Cupid's Arrow

Cupid's Arrow - 05.

I drove to school myself, and I took Emily along with me. The ride was unusually quiet. Emily spent her time drafting out ideas for the Valentine's Day dance instead of telling me about all of her supposed Matt-filled dreams; it was weird. I could tell she was bothered, and she didn't sleep either. The dark rings under her eyes and her makeup free face gave it away. I hoped she realized she was truly just overthinking stuff. I was almost one hundred percent sure this Joshua guy didn't mean anything.

I'd parked my car in Evan's spot since he'd told me that he wouldn't be in school today. He was calling in sick so that he could have a day with his sister. He'd been concerned telling me this but I waved it off, telling him to go on and be free over the phone. Evan was improving. He was starting to show emotions again and the Evan that used to act like he didn't was gone. I wasn't going to – and didn't plan on – disrupting his progress.

Sophie gave me the nod as she passed by my locker, walking along with her twin brother (they weren't similar at all to me, but that was just the way things were), who gave me a wave and a small wink. I could tell his sister was still refraining from telling him about my relationship with Evan because she believed we had a chance together. Although she didn't say it, she thought she would jump at Evan the second we broke up. It was beyond obvious at this point, but I still refused to let her know that I was aware of her elementary school crush on my boyfriend. She would overgrow the stage.

I walked through the hallway, bumping and apologizing profusely to anyone that I'd accidentally stepped on. I was running late for Biology, and Miss Sloane was a no-nonsense woman. Sophie and I would have a hard time explaining our failure to do our assignment, but maybe she'd show us mercy with a C. Anything below that and I would be doomed. My parents would be forced to return home, and then they'd take away my phone and maybe even make me break up with Evan. They'd pull the "relationships come after studies not the other way around" card.

I kicked the door open while using one hand to smooth my hair, and the other to hold my binders. Miss Sloane was in the middle of making a phone call so I had enough time to slip over to Sophie's before she saw me. I took quick, silent steps to Sophie's stool and pulled out mine from under the table, making very little noise in the process. Miss Sloane turned around and gave me a disapproving look and went on with her call.

"Do you make a habit out of being late?" Sophie joked and I nodded. It really wasn't my fault. I'd forgotten to bring my wrist watch today and I lost track of time. I didn't intend to be late like I had for Math class. Sophie giggled at my answer and went back to her comic book. The Tales of Garrett: Becoming the Pop Star, I recognized it to be. I'd come to learn that Sophie was hopelessly in love with the fictional character Sal, who happened to be Garrett's over-the-top best friend. It wasn't nice to be around her when she went on never-ending rants on how perfectly shaped he was as a teenager. I'd never agreed. I'd always thought Sal had much too big of a head and obnoxious ears, but I always agreed to disagree.

Miss Sloane ended her phone call with a huff shortly after Sophie and I's little exchange. She proceeded to call out the names of people who came late and announced that they'd all have detention after school. I just so happened to be one of them. She'd mentioned Logan's name, which had caused me to turn around in search of the guy I'd conversed with at the journalism club yesterday. He sat at the back, a guy whom I recognized to be Colby sat right next to him, and they talked freely amongst themselves. I turned away before either of them could notice and waited for Miss Sloane to start her lesson. Soon enough, she would ask us all for our plants and an explanation of what we did. Almost everyone had a green plant on their table, except for those who couldn't care less about their studies and some others who probably had the same story as us.

Sophie nudged my arm as Miss Sloane talked about the work we'd done sometime before and how it would connect to today's lesson. I turned to look at her and she had her phone right in between her Biology text book. I almost gasped. This one was a wildcard for sure. Did she want her phone to be confiscated? It took me a minute or two to realize she was scrolling through Evan's page, the latest photo still being of our fifth date. She made silent "awww" sounds as she double-tapped on the photo to like it. I blushed and looked away as she passed a note to me.