By the time third block ends and the bell rings for lunch, Shawn still hasn't texted me back.
I anxiously check my phone every chance I get, even getting yelled at a few times for having my phone out in class, but every time I have no new texts from him. Annoyed and confused, I shove my phone into my backpack and throw my bag onto my back. I head down the hall for lunch and push open the doors that lead into the courtyard, making my way over to my table. I'm one of the first ones there, and I see Carson sitting at the table looking down at his phone. I sit down across from him, and he looks up.
"Hey Helaina." Carson says.
"You're friends with Shawn Mendes, right?" I ask.
"Yeah, why?"
"He was supposed to text me back. I texted him before second block started and I still haven't heard back from him yet. Have you talked to him at all?" I explain.
"Uh, no sorry. I can text him if you want." he offers, but I shake my head.
"No, it's fine. I see him after this anyway." I say, and Julia appears next to Carson. She plops down next to him and smiles at me.
"Hi." she says cheerfully, but her smiles disappears and turns into a frown when she sees my face. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"She's upset about Shawn." Carson says, and I nod.
"I was supposed to text him and he never replied." I tell her, and she laughs
"Really? That's it? God Helaina, you're not even dating him and you're already freaking out if he doesn't reply. Did you forget that we're in school and that he probably can't go on his phone during class?" Julia asks, causing me to frown.
"That's kind of rude Julia." I say, slightly annoyed. She just shrugs, taking a sip out of her water bottle.
"Whatever. Sometimes the truth is rude." Julia turns to Carson and starts talking to him.
"Hey guys." Kennedy greets, walking up with Ben. They sit down next to me.
"Hi." I reply. Julia just waves, listening to Carson talk. Charlotte, Mason, and Ethan sit down at the table as well. I take out my bagel and start eating it, listening to everyone's separate conversations. I don't say anything until Charlotte calls my name from the other end of the table.
"Hey Helaina, where did you go during gym?" she asks, causing all of the other conversations to end. Everyone looks at me.
"Wait, you skipped class?" Julia asks, and I nod.
"I guess. I didn't mean to, it just sort of happened." I say, and Julia gives me a weird look.
"Where'd you go?" Charlotte asks.
"The auditorium."
"The auditorium? What's in there?" Ben laughs.
"Shawn." I admit, bitting back a smile.
"Shawn Mendes? As in the boy whom you're bringing to my house on Friday?" Kennedy asks. I nod.
"Yeah."
"I didn't know other people went to the auditorium to hook up when they skip." Mason chimes in, and we all laugh, except for Julia. She just sits there with her arms crossed, staring at me with the same sour expression on her face.
"Is that where you and Evelyn go?" Ethan asks, and he nods. Everyone laughs again.
"Ew, I really didn't need to know that." Kennedy laughs. Mason shrugs.
"I can't believe you weren't worry about being caught, Helaina." Charlotte says.
"Oh trust me, I was. We almost did get caught, actually. Someone walked in and Shawn literally threw me on the ground. We had to hide under the seats to avoid being seen." I laugh.
"I would've died. Could you imagine how much trouble you'd be in if you were caught?" Kennedy asks, and we all laugh once more.
"You should know, Ken. We got caught back in October." Ben chimes in, and Kennedy's face goes bright red at the memory.
"Why do you have to bring that up?" Kennedy cries, putting her head in her hands and laughing.
"Wait, what happened with you guys?" I ask.
"We were making out in one of the stairwells and a teacher walked in on us. We each got detention for a week." Ben explains.
"To make matters worse, it was Mr. Rydell who caught us." Kennedy groans.
"Our English teacher?" Mason asks, and she nods.
"Yup. I can't look him in the eye knowing he saw me make out with my boyfriend." Kennedy complains, and we all crack up.
"Mr. Rydell is so creepy, too. I think I'd shrivel up and die if that happened to me." I say. Kennedy nods in agreement.
"He is."
My phone vibrates, and I look down hopefully. I grab it and flip it over so that the screen is facing me. I hope to see a reply from Shawn, but instead it's just a Twitter notification. I frown, putting my phone back down. When I look back up, Carson, Mason, Ethan, and Ben are all having a conversation about a game that was on the night before. Julia is on her phone, and Kennedy and Charlotte are talking. Next to me, Kennedy looks in my direction.
"Are you and Shawn dating? Like are you guys exclusive now?" Kennedy asks. I sigh.
"I don't know." I answer truthfully. "We haven't talked about it yet, but I don't see why we wouldn't be exclusive."
"If you guys didn't discuss it, then you're not dating. It's not that hard." Julia interrupts, and we look to her in surprise.
"What?" I ask, completely caught-off guard by her bluntness.
"You heard me." she says, staring right at me. I blink, unsure of how to answer. Julia sighs heavily, standing up and grabbing her bag. She begins to walk away, and Carson looks to her in confusion.
"Julia!" he calls. "Where are you going?"
She ignores him, continuing to walk away. Now it's Carson's turn to sigh, getting up in annoyance with his bag and chasing after her. The rest of us look at one another, the same confused expression on each of our faces.
"What just happened?" Ethan asks.
"I have no idea." I reply.
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AN: a shorter chapter than usual, but I felt like this was a good place to end this chapter. i already know what's going to happen in the next chapter, possibly the next two, and it's not really a place where I think I could just continue in the same chapter so yeah. as always, don't forget to comment/vote and enjoy!!!