Teachers Pet

51: Hardly A Fight

       I doodled on the corner of my test. It started as a small tree that turned into a tiny little forest. I made small silhouettes of birds flying above the trees, making a V formation. When I started to add detail, Jakes' voice startled me. He was standing behind my right shoulder, away from Cassie on my left. My eyes darted to her, noting how she was almost completely turned away from me. She had a single earpiece in her right ear, trying to drown out any noise I made next to her probably. That was fine with me, not like we talked that much before anyway. It also meant that she wouldn't hear my nearly silent whispers to Jake.

       "What?" I whispered to him. It wasn't rude, I just hadn't heard what he'd said when he approached me. He knelt by my side and gave me the faintest smile. That stubble and those bloodshot eyes... They were just the same as last night. I wanted to help him, to talk to him about it. Again though, it wasn't my place anymore.

       "I asked if you needed help with your test. Clearly, you do... " I looked down at my test, feeling my face flush as we both stared at all the unanswered questions that were not multiple choice.

       "Usually you give out multiple-choice... I don't even know how to answer any of these questions..." He pursed his lips, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. He didn't look up to me as he sighed.

       "Principal Morris said I've been giving out too many multiple-choice tests. He wants to know that you guys know how to explain your answers and show your work. Just uh... Leave it blank. I've gotten pretty good at copying your crap handwriting." He laughed softly under his breath. I felt my eyes water but I didn't allow myself to cry. He noticed but didn't say anything about it.

       "Were you giving out multiple choice because of me?" Jake just stared at me for a long moment that felt like forever. He cleared his throat before nodding and standing up.

       "Just leave it blank." With that, he walked away. I watched as he offered help to other students. It felt like someone had my heart in a tight fist and was squeezing it as hard as they could. He made this more difficult with each day that passed. Didn't he realize what he was doing to me? I found myself looking over my shoulder at David who was sitting in a chair against the wall. He was staring at me already, concern on his face that he quickly dropped. He gave me a little smirk that I returned.

       First period went by a little slow, but when it was over I jumped up out of my seat in a hurry. I maneuvered past people to drop my test off on Jakes' desk and then rushed out the back door with David. I was happy to discover that in second period, only the supporting cast was going over lines today. I sunk into my seat, allowing myself to go over my revised script. It seemed like today would be another quick day as third and fourth period went by in a blur like yesterday. When lunch came, I felt my heart skip a beat. David walked me to the cafeteria doors like yesterday and then went his own way. I hurried towards the table I always sat at with Jill and thankfully didn't have to wait long for her.

       After we got our lunches, we sat at our small table. But unlike yesterday, Dean came to sit with us. He sat across from Jill and me eating his lunch. Jill questioned why he was sitting over here and not with Bailey and her friends. Dean just shrugged, shoving a big bite of pizza into his mouth. As Jill and I spoke, Dean just ate in silence, hardly even listening to us.

       "Okay, something is obviously bothering you... " Dean looked to Jill and made a face.

       "It's nothing," he muttered. I looked over his shoulder towards Baileys table. We made eye contact before she quickly averted her eyes. I noted how her friends looked up in my direction, adverting their eyes as well and then laughing. I rose an eyebrow at Dean, wanting to know what was going on there. Not with her friends who looked like they all were walking STDs, but with Bailey.