It's been two weeks since Sam started avoiding me.
Whenever I saw him on the bus he would ignore my fruitless attempts at starting a conversation. When I grab a seat next to him in the cafeteria he would get up and leave. Even when I see signs of bullying like a ripped shirt or broken glasses and try to help he would push me away.
I never found out the reason behind his absense that day, and as the days go by I'm starting to think I never will.
But at least one good thing happened during the past two weeks: Jeremy made it on the football team! I knew that kid could run the minute he chased me with my glorious bag of cookies the first time we met. Every time he asked me to watch him during practice I had to come up with some lame excuse to leave just so I wouldn't lay eyes on him.
I've been avoiding him ever since he ditched me. He didn't even come up to apologize the next day, which was very pathetic. However, he did come up to my locker later to make sure we stick to our study schedule at Jelly Joe's.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" I seethed, slamming my locker door shut.
Nick narrowed his eyes, "What the hell's wrong with you today?"
"You know what!" I waved my arms at his face.
"Stop it, Parker. You're making a scene." He kept his voice low as he looked around.
I scanned our surroundings and much to my dismay, he was right. People slowed their paces and became eerily silent as they passed by us. Sneaky eavesdroppers.
Deciding that dickface over here wasn't even worth my time, I walked away from him.
"Parker!" He called, but I never stopped. "Let me know when you're done PMSing."
Now I probably would've ignored him had he only said it between the two of us. But saying it across the hallway where several spectators could overhear us? That doesn't play well with my book.
"You know what?" I stopped in my tracks and turned around, "You are, and always will be, a selfish jerk." By then I was close enough to do what was intended: Slap him.
And slap him I did.
My moment of triumph vanished the moment his face fumed with rage and he started running after me. Outrunning Alicia was a piece of cake, but outrunning a football player was... not so easy.
"Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit OH SHIT!" My cries of help seemed fruitless as I sprinted down the halls, across the reception, out of the school, and around the campus.
What will become of me once he catches up? I ould already hear his footfalls hot on my trail.
Will my amputated body be sent to my parents for them to burry? Would they donate my parts for med students? Or will they burn me to ashes and keep me in a jar where they would always remember me? What if Grandma comes over and mistakes me for cinammon? Oh god, what if she sprinkles me over a pie? Will my family eat me once I'm dead?
Those cannibals!
Nick was gaining speed, and before I knew it, he caught up to me and slammed me against a wall.
"Mmph" I blurted once my back hardly hit the wall. "You wouldn't hit a girl!"
"Some courage you've got making a move like that in public." His lips curled and his eyebrows narrowed.
"Like your PMSing statement wasn't bad enough!" I spit my 'p' purposefully.
Nick brushed his face with his sleeve before retorting, "You seem to forget that I can easily expose your secret just as easily as I can rip that excuse you call a hoodie off your face." He then let go of me, "I don't know why I even gave you the chance."
He would seriously ruin my life.
I hated him.
After that threat, it was the last talk we had. It's been two weeks of glares, abusive taunting, and hatred between us that we just didn't care about managing our project any more. Hell, even I forgot where we reached in the first place.
What confused me most was this: No matter how many times I was stupid enough to push his buttons a little too far, he was still faithful to keeping my secret a secret - even after his cold threats.
It's also been two weeks since I've last seen the school gym. I've been skipping gym class ever since my fight with Alicia that day, and it either went unnoticed or Mrs.Gellar was too jubilant about it to file a complaint. My guess would be the latter, not that I had a problem with it.
I'll just keep it up until the day I get caught. Then and only then can I hide in the bleachers. If attending gym was what they wanted, then they got it. No one said anything about running laps and playing sports.
Alicia was her usual self, harrassing me every now and then. Nothing I couldn't handle. She did however try to pull the hoodie off of me at some point, but Jenna saw her attempt prior to time and pushed her away. I'm still grateful for her, but that action in itself made Slut-icia want to expose my face even more. Another new hobby she had magically attained was spreading fake rumors about me.
"Is it true?!" A classmate, Greyson, once asked as I emptied out the contents of my locker.
"Is what true?" I smiled at him.
"That you're a transgender!" The smile was swept off my face as I gaped at him.
By then I figured I'd hear a couple more of these rumors throughout the school year. A special thank you goes out to Alicia!
