Chapter Three

  Charlie

  Sometime after I leave the nurse’s office, my head starts hurting. I ignore it, drinking water to relieve the pressure. I stop at a water fountain between the third and fourth period, leaning over to take a drink when I feel someone push me from the side, causing me to lose my bance.

  I looked up in shock to see who it was, wondering who would be so rude. It’s none other than Carl, my ex-boyfriend. He smirks down at me before leaning over to get a drink of water, walking away as I gre at his back. “Brat,” I mutter angrily as I stand up. I hear him ugh as he walks away, that stupid condescending ugh that used to make my heart race. I get my drink of water and walk to fourth period, my math css.

  I walk in, going to my seat, just as the teacher, Mr. Jefferson, announces to the css that we’re getting new seats. Standing at the front of the room with the rest of the css, I don't think much of it. Until, he calls out my name and my new seat partner, April. I roll my eyes and go to my new seat, as April approaches Mr. Jefferson. I hear snippets of their conversation, but only enough to get the gist of it.

  “Mr. Jefferson, I don’t think…..” April says, but her voice trails off as she quiets her voice.

  “Now, April, I can’t move…..friends….not fair….students.” Mr. Jefferson looks back at me, and I frown as April starts walking back towards her seat and sitting beside me.

  “Looks like we’re stuck together in this css too, huh?” April teases, obviously trying to lighten the mood. I don’t answer her, already working on the assignment. She seems to take the hint and leaves me alone.

  During the lesson, she turns with a confused expression. I roll my eyes and raise an eyebrow. “What?” I whisper.

  “Can you help me, please? I can write, but math is not my strong suit….” She whispers.

  I chew on my lip for a moment, looking at my paper.

  I’m already done with the entire paper and homework for the day…plus this is something I could hold over her…

  My heart skips a beat as I contempte, and I pause, staring at the table in front of me, my mind bnk.

  I shake my head to clear my mind, before turning to April with a raised eyebrow.“Why should I? It’ll just give you a leg up to take my pce as top student.” I cross my arms in front of my chest, leaning against my chair.

  She pauses for a moment before turning back towards the teacher, a fsh of disappointment crossing her face. “Never mind.” She chews on her lip for a moment, staring at her paper.

  My eyes are drawn to her lips before I look away, looking at my paper. I sigh and sit back. “April,” I say quietly. She looks back at me with surprise. “What are you having trouble with?” I raise an eyebrow, waiting for her to answer my question.

  April’s eyes light up, and a soft smile spreads across my lips before I catch myself, puzzled by the sudden warmth. I push the feeling aside, raising an eyebrow instead. “Really? You’ll help me?” she asks, her face glowing with surprise and joy. Beneath it all, there’s a hint of confusion, but rather than annoyance or anger, her expression is filled with something entirely different—an openness that draws me in.

  I shake my head, clear my mind, and sigh reluctantly, nodding and leaning forward. I cross my arms on the desk and y my chin on my arms, gesturing to her paper. “What’s bugging ya?”

  April grins, reaching forward and it looks like she’s about to hug me, but she pulls back, seeming to think better of it. She clears her throat, putting the paper in between us. “Well this one problem, it’s worded weird and I don’t really get it. “ She starts reading the problem aloud, her brow furrowing in confusion. While she reads, I can’t but notice that she wrote in cursive on all the previous questions, something I haven’t seen in forever, let alone on a math question. I smile slightly and look at the question on my paper, trying to remember how to reword it so she understands it.

  After a few moments, I chuckle lightly, realizing her issue. “You have to figure out how many miles Chaz ran based on the equation they presented you with and how many miles the others ran. See, Lily ran five less than Jose, but five times as many as Chaz. Jose ran ten miles. Does that make more sense now?” I expin carefully, trying to make it seem as simple as possible.

  April blinks in surprise. “Yeah, a lot actually.” She ughs awkwardly. She pauses for a second, seeming to be lost in thought. “So…if Lilly ran five fewer miles than Jose and Jose ran ten, then Lilly ran five. Lilly ran five times as many miles as Chaz, so five divided by five is……one. Chaz ran one mile.” She grins proudly and I can’t help but smile as well.

  “Correcta-mundo!” I praise her, grinning.

  Just then, the bell rings, signaling the end of fourth period and this little moment of ours. I can’t help but feel a flicker of disappointment when she shoots up, dashing out of the css like a lightning bolt. I frown, packing up my things at a slower pace.

  ______________________________________________________________________

  As soon as I walk into my study hall, I plop into a seat next to my friend Emily, smming my forehead on the desk and groaning loudly. I look up to see Emily raising an eyebrow at me in concern. She closes her ptop, waiting for me to expin my outburst. “What happened? What’s the issue today?”

  I pull out my ptop, pulling up the math homework online. “Math was….interesting, to say the least,” I mutter.

  She raises an eyebrow, leans forward, and closes my ptop. “Do tell. Is it because of a certain someone?” She suggestively wiggles her eyebrows and I fight the urge to gag.

  “Who are you thinking of?” I raise an eyebrow, not knowing who she might be referring to.

  Emily sits back with a smirk. “Who was your first thought?”

  I flush, recalling how, just moments ago, my first thought was of April and how she lit up when she figured out that math problem. I smile to myself, recalling the memory just minutes beforehand.

  Emily elbows me with a smirk, snapping me out of my daydream. “Let me guess….April?”

  “No,” I respond all too quickly. She smirks, obviously not believing me.

  “I know you have math with her girl. Plus, it’s the beginning of the year, so Mr. Jefferson gives new seats and doesn’t pay attention to who is friends or not.” She raises an eyebrow, waiting for my response.

  I sigh reluctantly. “He has me and her as table partners….” I mumble.

  Emily bursts out ughing, clutching her stomach as she doubles over. A few minutes ter, she calmed down, taking deep breaths. “That’s amazing!”

  “Not really. She knows nothing about math, I had to dumb down the easiest problem for her to understand it.” I roll my eyes. Against my better judgment, I smile slightly, a rose tint to my cheeks as I recall the way April lit up when I agreed to help her.

  I shake my head to clear my mind, instead pulling out a book to ignore Emily’s teasing.

  After a while, I zone out, no longer focusing on my book. Emily notices and snickers, elbowing me lightly in the ribs, snapping me out of my thoughts. “You don’t seem to be too annoyed with her right now…,” she teases.

  I gre at her. “Yeah, because all my annoyance is directed either towards you or Carl,” I respond angrily.

  Emily’s eyes widen a fraction. “Carl? Did you talk to him? Why? When? Details, now.” She grabs my book out of my hands, closes it, and puts it aside as she gives me her full attention.

  I purse my lips, debating whether or not I should tell her. Finally, I sigh. “I was getting some water earlier after April took me to the nurse, and he knocked me out of the way, causing me to fall. He ughed, took a drink, and left me there on the floor. Didn’t even say anything. Just left me there, like I was a piece of trash…” I clench my hands into a fist, digging my fingernails into my palm to stop the tears from overflowing out of my eyes.

  Emily clenches her jaw before nodding, gring at the table in front of her. I grab my book and go back to reading to block out the feelings rushing through me.

  Suddenly, there was a loud crash from behind us, drawing everyone’s attention to the back of the library, where a stack of books had fallen but the culprit was nowhere to be found.

  (Small Authors note: Very sorry I haven't been posting regurly, I have a lot on my mind this new year! Hope you enjoy the story so far and if you have any scene suggestions you would like to see, the comments are always open! Adios Fmingos!)