So much music and such little money
- Pandora -
"Did you at least ask him why they were ignoring us?" Evie questioned, waiting impatiently as I scrambled through my locker, attempting to recover my forgotten Maths homework. I hadn't completed it, but I could easily finish it in Health - another benefit of having Mr Blackwell as my teacher.
He didn't give a shít and that often came in handy.
"No," I replied honestly, attempting to ignore the numerous amount of wrappers littering my locker. I knew I should bin them, but honestly... Effort. "I was a bit busy stressing over the whole 'Uni' thing."
"But you told him, right?" She inquired, receiving a short nod in return "How did he take it?"
"Not well."
Giving up on the lost homework, I let out a frustrated sigh, internally screaming and slamming my locker door shut. Evie blinked, raising her hands up defensively and taking a cautious step backwards.
"Woah... Chill."
"Sorry," I groaned, running a hand stressfully through my knotted locks "I'm just freaking out. I haven't spoken to him since I told him, and we have Health next. What am I meant to do? What am I meant to say?"
"How about 'be happy for me you little fück?'" She suggested, causing my eyes to narrow in annoyance, a frustrated sigh slipping past my lips "I'm serious, Pandora! He shouldn't be making you feel bad for pursuing your dreams!"
"He's not making me feel bad," I huffed, attempting to protect him "he's just upset about the distance."
"I'm upset about the distance too, but do you see me avoiding you?" She inquired, gesturing over to the scruffy haired boy on the other side of the corridor, his back turned to us as he chatted to some girl.
"He's not avoiding me..."
Just as I said that, he slowly turned to peer over his shoulder, his hazel eyes briefly meeting my own before quickly looking away, his body tensing. Evie shot me a look as if to say 'I told you so' and I blushed, embarrassed by his actions.
"Why the fück is he avoiding me?"
"I don't know." She mumbled, glancing down the hallway as the bell rang, signalling for the end of lunch. I let out a soft groan as Evie hastily slipped her bag over her shoulder, ensconcing me in a tight and loving bear hug "I need to go, the wonders of Chemistry awaits, but I hope everything goes well next period."
"Thank you."
She shot me a small smile before departing from my side, heading off towards Science. I stood alone for a few seconds longer, scanning the gradually filling corridor for that familiar head of dirty blonde hair, hoping that he had maybe waited to walk to class with me - like he usually would.
But today, he hadn't.
-
"This is my project-"
"Our project-"
"My project, Kira."
I shot Ashton an irritated glare as he presented our doll to the class, showing off the immaculate plastic. They all seemed slightly shocked and I really didn't blame them. The fact we walked in last time with a burnt baby didn't exactly prove our reliability as parents.
"As you can see, she is in perfect condition and has lived a very happy and healthy life in the Irwin Household." I scoffed, ignoring the fact that what he was saying was the complete and utter truth. The Hemming's Household had no input in this project - unlike the last one, which inevitably became damaged "She has taught me responsibility, compassion, focus-"
"How to manipulate your siblings into doing your work for you." I added beneath my breath, just loud enough for him to hear.
Ashton visibly stiffens beside me, shooting me a long and cold glare which I countered with a grin, my eyes wide in exaggerated happiness. The class seemed to notice the obvious tension between us, watching with wide eyes as we attempted to present our project without biting each other's heads off.
"What about you, Pandora?" Mr Blackwell questioned, attempting to subdue some of the friction
"How did you find the project?"
"Okay." I answered, scuffing the tip of my shoes along the floor "I found this time a lot easier than last time."
"Oh and why was that?"
Because I didn't have to do shít.
"I think it's because I learned from my previous mistakes." I lied, attempting to stop my legs from shaking nervously.
I was such a bad liar.
"Well, it's pretty obvious you have passed." Mr Blackwell stated, studying Kira closely as if he couldn't quite believe it. I beamed, enjoying the sceptical expression on his usually sour face. "I was just wondering if anyone in the class had any questions."
Numerous numbers of hands flew up around the small classroom - much to my surprise - and I watched in a mixture of annoyance and dismay as Ashton picked Jenna first, causing a sly grin to pull at her perfectly plump lips.
Nope NoPE bad shít BaD SHÍT
"How easy was it to work together?" She asked, her clear blue eyes flickering between myself and Ashton curiously.
To be honest, I was expecting something slightly more bítchy, but I guess today she just wasn't playing ball...
"And was Pandora as annoying as you used to say she was?"
Then again.
"Jenna." Mr Blackwell scolded, although you could see the interest clearly in his beady little eyes, glowing like orbs.
He wanted the gossip.
"It was pretty hard to work together." Ashton stated bluntly, catching me slightly off guard. Not that it wasn't true, but I was slightly expecting him to sugar coat it "Especially in the beginning. We were constantly fighting."
"About what?"
"Jenna!"
"He doesn't care, Mr Blackwell!"
The black haired teacher beside me let out an indignant scoff, yet didn't attempt to argue back or lecture her about her attitude - a benefit of being the teacher's pet. I stood rigid, the muscles in my arms drawn taught as I clenched my knuckles, ready to smack a bítch if I needed to.
"We'd fight about stupid stuff," Ashton replied vaguely, wafting his hand about in the air "from diapers to shopping. Everything just seemed to be a challenge for us."
