look before going back to my seat
"Let's discuss." Ms. Adams said with her loud and terrifying voice as she walks along the aisle to reach the board.
Before she talks again, she looked through my solution. When she finished, she gave me a puzzling look. "Good job." she said.
I sighed in relief. "Anyone else got the correct answer?" Ms. Adams asked to the class. No one raised their hand.
"Very good, Ms. Javier." Ms. Adams said before moving on to another lesson. Wow, that felt good.
I can’t tell whether a student is really paying attention or not, with the look of my other classmates, I can see that some of them aren't really interested with the lesson. Maybe they're just trying their best to pay attention so Ms. Adams won't scold them.
The whole 50 minutes of the class was just allotted in learning the new lesson about exponential functions. Part of the time I just daydreamed, because I already know what the lesson's about. Good thing that Ms. Adams didn't call me to recite or anything.
After the bell ring we all immediately went out after saying goodbye to Ms. Adams.
"I didn't expect you'd be the smart one." Ana said from my back. I turned around and caught a glimpse of her before she walked fast to keep up with me.
I smiled. "I'm not smart. I just knew about the lesson so yeah, I kind of know what it's about already."
"But still. Why'd you transfer here anyway?" Ana asked as we continue walking. It's a good thing that my locker is not far from our previous classroom. So I decided to walk towards it so I can place my stuff before I eat lunch.
"It's my first school here in America. Transferred from the Philippines." I said, and then I stopped walking because we've already reached my locker. I fixed the code and I just notice Ana leaning by the other lockers beside mine.
I saw her eyes widened a bit. "So, you're a Filipino eh?" she asked, leaning on the other lockers on my right.
"Yeah. Anyway, how's your life here?" I asked when I finished placing my books inside. Before I close it, I felt my phone vibrate. "Oh wait, hold that thought." I added.
My phone received one new message from Connor.
Care to have lunch with me? Meet me by the vending machine near the cafeteria. I'll be waiting :)
I can't help but smile. I texted him saying that I'll see him after a few minutes.
I notice Ana smiling at me. "What?" I asked, smiling as well.
"Nothing." She said. "Anyway, my life here's great. Well except you know, except when-" She stopped. Then I notice her looking at something behind my back. I looked back and I saw Kristin and her clan just a few feet away from me. I held my locker door tight and just rolled my eyes.
"Well, hello there new girl." Kristin said, stopping in front of me and Ana. "Mia, right?" she asked again.
Then I noticed her other friends looking at me with a glare. "What do you want?" I asked.
She laughed first then her friends followed after. "Oh nothing." She said, walking two steps around me and looking at me from head to toe. I just rolled my eyes because I want to let her know I'm not intimidated by her. She then moved her face a little towards me. "Just back away from my boyfriend and if you don’t I’ll guarantee you that I'll make your life miserable." Is she talking about Connor or Alex?
I don't know if she whispered it to me or what but I guess Ana heard her since she's staring at us weirdly. Of course, Kristin's clan knows about this already.
"He's not your boyfriend so don't expect me to do what you want. You're not even sure that he likes you." I said without hesitation. It's true anyway, and I don't care what they'll do to me. I'm not threatened of scared of them.
She rolled her eyes and gave me a smirk. "We'll see about that." she said.
Then she and her clan just walked away without saying another word. I rolled my eyes and slammed my locker door. I walked towards the stairs at the end of the hall and I notice Ana's still with me.
"Wow, I can't believe you talked to Kristin like that. No one else stood up to her." Ana said, catching up with me.
I sighed. "I just can't stand people like that."
"I know. Anyway, so who's this guy she's talking about?" Ana asked as we walked slowly down the stairs.
I remained quiet and just gave her a smile.
"Come on, Mia." She pleaded.
I stopped walking because we're already near the cafeteria. "Fine, but don't tell anyone okay?" I asked and she answered with a nod.
I sighed first before talking. "Connor McDonough."