The whole room fell silent. Every head turned towards Romeo who had revealed the champion of the quiz. Then they turned to a shrinking troll, who afraid that these students would hate her as much as they seemed to despise her new brother.
That’s was it. Jeraud high school career was ruined by this intruder, this intruder his family had unknowingly allowed to sleep under the same roof as him. And he will never forgive any of them.
Hushed whispers spread across the room like wildfire. Everyone was debating whether they should be happy about this or not. On one side, she did beat the straight ‘A,’ unbeatable, snobbish student. On the other, she was new and a whole year younger than any of them. How could she have gotten a perfect score?
Romeo, out of everyone, broke the ice with a pat on her shoulder, gifting her with some reassurance. She looked up at him in surprise, but was thankful nonetheless. She cracked a smile at the students who simply stared at her like a deer in headlights, and her smile thawed them from their initial shock.
“See, Rose! I knew you were smart! You just had to be!” Mikey called out as he stepped towards her, giving her a high five. Other students follow suit, giving her high fives with beaming smiles and a congratulating statements, accepting her into the class.
“Thanks you guys!” her smile glimmered and she positively glowed.
That was the final straw. Jeraud hated it. He hated this class. He hated how everyone liked her, and how she never even had to try. He hated this girl, this alien, whoever she was!
He balled up my fists, scrutinizing his desk. There was no way he was ever going to let her stay in his home any longer. He had to get rid of her, pronto.
“What? With Jeraud’s help?”
Hearing his name being called, he jerked his head up. Every pair of eyes was on him now, except they weren’t mad. They were just surprised and in disbelief.
“Yeah. He helped me study and shared his textbook with me, knowing I couldn’t have been caught up.” Now it was beast’s sing song voice above anyone else’s. “I wouldn’t even have taken this quiz without his help.” She fibbed.
Jeraud narrowed his eyes at her, searching for a reason as to why she was flat out lying for him. But found nothing, no reason at all.
“Is it true, Jeraud? You helped her out?” someone asked.
“He sure did!” the freak quickly answered in his place.
She turned to him, her stare desperately begging him to just to roll with this for whatever reason. So Jeraud slowly nodded his head, not shaking his glare from the girl who just brightened up his reputation with a single white lie. And everyone believed her for whatever reason.
“Well, then, Fray. I guess you aren’t too bad.” Frankie nudged with his elbow, his tone sarcastic. Jeraud rolled his eyes as Mrs. Hessefort commanded the students to go back to their desks.
He watched as the strange girl retook her seat. Why did she do it? She knew she would gain nothing in return. Was it just because she actually liked Jeraud, and wanted to become friends? Or even…family?
Shaking his head of any fleeting remnant of a nice thought he might have had about her, he replaced it with more passionate hatred. He didn’t need her help, and definitely not her pity. And this most certainly does not change anything.
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