"And what about Pandora?"
"What about her?"
"Was she annoying?"
I shot Ashton a wide eyed glare, warning him 'don't you fücking dare'. He smirked evilly, slowly chewing on his bottom lip - as if to tease me - before returning his attention to the annoyingly pretty girl at the back, his voice thick with confidence as he replied,
"Oh, absolutely."
"Michael!" I called, without really thinking about what I was doing, my eyes still focused on a smug looking Jenna.
Everyone seemed to pause in confusion, glancing towards a completely flustered Michael. He hadn't even had his hand up, but seemed to notice my desperate need for back up, his eyes roaming the length of the classroom as if he were searching for inspiration.
"Um- I, uh... Are you going to Chuck's graduation party?"
"Michael," Mr Blackwell sighed, rolling his eyes in annoyance "questions about the project."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." He coughed, shooting me a sheepish glance before sinking down in his chair, attempting to ignore the numerous number of eyes focused solely on him.
"Are you?" Jenna pressed, her perfectly sculpted eyebrows raised quizzically. I shrugged, suppressing the urge to lunge forward and yank out her long extensions. Not only were the beautiful, but they made her hair look undeniably thick, and I was jealous.
Someone so mean did not deserve hair so luscious.
"I think so."
"What the fück?" Ashton exclaimed, quickly silencing himself as Mr Blackwell's eyes widened, his glasses almost falling off from their perfectly perched position on the bridge of his nose.
"Ashton!"
"Sorry, sir."
"Language so foul will not be tolerated in my classroom!"
"Yes, sir."
"This is my sanctuary, my domain, my temple - this is where I feel alive, Irwin!"
"That's kinda lame." Calum stated, his eyes soft with sympathy "No offence sir, but seriously? Your sanctuary?"
Mr Blackwell's eyes visibly darkened as he glared at the young boy, ignoring Ashton's snort of amusement - which he quickly attempted to disguise as a cough. Michael leant slightly to the left as if to avoid the teacher's scrutinising glare, leaving Calum to suffer alone.
"Get out of my classroom, Hood."
"What?"
"Get. Out. Of. My. Classroom."
Calum's puppy brown eyes glanced around him desperately, as if searching for the answer to his confusion, while Michael and Ashton held back laughter, their cheeks flushing crimson.
First English, now Health.
Poor guy.
"What?"
"Calum, do I need to count to three?"
"But... Ashton was the one who swore!"
"And you disrespected me!"
"No I didn't!"
"Are you talking back?"
"No!"
"There you again!"
"Wait- What?
"Get out."
"Sir-"
"Now, Hood!"
Calum let out an indignant scoff before abruptly standing from his chair, harshly shoving his desk forward and stalking out of the classroom. I watched as he turned to glare at Ashton before harshly slamming the door shut, leaving the classroom in an awkward silence.
The urge to laugh was overwhelming, yet I managed to hold back my nervous tick, studying my wrecked vans with forced curiosity.
God, I needed new shoes.
"This class will be the death of me." Mr Blackwell muttered, angrily grabbing a form and a pen. He scribbled a couple of unreadable messages on the paper and a messy letter before handing it over to Ashton, almost slamming his fist into the young boy's chest. "Here, take it."
Ashton softly nodded before gently taking the paper from his clenched fists, tossing our baby carelessly back into the plastic box and heading off to his usual seat - the seat he was given before being partnered with me. My jaw almost fell as he sat down next to Michael, my eyes wide with shock.
Had he seriously just left me?
This felt like a metaphorical breakup.
"Are you going to sit down?" Jenna questioned, seeming more curious than nasty. I gave a slight nod, breaking from my self pity and wandering over to my now very lonesome seat.
I felt dejected, and I hadn't even sat down yet
"Now that Pandora and Ashton have passed their project, that means we have officially finished this topic, so congratulations." The teacher began, seeming far less enthusiastic than I had suspected him to be "With graduation only about a week away, I don't see much point in starting a new topic, so we will be making posters for the remainder of this year. You're welcome."
"Posters?" Michael groaned "About what?"
"Safe sex, of course."
I swear I saw Mr Blackwell wink.
"Can we not watch a movie instead?" Ashton questioned hopefully, his legs lightly kicking the back of my chair.
I ignored him, although my heart did flutter shamelessly
"Let me think... No."
"Didn't see that coming." Michael sighed, throwing his head back in evident annoyance.
I pretended to laugh along with the class, when all I could think about was Ashton and the empty chair beside me. Did he honestly only sit beside me because of the project? Did he honestly not care?
"Here," a voice mumbled from behind me, a sheet of paper tossed delicately onto my desk "this is our grade."
I didn't bother to turn around, silently thanking Ashton before unfolding the piece of paper. On the top right, a B+ was marked clearly in bright red marker, followed by some unreadable scrawls about effort and improvements. I ignored most of that and continued to a message at the bottom, the handwriting and pen colour different to the rest. I didn't bother to speculate who it was from and quickly began to read, my heart warming with every simple and messily written word the confusing boy behind me had written.
"You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known - and even that is an understatement."
****************
F. Scott Fitzgerald was the most beautiful writer.
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