1.1 | daunting medleys

nine | elaborate plot

Tabitha's class ended early, mostly because the calculus teacher had rushed out with a pale face after receiving a short call. He said there was an emergency with his family and needed to leave immediately, so he did. Past the concern she felt for one of her favorite teachers, she started doodling in her notebook to while away the time before the class ended in fifteen minutes.

The premise of her class after the teacher's sudden departure was noisy, little groups formed and chatter floated amongst them. Tabitha almost frowned at the realization that she had no friends in this class, but she did nothing, nor did she try to make new friends. Digging through her bag, she took out a book she had been reading but couldn't and began perusing through the former pages to remember what the general idea of the book was, since she had forgotten.

Soon Tabitha found herself immersed in the sweet love story between the protagonists, the noise floating over her book-dedicated head. That is, until the bell rung and cut through her concentration. She slung her bag over her shoulders and walked out of the class.

Tabitha walked out peacefully, despite the amount of people that gathered at the door. She walked to the bathroom to relieve herself, and as she was about to flush, she heard her name.

"Yeah, I heard Tabitha doesn't want to get back together with Aiden anymore. So he's moving on with Natasha Berkeley."

There was a pause, and the squeak of shoes on the clean floors. "Too bad though, Tabitha's really pretty-" She then got cut off when Tabitha came out of the toilet, her movements stiff and unnatural. They paled, and Tabitha washed her hands, and cleaned it before walking out. They resumed their chatter, just quieter now.

She was joined by a hyper looking Ariana who gingerly left the nurse's office. Her friend waved at her with a proud smile.

"Guess who managed to sneak out of gym?" Asked Ariana.

Laughing, Tabitha replied. "You. But I do have a question for you."

"Shoot."

She linked their arms together before asking. "How are you going to escape gym class everyday? It's not like you can fake being sick everyday, during gym. Coach Grayson will definitely get suspicious."

Ariana pursed her lips as if thinking. "It's their fault for making gym second period. I can't get all sweaty in the morning and walk these halls smelling like sweat and desperation to be good at sports." The squeaking of shoes against the freshly cleaned floors formed the soundtrack, also against the low murmurs of the people that brushed against them.

"What does desperation to be good at sports smell like?" Tabitha inquired, a smile on her face as they turned down the hall that held their AP English class. It was one of the toughest classes in the school, it was barely with a few marks that Tabitha had entered the class but she couldn't be prouder of herself and how among she felt with the group of people that dominated the class.

Shrugging, Ariana answered before pushing the door open. "You should know. Isn't that your natural scent?" She giggled. Then they walked in. The class wasn't that rowdy, chairs were joined together and they talked among themselves. The teacher's seat was unoccupied, her usual apple and bag failing to appear.

"But seriously though, you are so lucky you get a free pass to never attend gym class." Ariana said, smiling as they took their seats. To that, Tabitha could only freeze and smile in response. Her friend didn't know anything about why Tabitha couldn't attend gym class or play any sports and quite frankly, she wouldn't tell if it wasn't anything important.

The girl before them, with curly hair that matched Tabitha's and beautiful yet curious brown eyes that looked like melted gold under the sun asked them. "Hey, do you have any idea why Mrs Smith would be absent from class?"

Tabitha shrugged and Ariana barely looked at her to answer her question. "No. Hopefully she comes soon before we get a sub or something."

Just then, Mrs Smith's favorite student who was rumoured to be her niece that sat at the front of the room addressed the entire class with a somber, meek tone that barely bounced off the walls of the room. "There's an emergency with her family so she had to leave."

Tabitha nodded, thinking nothing of it but Ariana pondered aloud. "Weird."

"What is?"

"Isn't it strange how both Mr Adams and Mrs Smith had to leave because of family emergencies?" She commented. Even though it seemed a little too coincidental, Tabitha shrugged.

"It's a coincidence, Ari. You've been watching too many crime dramas." She said, flicking a pouting Ariana on her nose.

"You can't blame me. It's quality television, plus, most of the male detectives are really good looking." She laughed, her green eyes light with humor. "But also, it may not be a coincidence. What if it's like a plot or something?"

Seemingly having nothing to do, Tabitha indulged her with a tiny smile on her face at her friend's antics. "And what plot would that be?"

With dazed eyes, Ariana replied. "Like a plot to be the principal of the school or some elaborate plan to infiltrate the school and get money through a clever scheme or what if it's a love proposal of some sort or-"

"I doubt anyone would go through the trouble of planning anything to be the principal of this school and ending up looking as miserable as Principal Walker." Tabitha snorted.

"You may never know." She laughed again, the sound almost drowned by the crescendo of the group chatter.

*************

Ariana kept Tabitha from thinking about anything else as the blonde kept rambling about the possibilities of their school being involved in a plot to pass time before the class ended. So now they were walking out of the room, their arms linked together before Ariana excused herself with a smile.

Then her eyes met Oliver's, she smiled and waved at him. He returned it, his eyes lighter than it had ever been since she had acquainted herself with in freshman year. People had been buzzing around him, and crowding him, but they never seemed to gain the courage to talk to him directly.

And of course - with the amount of attention that Tabitha and Aiden had unknowingly garnered - the action didn't go unnoticed. Oliver started to walk towards her, and she could only wait for him to get to her but he didn't get to her early, because Aiden had intercepted him and stood before her with a tentative smile.

His blonde hair looked ruffled, and his eyes were dimmed like he purposely wanted to look pitiful. He shuffled on his feet to look nervous.

"Tabs," He started hesitantly. "Can we talk?" He looked scared, like he knew Tabitha would reject his proposal. Aiden knew this because he knew her, and he knew that she wanted nothing to do with him. Tabitha had been expecting this. She knew that this talk would eventually come, but she didn't think it would be this soon. She wasn't prepared for this, she didn't think she would ever be prepared. Yet she did the unthinkable.

She agreed softly. "Lead the way."