9| Contest
"Uh, okay. If you're done eye raping me now," he cleared his throat. I snapped out of it and looked up at him, hoping my blush wasn't as evident as it felt. But wow does he look hot.
"Um," I cleared my throat, "Mr. Cole came into my math class, he's looking for volunteers to help organize and take part in the creative writing contest, the one with the 500-word story," I explained.
"Okay and?" he asked.
I rolled my eyes, "Mr. Cole wants both of us to take part. Together."
"What?" he scoffed, "Why?"
I shrugged. I don't really know the answer to that, "He thinks we work well as a team. You right narrative really well, I get the descriptive thing a little better," I explained.
"What does this story have to be about?" he questioned.
"Anything, just 500 words and fictional, of course," I mumbled, "I just came to ask if you wanna do it, I have to tell him by lunch.
" He fell silent, contemplating it. "It's 500 words, we'll finish it within like," I shrugged, "An hour at max, brainstorming and everything included, it's really easy and it goes towards our grade if we participate.
And anyway, there's no actual performance shit, they'll just tell us if we won or not. "
"Who's the judge?"
"All the English teachers, Mr. Cole, and the principal," I answered.
"When is this due?" he questioned.
"By next Friday."
He sighed, shrugging, "Fine."
"Can we do it this weekend though? I have to catch up a little in some classes too," I said.
"Fine," he repeated, turning around to join the class that was running.
"Uh, at a cafe or at someone's house?" I called out, causing him to turn back around and come to me. All the guys running glanced at us while going by.
"Wherever is more convenient, can I get back?" he sighed.
"You actually like running around like this?" I asked while turning to leave.
"No, but it's what we do, thank you, buh-bye," he said, rolling his eyes at me.
"You're so mean," I mumbled.
"Bye, Emma," he huffed, running up to Brandon.
"Bye," I said more to myself while walking back.
"Emma!" I turned back around, seeing Brandon waving at me. I smiled, waving back before leaving. I'm kind of lucky my math teacher, Mrs. Shelton doesn't really care that much, which is why she let me leave in the middle of class for this creative writing thing.
I got back inside the classroom and took my seat. "What are we doing?" I asked, turning to him.
Oh yeah, I've got Liam in this class. "Page 98," he answered with a smile.
"Thanks," I replied, opening the page and grabbing my calculator. I may not need a thesaurus for writing, but I definitely need a calculator for math because it is so not my cup of tea. I stared down at the questions, "What language is this?" I asked myself.
"It's really easy," he chuckled, "Can I help?"
"Please," I smiled, sliding my paper over to him. He explained the first two questions to me very kindly and I kind of understood. "By the way, Liam, I'm really sorry for what happened yesterday in Psychology class, I..." I trailed off.
"Oh, with Nathan? It's fine," he shrugged, "Nathan is his own breed, everyone just listens to him."
"That's unfair," I pointed out.
"Yeah, but he's scary," he chuckled.
"He's not scary," I scoffed.
"You're not scared of him, that doesn't mean he's not scary. And anyway, I think everyone's noticed, he acts differently around you. It's evident because the whole school noticed it within 3 days."
"Differently how?" I asked in confusion.
"He controls himself a little, and he's not a dick," he smiled, looking at me, "He doesn't really like people, but he likes you. He's a little more friendly with you."
"Friendly? With me?" I scoffed, "He's so... hostile."
He shook his head in response, "He's friendly with you, trust me. When you see the way he acts with some people in this school," he said, shooting a glance at... What's his name? I think it's Jack.
"Who Jack?" I whispered, "Jack is an airhead," I mumbled.
"Yeah, so I guess he deserves it but bottom line, Nathan's nicer to you, I think it's also because you-"
"Okay, I don't condone that much talking in my class, do the work please," Mrs. Shelton cut him off. We both shut up after that and focused on the work.
It's also because I what?
???????????????
I walked into the cafeteria for lunch with Kendall. We both got our food from the line, I will say, the food in this school is great. And then we took our seats at an empty table. I saw Nathan and Brandon walking to the line as well and I watched Brandon, then Kendall.
"Can I ask what happened between you and Brandon?"
"We fell out," she shrugged, "He didn't want anything serious, I did though. So we just stopped talking. It was just a mess."
"If you wanted something serious, you must have really liked him, right?" I asked hesitantly.
She nodded slowly, "Yeah, I really liked him."
I cleared my throat, "Maybe he's changed his mind, you know? About serious relationships," I shrugged.
She must have caught on to what I was about to do because she looked at me with wide eyes, "Emma, don't do it."
"Brandon!" I called out.
He looked around the room before his eyes settled at our table. "Hey!" he called out. He nudged Nathan's elbow with his before saying something to him and then both of them walked over to our table. "Hey," he grinned at me.
"Hi, you wanna join us?" I offered. Kendall kicked my leg under the table. I clenched my jaw in pain and pulled my legs up, crossing them. They both sat down, Nathan dreading it a little.
"Hey, Kendall," Brandon said, smiling at her softly.
"Hi, Brandon," she mumbled.
"I like your hoodie," he complimented. I looked at it, noticing how huge it was on her... it's his, it's definitely his. Her blush just confirmed it. She stared down at her plate, biting back a smile.
We all ate in a very awkward silence. It's awkward for everyone but me at this table. I'm friends with everyone here. Kind of. Nathan's the only one who is still a little hostile towards me.
"Kendall, are we still doing our study date after school at the cafe?" I asked.
"Yeah, why?" she asked.
"You guys should come, especially you, we can work on the creative writing thing," I said, turning to Nathan. "Unless you guys have plans or something," I shrugged.
"We have plans."
"We don't have plans."
I looked at them, figuring Nathan was the one lying about having plans. They probably don't and if Nathan's plans include drinking or smoking, it's better if he joins us.
"Okay, it's settled, you're coming with us," I concluded.
Nathan sighed, running his hand through his hair. We all looked at him. "What?" he asked.
I sighed exaggeratedly, running my hand through my hair as he did just minutes ago. "God damn it, now I'm stuck with my best friend, annoying Emma, and her cousin. What will I do?" I asked, rolling my eyes, "Suck it up. For what it's worth, you can sit by yourself and do your work."
Kendall bit back a laugh, Brandon let out a chuckle, and Nathan just glared at me more than he was earlier.
I narrowed my eyes at him in argument when he leaned forward, pinching my thigh. "Ow!" I yelped, pinching his arm back.
He rolled his eyes, pushing his plate back and standing up. "I'm heading out back," he said, pulling his cigarettes out of his pocket.
I quickly snatched them from him, holding them behind my back. "It's not good for you and you're wasting literally all your food," I said, looking up at him.
"Give me the cigarettes," he let out an exasperated sigh.
"No," I argued. He took a step forward and I shot out of my seat, tucking them into my back pocket. "You're not getting them back," I stated.
"Emma, I think you should just give them back," Kendall mumbled, looking around the room.
I know people are staring, but when is someone in this school not staring at me? Like seriously, I'm new here, we get it, you can stop gawking now.
"No, don't give them back," Brandon said smiling up at me, "Let's see what he can do."
"I can get the other packet from my car, that's what I can do," Nathan deadpanned.
"Where do you even buy these?" I asked, looking at the box, holding it in my hand. He tried snatching it but I pulled it away in time, handing him only one cigarette from the box. "One or none, take it or leave it," I said.
He sighed, taking it from my hand, his skin brushing mine before he walked out of the cafeteria.
"Someone needs to make him stop," I said, throwing the box onto the table.
"We'll leave that up to you, Ms. Emma," Kendall said.
"Well then... I'll see what I can do," I sighed.
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