Monday morning rolled around after a long weekend of nothing. Actually, that wasn't completely true. I did spend a lot of time in the park, and I even took a nap te Sunday afternoon. It turned out to be quite lovely, despite the bitter cold of the weekend.
I forced on my dress, the same one as last week, even though it was raining. Adding leggings underneath and my high tops, it helped keep me a little warmer. I also put on my hat that I knitted last year in Home Economics.
On my walk to school, I stopped by Jay's Market to grab a bag of Hershey Kisses. While I was at it, I also grabbed a Ginger Ale for lunch (since it's my secret obsession) and a couple proteins bars to get me through the school day. Making my way to the register, I noticed Charlie was working.
Charlie is a friend, though we really don't know each other well. We both work at Jay's Market, so from time to time we have a shift together.
He's two years above me, and graduated when I was a sophomore. He's been taking classes at Sac State, and depending on his class schedule he works here the rest of the time. His family lives around here, and he still lives with them and commutes to school.
Charlie is what I would classify as quirky cute. His brown hair is always nice and styled well, making him seem like he'll be arrogant, but then he smiles and it's so wide that it off sets the rugidness of his hair and replaces it with a bit of dorkiness.
"Hey Sami!" He greeted with his wide smile and voice that's a little higher than one would expect for someone of his stature. It really added to his quirky appearance.
"Hey Charlie, how was your weekend?" I asked as he rang up my items.
He nodded, "Pretty good, to be honest! And yours?"
I nodded along as well, "Not half bad."
"Ah, still doing that Hershey Kiss thing?" He grinned, scanning the bag.
"Indeed I am," I smiled back, pleased he remembered that I did that from last year, when he was one of the grey blobs floating in the halls of Cristo High.
"I always admired that!" He told me, causing my smile to widen slightly. "Alright, that'll be $8.78."
Digging in my wallet, I felt my face start to blush when I realized I only had four dollars.
This was so embarrassing, I should have checked before coming in. It was my own fault for not remembering that my wallet had been drained these last few weeks. Dealing with my family's crap is more expensive than one would think.
Not wanting to meet Charlie's waiting eyes, I mumbled a "Um, I uh, only have four dollars. Can you take the protein bars off?" As I said this, I fished out some change to avoid any awkward eye contact.
"Oh, no! I won't let ya do that! Just take it, on me!" Charlie said, his voice bright as ever.
"You really don't have to, I'll just put these back.."
"No, Sami, I insist," Charlie insisted, sincerity lacing his voice and drawing my eyes back to his.
A grateful, sheepish smile graced my lips. "Are you sure?"
He rolled his eyes with his big smile, "Of course! Now get out of here, have a great Monday!"
Laughing, I grabbed my things and left, waving goodbye as I did so.
Charlie wasn't really a blob in Cristo High's halls. He was one of the few who dared to be colorful, with that goofy grin of his.
It was kind of nice actually.
*****
Since it was raining this Monday, everyone seemed to be dragging their feet even more than usual. Therefore, I tried even harder to be some sort of a ray of sunshine. These students were like plants in dire need of photosynthesis or something.
By lunch, the act of being so smiley and joyful had taken its toll and I was beat. But I had history after lunch to rest! Now was time to pass out a few more kisses before taking a seat somewhere and enjoying my ginger ale.
"Want a kiss?" I asked a chubby boy, who had so many rolls on his face his eyes were almost hidden.
I blinked in surprise when he smirked and said "Well you're hot, so sure." He made a move to stand up, so I forced a laugh.
"No silly, a Hershey Kiss," I smiled, extending my hand with a Hershey in it.
He frowned and his friends laughed at him, something I was also wanting to do.
He seemed like he wanted to reject the chocolate out of embarrassment, but then he grabbed it and mumbled an incoherent thanks. I guess the Augustus Gloop got the best of him today.
Lunch ended far too soon for my liking, and I was forced to be confined for an hour in my histroy class.
On this particular day, I was looking forward to my American History class least of all. After Friday's test, I had dreaded getting my results, as it would no doubt be my worst mark of the year.
Sure enough, when I sat down, my teacher handed out our tests, and I was thoroughly ashamed of my score.
