257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY85FQFCenW
My heart is practically in my mouth as he walks towards us with purposeful strides. Is he coming to meet me? Did he notice me too?
He finally stops right beside me and taps Diane on the shoulder. She turns back and shrieks.
“Jamie!”
Everyone turns to look at her. She couldn’t care less.
“Hey D.” He says, giving her a small smile.
She jumps on him inappropriately. I can feel the stab of jealousy in my chest.
“It’s so good to see you here. See? I told you I would get into your school. You owe me lunch.”
“Fine.” He says again. He doesn’t like talking much, it seems.
“Here. Meet my friend, Rachael. But they call her Jessie for reasons her mom knows.”
I could feel the lump in my throat getting stronger. He looked in my direction, with his eyes, raking up and down my body.
One eyebrow raises. He didn’t say anything.
“See you around, Diane.” He says to her and leaves.
“What was that?” I ask Diane.
“Oh, nothing. He’s always been like that.”
“So how did you get to know him?”
“Uhm… he’s my cousin. Didn’t you see it? We look alike.”
“Not really. Your hair is blonde and his is brown. Your faces aren’t that alike as well.”
“You’re right. In a way.” Suddenly, she smirks. “Why are you suddenly interested in him? Are you crushing on my cousin?”
“No.” I say. “Never. He’s not my type anyway. Isn’t it getting cold here? We have a class soon anyway.” I say and walk away without turning back to see her reaction.
She walks closely behind me. I can picture her laughing behind me. We finally reach our classroom and I glance around.
“Hey Jessie. Thank God you’re here.” Its Betty.
My ex-best friend. We were besties in those first hectic weeks of junior school. I guess she found other people that had more similarities and class like her. I never really got over her though. And I never had a best friend after that. Her new best friend is Danielle. She’s sitting in the chair beside Betty, wearing a short skirt and a crop top. As always.
Now that is too much skin. My subconscious tells me.
“Hi Betty. I thought none of you were coming back.”
Danielle let out a high-pitched mocking laugh. Betty chooses to ignore her this time.
“Oh, we did. My mom decided that it would be better to finish my Senior years here. And then, go somewhere else for college.”
She’s already thinking about college. I think I will have to forfeit mine. My mom isn’t that capable. And Ricky still has a long way to go. Betty’s parents are rich anyway. I was thinking of taking up the job of a librarian. To assist mom.
Suddenly, I feel Betty’s strong grip on my hands. She drags me to a corner and whisper.
“Hey, Jessie. Guess what?”
“What?” I ask, with sudden interest.
“Promise to keep it a secret.”
“Ugh. I can’t promise you that, Betty. You know we aren’t besties anymore. Whatever you want to tell me, you can tell Danielle.”
She suddenly scrunches her nose in disgust.
“FYI, you’re still partially my bestie. I can’t tell Elle cos she’s gossipy. And she cannot keep secrets.”
Elle is our nickname for Danielle. Well, their nickname for her. We never really got along.
I let out a huge sigh.
“Okay, tell me.”
Betty suddenly smiles.
“Have you heard about that guy Jeremy?” My heart skips a beat.
“Yeah. What about him?” I say, trying to act uninterested.
“Don’t you think he’s cute?” She’s practically giggling.
“I don’t know, Betty. He’s really not my type.” I can hear the strain in my own voice.
She sighs.
“When will you stop being a tight assed bitch, Jessie? I know your type of guys are strange; nerdy blue eyed guys with blonde hair and glasses. But can you loosen up a bit?” She gives me a concerned look.
Who told her those were my type of guys? I don’t even like guys who wear glasses. I open my mouth to say something but she holds her hands up to silence me.
“You haven’t even been in a proper relationship. You’re sixteen for God sake. You haven’t even had your first kiss yet. Kids younger than you are already having sex.”
My eyes widen at her last statement. I choose to ignore the first statement.
“So have you?” I ask her.
“Have I what?”
“Done it.” I can’t bring myself to say ‘sex’. It sounds weird coming out of my lips.
Her eyes twinkle suddenly. “You think I should wait for marriage?”
I gasp. “With who?”
“A guy Elle introduced to me. You haven’t been updated on much of my life, have you?”
I shake my head in disbelief. “A random guy? What if you caught an infection, Betty?”
She shakes her head in mockery for the second time today. “We used a cd.”
What’s a cd? I make a mental note to ask Diane.
That reminds me. Where is Diane? I see her talking to one of the new guys in our class. Only God knows where our teacher is.
Betty continues. “I heard he’s the high school bad boy here. Getting in random fights and all that. He practically has all the girls here, drooling over him.” She squeals in delight.
“Are those the kind of guys you like?”
“Obviously.” She says matter-of-factly. “You’re too innocent, Jessie.” She gives me a small smile and walks away.
Our teacher finally walks in. He is a young man, obviously in his early-twenties. He has dark hair and blue eyes that can be seen from afar. He has the perfect jawline. Immediately he gets into the class, I could see 50% of the girls’ jaws on the floor.
I have to admit though. He is cute.
His eyes travel across the classroom in a quick glance. He finally gives us a breathtaking smile. Isn’t the cute face enough?
We quickly take our seats. Smartly, Diane takes the sit beside me. Betty sits behind me (beside Danielle. God I hate that girl.)
The teacher’s name is Mr. Dante Young. He’s 23. Just as I guessed. He says he doesn’t mind us calling him Dante. But not in front of the Principal. I like him already. He makes us introduce ourselves.
There’s Gabe (the guy with the wide smile. He looks fun though.) Lee (the guy from China.) Peter (he’s from junior school. One of the fun people I know.) Austin (He looks gay. But I like him.) There’s Danielle (purring as she introduces herself to Dante. Once again, I say this; I hate her.)There’s Betty (there’s something about the way Dante looks at her. I smell a rat.) There’s Diane (she’s all ‘my name is Diane. Nice to meet y’all’) There’s Jules (the nerdy girl with enough pride to feed the nation) There’s Athena (the girl with the big ass and well sculpted legs. I envy her.)
I’m so engrossed in my criticizing conversation with my subconscious, that I don’t notice when it’s my turn. Thankfully, Diane nudges me. I nervously stand up as Dante’s smile grows.
“Hey pretty. What’s your name?” He asks me with one eyebrow raised. Just like; Jeremy this morning.
“My name is Rachael Montez. But everyone calls me Jessie.”
“Why do they call you Jessie?”
“Cos my maternal grandma called me that.” I feel a little confident.
“Can I call you Jessie?” He asks in the most pleasing tone.
“Sure.” I say, smiling and sit back down.
Right behind me, I can hear Danielle saying; “Why the sudden interest in her?”
I choose to ignore her.
Jeremy’s face keeps appearing in my memory.I still feel bad about him not saying anything to me- or about me. Then, Betty’s voice is in my head, telling me she finds him cute. I should probably forget about him. The last thing I want to do, is fight with my ex-best friend, over a guy.
Diane leans in to me and whispers. “Don’t you find him cute?”
“You’ve found at least ten guys, cute today, D.” I say, without looking at her, pretending to be concentrating in class as Dante starts teaching.
She sighs and puts her hands under chin. “I know. But he’s on a different level of cute. I can see his dick print from here.”
I sigh and bury my head in the book on my table.
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