"What?! I am? No way, that's awesome!" Was my reply to every kid who asked.
But the highlight of the past two weeks was this: Some people came up to me and told me they had Alicia spread rumors about them once too, and I shouldn't be traumatized about it as much as they used to, because as big as the school is, there are some right headed people who know better than to believe what comes out of Alicia's mouth.
I don't know about them, but it seems to me like Alicia was created for pure life destruction.
At least the teachers were off my back with the no-hoodie regulations ever since my parents called the school board excusing my so called 'circumstances'. I don't even want to know what excuse they whipped up this time.
"Jeremy's brithday is coming up" Jenna said as I counted the minutes I had until I am freed from this cage people call a school. "We should throw him a party" She suggested while painting the 'big game' posters.
I'm starting to think the school added art class to the curriculum just because no one had the time of day to make banners and posters for school events.
"Isn't the birthday boy supposed to be the one throwing a party?" I tried quirking an eyebrow, but failed yet again and ended up looking stupid.
"Well, yeah. You know, when you have an empty house all to yourself. One Jeremy only dreams of." She rolled her eyes then laughed at my eyebrow movements, "You're weird."
"I'm flattered" I grinned, coloring in the lines of the 'school dance' banners. "But besides us two, I have no idea who his other friends are." I stated, "It might end up a three-person party." I grinned again, already excited about the stupid things our little gang of idiots could do.
"I'm thinking of inviting the football team since he made the cut." Jenna tapped her chin, "And Sam too."
"What?" I frowned.
"Sam may be avoiding you, but he's still good with Jeremy!" She defended.
"I don't mean Sam, Jenna! I meant the football team. Let's not invite them." I suggested, "And doesn't Sam hate everyone?" I later added.
"It can't be a four person party!" She smacked my arm, "And not inviting him would be rude anyway."
"Sam doesn't strike me as a party kind of guy, I don't think he'll attend." I frowned, "We could invite the junior class instead of the football team, he must be friends with most of them! And what's wrong with a four person party?!" My voice reached a high pitch at the end.
"Everything! And maybe Sam would make an exception. I mean, it's not everyday he's invited to a party"
"Just don't tell him I'm coming, then maybe there'd be a chance he'll show up"
Jenna paused, not knowing what to say. I eased up the tension with my next sentence, "Besides, I'm worried on how you plan on inviting any cute guys to the party if your face pales at the sight of them," I sniggered as I remembered our cafeteria incident.
Before comprehending what happened, my pants were splattered with purple paint.
"Jenna!" I cried.
"I made you shut up once, don't make me do it again," She threatened before I laughed even harder.
"Told you you shouldn't invite the football team, it'll just be harder for-"
"We're inviting him anyway!" I was quickly interrupted.
"But you didn't even let me contin-"
"Like I am right now?" She smirked.
This time is was my turn to splatter her attire with paint.
"Ally!" She shrieked.
"I made you shut up once, don't make me do it again." I smirked.
By the time the bell signalled the end of the school day, Jenna and I had come up with everything we need to prepare for the party. She's responsible for the invites, birthday decoration, and drinks while I was in charge of the snacks, birthday cake, and music. The surprise would be held at her house this weekend and quite frankly, I couldn't wait.
It was before I went to bed that night that I realized this: Everyone attends a party all dressed up. No one wears a hoodie. If there was a party rulebook, that would probably be number one on the list.
I didn't even bother acknowledging anyone once I got on the school bus the next day. They weren't that much to begin with, having Sam with the silent treatment and Jeremy in his usual sleep. My eyes were drooping and my footfalls felt heavy as I ascended the bus. Even when the bus driver and Jenna greeted me I slid silently into the seat beside Jen, already feeling dizziness creep its way into my head.
"I said hi." Jenna emphasized her 'hi' and waved her hands in front of my slowly closing eyes.
I groaned and tugged on my hoodie, already wishing it was as cozy as my blanket.
"Someone's grouchy" She chuckled.
"Shut up" I facepalmed her.
"Ally," Her voice was muffled by my palm.
"Oops, I missed my face." I dropped my hand.
"What's wrong?" She chuckled at my stupidity.
"I barely slept last night." I grumbled.
"Thinking about Nick?" She mock swooned.
