I can do this
I can do this
I can do this
I chant this as I make my way from the car to school.
Anne, Sam, and I agreed to meet near my locker before the, uhmm, breakup? for moral support.
Can you call something a breakup before it actually began?
No, idiot.
I just had to go incognito until then so Nathan doesn't spot me. That's the goal for now.
I make my way into the school while keeping my head down. I'm wearing some black skinny jeans with a black hoodie, which is unlike my usual dressing style but I need to go unnoticed.
It's not like I have great dressing style otherwise but I prefer to wear purple, blue, stripped, checked...You know, colourful cloths.
My plan worked. Nobody turned my direction but kept talking, first bumping or sloppily making out.
Ewwww.
The school is not that packed right now since we still have about 20 minutes before the first bell.
I decided to idle my time by going into the girls bathroom stall and going through my emails in hopes of seeing if any of the universities that I follow have notified applicants about some news.
Being in my senior year meant that I had to start thinking about colleges and career prospects .
But here's the rub. I don't know what I want to do.
Anne and Sam have very clear ideas about what they want to do. Anne wants to take a business major in some reputed university and Sam wants to pursue a research degree in physics.
I am incredibly happy for them but it's scaring the shit out of me that I have absolutely no clue.
The thing is I have a reasonably good grade, if you consider a 3.7 GPA(Thanks to me two genius friends) good I mean. But I lack the ability to delve deep into something like my friends. I like to hop from one field to another without taking time to go inside.
For now, you can say, I'm a jack of all trades but a master of none.
My dad gives me incredible freedom in letting me choose what I want to do but every now and then he likes to teach me about microeconomics and some stuff about his company. I know he would love for me to follow in his footsteps but I am not sure if this is the path I want to go.
Nevertheless, he understands and fully supports my decision, whatever it is.
One day, my friend from French 101, Sadie told me about how she dreamt of going to Parsons School of Design. I knew of Parsons, of course, but I never took a special interest in it. But after I heard her speak so highly about the university, I did some research. Ever since I decided that Parsons would be my goal.
I have no original thinking.
So here I am, sitting in a dingy bathroom stall, scrolling through a shit tonne of worthless emails.
But none from Parsons.
I sigh and look at the time. 5 minutes before school starts.
I quickly leave the stall and see Kelly washing her hands. She looks at me and smiles and I smile right back.
I take fast steps to my locker and already see Sam and Anne leaning against my locker. I quicken my pace and go up to them. Sam was facing me and so when she saw me, her eyes widened. Anne, looking at Sam's face turns quickly and she mirrors Sam's expression. They stared at me for a while and at this point, I was worried that something was stuck to my face. Before I could ask them about it, Anne spoke
"Well well, Aren't you something else dear." She comments with a smirk on her face while her eyes take in my all-black outfit.
I roll my eyes and glare at them.
"Ok enough! Where is he?" I ask.
Both of them just shrug indicating that they don't know, so I let out a frustrated sigh. I quickly turn around to see if he's present but I can't see him.
It's funny because he's like omnipresent almost all the time but when I need to see him, he's not here.
I take a deep breath and accept defeat. I'll just have to tell him during lunch.
"I think we should head to class, I'll talk to him at lunch," I say and they nod.
All three of us have walked together since our first period in English Lit. We make our way into the class and I sit down in one of the corner seats. Anne and Sam quickly follow suit and sit next to each other.
There was no sign of our teacher and it had already been 20 minutes past 8.
I pushed my hands into my jeans pocket to take out my hair tie but I couldn't find it. I must have dropped it off at the restroom. I sigh and get up.
I jog to the girl's room and hope that the stall I occupied earlier is not being used now. Luckily the stall was empty so I made my way in there and sure enough, my hair tie was on top of the tissue dispenser. I grab the hair tie, wash my hands, and exit the restroom.
As I'm walking back, I hear loud footfalls and look back, over my shoulder.
I see a tall boy with a slight muscular build, running towards me.
"Oh thank god" I hear him breathe as he approaches me.
I give a kind smile and fully turn towards him.
Holy shit.
Cute guy alert!
I try, keyword try, to not make a fool out of myself by keeping my mouth agape. But you tell me, when you see an incredibly good looking guy, what would you do?Hmm?
