Feelings at Bay

Chapter 7

The buzz of an alarm woke the girls up. In haste, they threw on their clothes, finished getting ready, and rushed out the door.

"I can't believe we slept in!" Amy exclaimed.

"Oh yeah? What did you expect, staying up so late? I bet everyone else is suffering too."

Why does she sound like my mother?

"Hey guys! You both look tired. What happened; did you both oversleep? Or maybe you couldn't recover from last night... Yeah it's that one isn't it. Anyway, I ran into John and Emily; they're up ahead that way. The other guys were just waiting around, I think. So, what's the plan for today?"

Julianna was so loud that the other two placed a hand on their forehead simultaneously. How on earth was it possible for this girl to have so much energy? Certainly it wasn't caffeine. Maybe she'll outgrow it, hopefully.

The three made their way into the assembly hall where every morning began. The chatter from other students was modified as well. And don't even mention how the lights felt like sunbeams.

"Amy, everyone is talking about how Mark asked you out! Is that true?"

"What? No, that didn't happen! We just talked a little." She muttered.

How does she know about that? Did Matthew tell her? He can't be that stupid; everyone knows she can't keep a secret! Well, it's too late to complain now.

"What are you talking about; who told you that?" Jordan asked the crazy lady.

"Well, Megan heard it from Sam, who heard it from Jessica, who was told by Jamie that-"

"Alright. Forget I asked. Who originally brought it up?"

Julianna clearly wanted to speak in paragraphs, but because of her friend's urgent tone, she restrained herself. After thinking about it and throwing her arms around, doing mental math, she replied:

"I guess it would be Mark himself. Why?"

"No reason." Her voice trailed on for a little too long.

"Whelp, anyway, are sure you guys aren't an item now?"

"Of course not. I barely know him..."

That's literally what they all say, then two weeks later, they're all head-over-heels-in-love with the guy.

"You okay, Jordan? You look sick."

"I'm fine," she sighed, "just a little tired."

"Pft! Amateur." She joked.

"Let's just get today over with."

At this rate, the entire school will have heard about Amy before lunchtime. That would be annoying, but the school faculty has a bias against dating and love in general. (This would explain why the teachers were all single.) Regardless, this is a problem that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible.

. . .

"Did you hear the news?"

"Wait, the new girl?"

"Yeah, turns out he's completely infatuated by her."

"There's no way she would say yes to him, right?"

Boys and girls alike buzzed about this nonstop. The former were surprised such a popular guy picked an average looking girl, and the latter were jealous. Instead of complaining about school problems, this became the talk of the school. Our group was no exception to this rule.

"Hey, it could be worse," Matthew began, "he could be getting into all sorts of mischief with the FEDs, but instead he's just flirting a little."

"You approve of this?" John interrogated.