You don't even want me

10.

[Camille]

Me and Grace were waiting at the end of the street in the cold morning, my nose stinging and our breath creating little visible clouds in the air. Today, Grace and Jasmine were biking with me again as it wasn't raining anymore, but we were both getting nervous as Jasmine was already 10 minutes late, and we really had to leave now to still get to school in time.

When she finally appeared in the distance, me and Grace sighed relieved and when she got to us she quietly apologised, quickly leaving.

We biked to school in a hurry not to be too late, in vain: we arrived at school about 10 minutes late and we locked our bikes, walking towards the building in a rush. Me and Jasmine said bye to Grace and we almost ran through the hallway, taking off our jackets when we reached the classroom. I could see in the reflection of the window that my hair was a mess, but I didn't have the time to care.

We walked in the room but froze when I noticed that, to my surprise,  everyone was only just taking out their stuff. I frowned at first, but then noticed my classmates were all sitting in different seats.

"Ahh, there they are. We just switched places" the teacher explained to Jasmine and I. My eyes scanned the room for the 2 empty seats. I found the first one pretty quick, in the front of the class next to a girl. I searched for the second one with a little frown, but when I found it, I kind of wished I hadn't.

It was next to James in the back of the class. He wasn't paying attention to what was happening and was looking down at the book in front of him. I knew what it meant. Either me or Jasmine would have to sit next to him.

The teacher spoke. "Alright, Jasmine, you can sit..." he thought about it for a few seconds, the longest seconds of my life. I prayed for the teacher not to put me next to James, I didn't want to sit next to him, I'd be extremely screwed.

"... over there" he finally said, pointing at the seat next to the girl.

I squeezed my eyes closed in frustration, the consequences of his decision only hitting me when I cursed under my breath. Luckily, the teacher hadn't heard me and just continued his life. "So you, Camille, can go sit over there next to James."

James looked up when he heard his name, his eyes holding a confused look when he stared at the teacher, shifting to me pretty quickly and the frown turned upside down; a little smile appeared. I couldn't get my own lips to smile, and walked through the class towards him pretty numb, the thought that I was screwed constant repeating in my mind.

I was going to have to sit next to him for a long time, and I wasn't just sitting next to him, I was sitting next to a wall, so I was cornered by him, and my mind couldn't properly process that.

I gave him a weak smile and pulled the chair from under the desk, putting my backpack on the ground against the wall before sitting down. I crossed my legs and tried to sit as close to the wall as possible not to accidentally touch him. My body was the most tensed it had ever been with the presence of his next to mine, a reminder of it rushing through my mind, not even giving me the chance to forget it for the fraction of a second.

"Goodmorning" he mumbled quietly, tilting his head closer to mine. My stomach started to turn when he increased the space between us, making me widen my eyes while staring straight ahead. "Goodmorning" I replied shortly, not wanting to start a conversation right now.

The teacher started his lesson but, just like I thought, I couldn't pay attention to it. The boy next to me already made me lose concentration when he was sitting on the other side of the room, let alone now that he was sitting next to me.

I was constantly freaking out, scared to touch him or talk to him. I didn't know what to say or do, so I didn't do anything and just sat up straight in my seat, my back not even touching the back of the chair.