Probably answer him.
"How can I help you?" I ask politely.
He must be new here.
"Hey, I'm so sorry but do you know where room, uh", his shaky hands pats all of his pockets to, I guess, try to find the schedule sheet as he pants heavily. He finally pulls out the paper from his jeans and opens it. His hands are so incredibly shaky that I feel so bad. So I reach out and hold his wrists gently.
I'm being bold.
Very very bold.
"Hey it's okay, you don't have to panic. Why don't you hand over that sheet to me and I'll tell you where you need to go." I say while stretching out my hand.
I'm actually concerned for him. He looks like he could pass out any minute.
He hands me his schedule sheet and I skim through the paper.
Well then, looks like he has English Lit. with me.
Could this be the beginning of something epic?
Or it's probably just a coincidence.
"Well looks like we have the same class. We can go together." I say and begin walking while wringing my hands.
Wringing my hands is a nervous habit of mine.
Just getting that out there...
"Thank you so much, you have no idea how lost I was. I owe you, big time." He says.
Aww, so sweet.
"Oh please, you don't owe me anything. I'm Sasha by the way, you are..?"
"Matthew." He says and smiles at me.
Hot name.
I smile back and we are now standing outside the class.
He seemed a little familiar to me. I fell like I'd seen him before but I couldn't put a finger on it.
I opened the doors and hoped that no one would see me. But my hope went out the window when I saw Mrs. Sandra standing near the blackboard.
"Ah, you finally decided to join us after your little excursion with your boyfriend I see Miss. Williams, Care to explain?" she asks.
I don't mean to be rude to teachers.
But just between us.
Mrs. Sandra is one oblivious nosy bitch.
I mean the guy is new..How could he be my boyfriend?
Before I could answer, Matthew beat me to it.
"Excuse me. Umm, It's my first day here and Sasha was only helping me find my way to this class, I was running late and happened to spot her. She was kind enough to help me out." he said in a monotone. Almost like he was bored.
Mrs. Sandra tilted her head and scrutinized Matthew. After a good minute, she sighed.
"How very noble of you Miss. Williams. I will let you go for now but I hope you don't come late to my class next time and Mr.?"
"Matthew "
"Mr. Matthew, I hope you will be punctual to my class starting tomorrow. On no account will you be late. Is that clear?" she asks.
Matthew just nods his head.
I go back to my seat and Matthew just sits at the very back. I see Sam scribbling something in her notebook. She pushes the book towards me and it reads;
"Do you remember when I told Nathan Meyers looks like a Greek god?"
I frown at the unexpected note but decide to reply;
"Yeah?"
She wrote for a while and passed the notebook back to me.
"Scratch that. The new guy is The Greek god."
Yes.Yes he is.
It's lunch now and I am dreading it.
I quickly make my way into the cafeteria and see that the usual spot with my friends is empty. I frown and look around until I spot the blonde ponytail and auburn curls at the table situated at the very end of the cafeteria.
We never sit there
I walk to the corner only to see that they were not alone, girls were swarming around the table, which was odd because the seats at the back attracted the least attention.
But all my doubts are cleared when I see the reason for the new attention.
Ah Matthew is here.
I slowly walk up to the table and spot a very uncomfortable-looking Anne, Sam, and Matthew. The commotion ended as I neared closer and the girls looked at me in shock.
Big deal, I decide to wear all-black one day and the whole world stops.
"Hey guys, am I interrupting something?" I ask sweetly.
"Hi, Sasha..Oh..we're just trying to make Matthew feel welcome to the new school." Molly, one of the girls from the group says while eyeing Matthew like he's a piece of meat.
I quickly look at him and the guy looks anything but welcome.
I don't know what came over me but I was not prepared for what I said next;
"I think Anne and Sam would have done a wonderful job in making him feel welcome. Now if you'd excuse me, I would love to catch up with my friends here. So.." I say and leave the statement hanging. But my implication was crystal clear.
All the girls scowled at me but I didn't give a fuck. Well, all except Anne and Sam, who seemed to be grinning. I winked at them.
I sat next to Matthew since that was the only open spot and set my bag and books down. I looked up only to see the girls still standing there.
I raised my eyebrows questioningly and asked," Yes?".
