Déja Vu

Four

“I never thought I was gonna miss you but I did.” I tell him as soon as he appears from behind my locker door. His face got a bit tanned from all the training in the blazing sun of twelve pm in the morning. He leans against the lockers, watching me stuff random textbooks in my backpack. Of all days of the week, Monday is definitely my least favourite. I know it’s almost everyone’s least favourite. Not for Nick though, it’s the only day he doesn’t have morning practices in. Recently, he has been having morning, afternoon and night practices to the point where he actually skips school.

“It was just two days.” He says “And you actually got to talk to me throughout the day. Let’s talk about the five days that you were completely unreachable within.”

“That was a month ago.” I roll my eyes as I slide my backpack over my shoulder “Stop holding grudges.”

We make our way to our classroom when the bell sounds, passing the usual busy flood of students that look as done with life as I am. It’s Monday after all, you enter school, you pass nothing but sleepy lifeless faces. 

I had the worst luck with locker distributions this year. My locker ended up right beside the stairwell that leads to the gym, which is the furthest from my class. It’s great that our school is big, but it sometimes has its disadvantages.  Squeezing past students is one of them. 

And definitely having Math as the first class adds salt to the injury.

Or fuel in Mrs. Klark’s case.

I have no idea how this lady was employed. If there is anything she is a miss of, it’s definitely throwing all of us in the hell of failure. She tries to explain, but it’s all wrong. I swear Maya solves problems better than her, and that’s something big. Since the beginning of last year, I don’t remember scoring higher than seventy-five percent and even this year, too. All those problems I got correct was based on lessons I’ve learnt from the previous years. And I don’t think I can afford failing Math this year as well.

I push through the classroom’s door followed by Nick. Students are already forming packs at every side of the room. I would usually walk straight to my place at the back of the class and just stay silent till the clock strikes eight am and whoever teacher we have enters while Nick sleeps this half an hour or the entire first class to be exact. No one dares wake him up because he would either shoot them his death glare or completely ignore them. Teachers are understanding of his situation that he barely sleeps due to his practices. All they actually care about is that he doesn’t fail their subject, and he never actually did.

“Your boyfriend is here.” Nick nudges me with his elbow, nodding his head towards Adam who’s sitting right at the desk in front of ours. He’s staring into the distance before him, probably daydreaming or completely passed out.

“Just a friend.” I clench my teeth together as I follow my smirking best friend towards our seats. Ever since elementary school, I don’t recall sitting somewhere that isn’t beside him. It sometimes feels like he is a guy who’s always irritated by his clumsy super glue younger twin sibling. That’s me, I’m the clumsy super glue younger twin sibling.

I’m not introverted or shy because these two words don’t fit in my dictionary. It’s just at the start of every year, I go around introducing myself to everyone and just start having casual small talks with them. By the end of the day, I get a wave of feeling that I might’ve annoyed them or seemed weird to them so I instantly regret it. And that’s how I’ve survived for fifteen years straight. So that’s why I’ve been sticking by Nick’s side even in class up till this day.

Up till three days ago to be exact because the way he shoved me in the empty seat beside Adam says that probably I wouldn’t be sitting in my regular place today. I snap my head over my shoulder to where Nick is sitting “Stay there.” He yawns while lifting both his legs over my used to be chair “I’ll be taking both seats for now.” He places his hoodie over his head and just snuggles down in his chair and my chair, closing his eyes and ready to drift off as if he’s in a five-star hotel or something. I swear this guy has the ability to sleep in the weirdest positions at the weirdest places.