"So I'm passing out your tests, and I want you to take a look at the ones you got wrong and see if you can pick the right answers the second time around," she told us as she weaved through the aisles.
"Overall, you guys did very well on the test. There were a few tests that brought down the average, but for the most part your scores are improving! Keep up the good work."
Mine had remained face down until I finally worked up the nerve to look at it. I slid it under my desk and looked at the score.
5/20
A glorious 25%
Admittedly, I was relieved I even got five right, even though I'm sure I only got those few right because it was statistically impossible for me to do worse.
I wasn't even able to bring myself to flip through the test. Instead, I pretended to be staring at the front of the class, listening to the teacher talk. Posed as the perfect student, I had my test out (still faced down) and I was sitting up straight.
But really, I was just thinking about how screwed I am.
I hardly had the motivation to give Hershey Kisses at passing period, but I figured it might boost my spirits, so I engaged in my regular actions.
Then, I was disrupted by something that wasn't completely irregular.
My kisses went flying out of my hand, and with force stronger than last week.
The assaulter grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him, giving me a light head rush in the process.
"The hell are you doing? I thought I told you last week to stop doing this shit," A scowling Ashton Cromwell hissed.
I shrugged, and instead of a bitter response, I offered him something else. "Do you want a kiss?"
He looked at my hand where the kiss was, looked back at me, back at my hand, and back at me -- his eyes filled with a mix of confusion, annoyance, and disgust.
"No! I don't! No person in their right mind would! Please, you're a freak! Who do you even think you are?"
"The name is Sami Spark, pleased to meet ya!" I told him, smiling as I stuck my hand out.
Truth be told, I hadn't meant it sarcastically, but that must have been how Ashton took it because his glare intensified. I was just being honest, I mean I haven't even formally met the guy before!
"What the hell is your game? I mean what is WRONG with you?"
"Uh.." I didn't know how to respond to that.
Does anyone know how to?
I have talked to this guy only a handful of times in my life, two of them being both today and last week.
Why was he blowing up in my face?
He took a step closer, trying to be intimdating. It had that effect to an extent, mainly since he towered over me, but over the years I've grown immune to fearing people. I've dealt with a lot of freaks and messed up, mean people, and as a result I don't feel afraid of it.
Sighing, I said "Look, I --"
"I'm actually not interested in what you have to say."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "But you've asked me several questions.."
"I didn't mean for you to answer! They were rhetorical, that's how sarcasm works!" He was growing more and more frustrated, but I didn't understand why. I've never been an expert in the sarcasm department and I usually don't pick up on it.
Was he mad that I wasn't reacting to what he was saying?
"God, you're so annoying," He said, exasperated.
"Look, I think you should really just take a few Hershey Kisses. You'd be surprised, they lighten a mood pretty quick," I told him, a warm smile present in attempt to persuade him to take a couple.
The guy must just be having a bad day, or week. From my experience, chocolate is pretty good therapy.
But with his crummy mood, he would need all of the Jay's Market kisses, and then some.
"I can't even believe this," He scoffed, shaking his head and looking just as angry as he has all conversation.
I furrowed my eyebrows again. "With all do respect, it's your choice to keep standing here. If I'm irking you that much, you could just walk away. It would probably make you less tense."
His fluorescent blue eyes widened, "Tense? You think I'm tense?!"
Whoa, apparently I opened a can of worms with that one. I had been trying to put on a lid on this chaotic conversation, and instead I seem to keep unleashing his fury.
Yikes.
Instead of responding and making the issue worse (again), I gave him a sheepish smile and walked away to
head to art.
I could hear his frustrated groan from down the hall as the passing period bell rang.
"Shoot!" I mumbled before taking off toward Ms. Georgia's class, sliding through the door before the bell even finished.
Ms. Georgia told us to work on our projects and that this week's was on the board, and then she took roll.
Each week, she assigns us a different project. They aren't due at the end of each week, but instead half way through the semester, and then at the end of course. It gave us more time to be creative, and there was much less presssure too which was nice.
Not even looking at the board, I began to draw on the white paper she had sitting out for us. It was just what was coming to me.
I wasn't really thinking about what I was sketching, and by the time class ended, I had a pretty detailed pencil drawing.
On the page staring at me was a Hershey Kiss -- and it was catching on fire.
.