One of the girls just took one glance at our table, plastered a fake smile, and said, "If you need anything Matthew, you know where to find us" as she pointed to the table flanked right in the middle of the cafeteria.
He looked at the table, then looked at Sam who was before him, side glanced at Anne but didn't look at me.
What the hell?
"I'm perfectly comfortable here. Thanks for the offer though." He smiled at her politely.
The girls just narrowed their eyes at us, huffed, and left.
Well then
"Sasha you bitch, what in the world was that? When did you become so badass?" Anne asks with genuine surprise.
I don't blame her. I rarely speak up.
Actually, hold the phone, I never speak up.
Especially to queen bee's, hot girls, hot guys, jocks, extremely smart students, nerds, teachers, heads, authorities...
Basically most people outside my little bubble which encompassed Anne, Sam, Georgina, and my dad. Oh and Jacob, Anne's crush.
"Thanks, Anne," I remark sarcastically while playfully rolling my eyes.
"No but seriously..Thank you, Molly deserved that and a bit more. She just bounced in here and tried to push me and Anne out. Looks like she wants some of the hot stu——" Sam says but quickly cut short before she can complete her sentence.
The poor girl forgot that we had company.
Her eyes widened and formed a perfect 'o' with her mouth.
Anne and I tried our hardest not to laugh.
Matthew just raised his eyebrows and was smirking.
"I think I'm just going to go that corner and kill myself," Sam says and starts to pack her stuff.
"Hey hey, it's okay. You don't have to feel awkward. It's a compliment and I feel complimented. So it's fine. You'r good. Kay?" Matthew reassures and smiles at Sam.
Sam is looking like a bright red tomato and Matthew laughed at that.
"Is this how it usually is? You guys sit here, alone? " Matthew asks, looking genuinely confused.
"Yeah, pretty much. Actually, this is not where we usually sit. It's that table..over there."Sam points to our actual table," Anyways, when Sasha transferred here she used to sit with them but after a while, she just came over here."
I honestly think that's the best decision I ever made. I mean if you can survive one day at that table without crying, feeling bad about yourself, or not participating in their fucked up after-school activities I will give you my favorite sweater.
And that, boys and girls, says a lot.
But Anne and Sam always feel like I belong there. Like what the hell?. They don't say it to my face, obviously, but I know that's how they feel. But I love them to death and them accepting me in our little social circle is the biggest gift they've given me.
I'm really thankful for their company. They just don't realise it.
"Why did you leave?" Matthew asks, looking at me.
Oh so now you want to talk to me, buddy?
"Well, Anne and Sam like to sit there and I completely agree, I mean that table is some fucked up popularity contest. You could say I have a vehement distaste towards them." I say without making eye contact with him.
Matthew was about to say something but then a deep voice behind me spoke;
"Baby?"
I instantly know the voice but I am beyond shocked at the nickname.
Baby?
What the fuck?
What'd I miss?
I turn back and look up to see, Nathaniel Meyers.
His hands are on the back of my chair and there's a scowl on his face.
"Nathaniel.."
"Nathan, baby, Nathan" He interrupts me while looking a little frustrated.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes and plaster a fake smile
"Nathan, what brings you here?" I ask genuinely curious.
"Can't I pay a visit to my girlfriend?"
Woah Woah Woah
Hold on
Who is this guy?
"Uhmm.." is all I manage to say. I nervously glance around the table to see if anyone will help me out here but I just see Anne smirking and Sam with an unreadable expression.
I've got great friends
"So... you excited for our first date today?" He asks, louder than necessary.
I think I should tell him.
But the whole fucking cafeteria is looking at us.
Seriously?
"Nathan.. Uh.About the date. Uhhh."
"What?" He asks, his face slowly contorting into anger like he could anticipate what was going to come out of my mouth.
There is pin-drop silence.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"I am so super excited for the date," I say, instantly regretting what came out of my mouth.
The cafeteria bursts into cheer except for the occupants of my table.
Oh god.
How it went from taking drastic decisions to disappointments, I have no idea. Sasha's confidence quickly went down south when subjected to "pressure", but hey don't give up on her yet...She might be the badass you may love 😉
Also what do you think of Matthew? Is he growing on ya yet?
Lmk what you thought of this chapter in the comments, love you all ❤️❤️