"Of course not, that's your job." I smirked when she glared. "It's the party." I later added, "I can't go with a hoodie, and I can't go without it" By now she understood why I couldnt sleep last night: I was too busy thinking up ways I could attend unnoticed.
Jenna blanked for a moment before widening her eyes just as suddenly as she spoke, "We could dress you up as a ninja!" She suggested, grinning like a fool.
I stared at her speechless for a moment before speaking, "It's official: You're useless."
"It could be a ninja-themed party!" She rubbed her hands together at the idea, "It would be awesome!"
"Party?" Jeremy abruptly shot up from his sleeping bench, "I heard party, where's the party?" He looked back at us grinning.
If his light snores hadn't been heard from a yard away, I would've sworn he had caught us on our surprise scheme. But no idiot would give himself away at the chance of a surprise party, so I figured we were safe.
I rolled my eyes, trying to fight back a smile, "Go back to sleep, Jeremy."
"You're no fun." He scowled. To my surpise, he lifted his backpack off the bench and nestled it near him before laying his head on it, treating it as a pillow.
And sleeping beauty was back to snoring again.
Looking forward, I saw Sam at the front bench with headphones on and a book in his hands. If I hadn't known any better, I would've guess that he was finding all means necessary to not hear or see me. I frowned at the thought and nudged Jenna, "Here's your chance, invite him!" I whispered.
"Okay, okay!" Jenna lifted her camera off her lap and approached Sam cautiously. If there was a world records for the slowest walk ever, Jenna would be an all state champion.
Oh god, it's not like he was going to eat her!
I threw my pencil case at her, aiming perfectly at the back of her head. Right then I saw the quickest whiplash of my life before she settled on glaring at me, "WHAT?" She whisper-yelled.
"it's not like he's a murderer for crying out loud! Just invite him already!"
Jenna hmphed before approaching Sam more discreetly this time. She stood by him with his eyes still engaged in his book and called his name, but he never answered. She said it louder this time, but either he didn't seem to hear her or was purposefully ignoring her. Her constant calling was to no avail, so she did the weirdest thing a person could ever do: Blow on his face.
Like, literally. She bent her head down and her mouth shaped an 'o' as a breeze brushed his hair and tickled the side of his face.
Sam stirred at the beginning, but before we knew it his book was thrown at the ground and he jumped in his seat, letting out a strangled yell.
I didn't know what happened between them for the next few minutes, because I was too busy lying face-first behind a bench covering my cries of laughter with an arm while the other was clutching onto my stomach.
The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass Sam even more and have catch me doing it. By the time my hardly suppressed laughter came to an end, I gathered up the courage to look up and see how they were doing.
But they weren't there.
I looked back and saw the school through the bus window. We arrived? How long exactly was I laughing? Then comprehension dawned on me as I realized this: Those bastards ditched me! What was up with my being ditched a lot? Awesome people don't get ditched.
But then a light snore echoed through the empty bus.
"Oh, Jeremy." I sighed.
"Alright, class. The twenty days you have to complete the first part of your project are coming to an end, I really do hope you're mostly done with your projects and not wait till the last minute like some people," Mr.Woods gave a couple at the back a look, "usually do." He continued as the supposed couple sank in their seats.
My eyes widened in shock at the news.
With everything going on, especially with my relationship with Nick, I totally forgot about the deadline of the freaking project.
I mean, I remember having twenty days to finish it. I remember thinking that timeline was more than enough. Hell, I even remember answering almost half the questions we had, but what I regret to remember is the fact that back when Nick and I were on fighting basis, and not hating basis, we stopped answering the minute the questions were too complicated for us to handle.
And now, we only have a few days to finish the impossible. And I had to do it with the impossible.
Shit.
Calculating in my head, that meant the project would be due this Monday, and today was Wednesday. I couldn't do it on school days because I had two tests coming up that I had to study for. And I have to get out of town Friday to get supplies for Jeremy's party on Saturday. And on Sunday I have to catch up with homework I've been assigned to do this weekend because Ive been too busy in the start to begin with..
So techincally, Mr.Woods couldn't have picked a worse time to remind us of the deadline.
I looked over at Nick and saw him facepalming himself. I smirked at his frustration, even though admittedly, the feeling was mutual.
We were toast.