Chapter Two | Go long
"I am not carrying this thing around with me all day. I refuse!" Corrie held out her babydoll with a disgusted look on her face. Her doll compared to mine was way prettier. It's skin wasn't peeling and it eyes didn't look like they wanted to possess anyone.
I entered my locker combination and shrugged my shoulders. "I don't understand what we're supposed to do if it cries in any of our other classes." I said.
Corrie let out a sigh, leaning against her locker. Her light eyes roamed around the crowded halls of Redwood High, only to land on Griffin. He stood awkwardly by the boys restroom with his hands in his coat pockets.
"Oh Griffin," Corrie shouted catching the boys attention before skipping over to him. Completely ignoring River and Tamir in the process as they walked past her confused.
"What's up with her?" River asked sending me a look of confusion as Tamir nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, why is she talking to Griffin James of all people?" He asked.
I reached inside my backpack and pulled out the plastic doll I'll be stuck with for the next few months. "Because of this," I held out the doll for the guys to see and both their eyes went wide. "Griffin is her partner for the fake baby project."
River was the first to reach out and snatch the baby from my hands. He looked at it was such amazement, as if he's never seen a babydoll before.
"Wow. I can't believe you two are actually doing that. I told you Tamir, we should've taken that class with them." River started rocking the baby like it was in cradle and I couldn't help but chuckle at him.
Tamir rolled his brown eyes at the scene before sending River a look. "And have to be responsible for that thing for a few months? Hell no. I heard the project is like a major part of your final grade as well."
I nod. "It is," I snatched the baby back from River's arms and he looked at me with pouted lips. "Which is why I can't be letting you guys goof around with it. I have a perfect grade in my child-development class and I plan to keep it that way." I placed the baby on my side.
My eyes wondered off to see Corrie making her way back over to us. Her hands empty but her face full of life as she skipped happily.
"I take it as Griffin is taking care of the baby during the week and you get weekends?" I say to her already knowing the answer.
Corrie nods with a toothy grin. "You know me so well." She pokes my cheek with her index finger.
"You folks coming over to my house later on tonight? My stepdad finally paid the fucking Netflix bill and I've been dying to watch this new horror movie they put out." River asked, leaning his back against the row of lockers.
Corrie shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I'm down."
"I don't have shit else to do today." Tamir sighed.
"When do you ever have anything to do Tamir?" Corrie teased and I chuckled to myself, exchanging my economic text book for my literature one. "You always have your nose in some book on philosophy or some other scientific shit that no one understands."
Ever since I've known Tamir he's been obsessed with philosophy and pretty much anything science related. He's the smartest and oldest in the group and it easily showed from his 4.0 GPA and his brotherly protection.
He'll always stick up for me in front of others, even when he knew I was wrong. Then privately he'd let me know what he really thought and how I should have behaved differently, who I should apologize to, how to avoid repeating the mistake. I listened to him because he listened to me. Sometimes he could loose his temper and be a pain, then it would be my turn with the sage advice.
"Sorry my brain can comprehend things that struggling nut in your head, you call a brain, cannot." He sassed back with a sly smirk.
River smacked his teeth, chiming in. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with liking science. Remember that one night I spent hours talking about it."
"You legit stayed up all night looking at your fingertip saying how." I corrected.
River tried to defend himself but I tuned him out as I tried to figure out how I was gonna carry this damn doll with me for the rest of the day. I was thinking about just shoving it in my locker and checking on it in between classes, but what if it starts crying or worse, use the bathroom in my locker. I'm most definitely not cleaning anything out of my locker if that was to happen.
River nudged me with shoulder catching my attention. "You never told us who was your partner for the project." He said and Tamir turned to me awaiting an as answer well, while Corrie chuckled to the side.
I dragged out a sighed. But as I opened my mouth to speak I heard a voice shout from behind me. My eyes instantly rolled and I could only scowl at the cliche moment.
"Baby daddy!" Declan shouted from down the hall. I cringed at the word as I turned around to see him and his usual clique of friends making their way down the hall.
There were three of them, Declan, Kim Lip and Jaylen. Lip walked between the two boys; she was short and thin, but walked with a smile that made her seem much bigger than she really is. Declan walked with a laid back aura scanning the hallway in his usual way while Jaylen was whispering in Lip's ear as the two of them laughed. Jaylen tells Declan what I could assume was some type of joke about me, he laughs too. They were the type of people you'd see in those cliche teen movies and I hated that. They feed into the stereotype that high school is just some social climbing ladder when it's really not.
"Didn't I tell you stop calling me that." I said to Declan once he approached me. He cracked a smile revealing a row of perfectly carved out dazzling teeth. His eyes ran past me to my friends and he sent them a teasing finger wave.
Tamir and River responded with a head nod, while Corrie raised her middle finger up at him which only made him chuckle.
"Hey guys." Kimberly spoke sending everyone a smile tucking a strand of her dyed blonde hair behind her hair. I'd say out of all of Declan's friends, Lip was the most tolerable. Mostly because she didn't aggravate me with slick comments like Declan or try to start stuff with me like Jaylen.
"The rest of you didn't get a doll?" Jaylen asked looking past me and at my friends.
River shook his head no. "Why you asking? So you can eat them?" He sassed at Jaylen, who growled lowly before marching towards River, only to be held back by Lip's manicured hand.
Declan let out a breath. "Y'all can we not do this," He started, wrapping his sleeved arm around my collar he pulled us closer. His cinnamon scent filling my nostrils and I mentally gagged. "We have a child together now, and I'd like it if the two families didn't always fight each other around him." He grabbed the baby from my hands.
I broke away from his grip and kissed my teeth. "Stop talking like this is real. It's just for a project." I snapped.
He ignored me completely as he examined the doll from head to toe. "Woah. I know where he gets his looks from." He sent me teasing smirk and his friends laugh while mine rolled their eyes. I shoved him lightly and he only laughed, not even phased.
"Yo Jaylen," He said getting the other meat-heads attention. Declan held the baby like a football before stepping back and tossing it. "Yeet!"
Jaylen ran down the hall and caught the doll with ease and I almost had a heart attack.
"Declan! Are you dumb? That's our grade you're playing with! It's a baby, not one of your fucking footballs!" I snapped at him but he like always, he ignored me as he retrieved the doll from Jaylen.
His eyes locked with mine. "Wynter calm down. These things aren't even activated yet."
Declan held the doll by its barefoot dangling it like some kind of rag doll - which it was- but this doll is literally our entire grade. I watched as the dolls eyes closed for a moment only to open back up a few seconds later. Soon, loud cries could be heard all throughout the halls. The fucking baby cries was the loudest thing in the school.
"Declan you idiot!" Corrie shouted over the cries.
"I didn't know it'd actually start crying," He said before lifting the baby up right. "Here Wynter." He shoved the baby into my arms.
I gasped. "You can't just hand him to me while he's crying. You should've never tossed him like he's one of your footballs!" I held out the doll, confused on what to do to make the crying stop.
I caught Declan and his friends trying to sneak away from the ruckus and I snapped. "Declan you can't just leave me while it's crying. This is your baby too, dumbass!"
Declan turned around but was pacing backwards down the hall. "Wynter just look after him for today and I'll have him tomorrow." He said.
"Declan, what the fuck man," I started to rock the baby back and forth hoping that would calm it down.
"Just meet me after practice tomorrow and I'll take on the rest from there."
And with that Declan turned on his heels and vanish off into the crowd of the hall. I stood still with a crying doll baby in my hands looking a fool and it's all because I got paired with someone with the IQ of an grape.
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