James isn't in school today, which makes me incredibly delighted.
Math is more joyful when he's not there. It feels as though I get a private lesson from Mrs. Anthony. It's a lot of fun.
At French, I'm kidding around with Layla when Ms. Arquette walks in. She seems incredibly pissed, and I'm afraid she'll shout at me again.
I'm right.
As soon as she walks in, I see that she has little pieces of paper with her, which means we're writing a vocab test. She gives everyone a piece of paper and tells us to write our names on it.
"That bitch didn't give me a paper," Layla says quietly, and I burst out laughing.
"Ms. Arquette, do I not get a paper?" Layla asks politely. God, I love how she can switch from improper to polite in one second.
"Oh, sorry, Layla!" says Ms. Arquette, and she starts looking around for another piece.
"Yeah, Layla, you don't even get a chance," I joke, and Layla pretends to cry in response.
"Don't say that, Lucy! That's not funny!" I hear some sort of demonic voice shout. It's Ms. Arquette. Goddamnit.
"I was just joking, Ms. Arquette," I reply, trying to contain myself.
"Yeah, well, I guess I'm not in the mood for your jokes today, Lucy." She walks to the board and writes down the first French word that we'll have to translate.
What the fuck?
After class, I walk down to the cafeteria. I'm incredibly hungry. With my bagel, I walk to the next class, but in the hallway, I see Mike. He walks up to me and hugs me tight.
"We still up for today, beautiful?" he asks. I feel my cheeks heat.
"Yes," I say quickly, smile, and walk on. It was stupid of me to agree to that. It's Thursday tomorrow, which means there'll be coding, and that also means that tomorrow I won't have time for learning, and so I'll have to study in advance, and I can't do that if I'm running around with Mike. He's lovely, don't get me wrong, but still.
The date is fine. Nothing overly special. We go to the movies again, and we go to McDonald's afterward. We do have an interesting conversation. We talk about death and the afterlife. Bit of a weird thing to talk about on the second date, but hey, he knew what he signed up for.
"I think there is just... nothing." He sips his milkshake.
"I believe there's a heaven," I say quietly. "It can't be all for nothing. I don't think it's possible that we live and love and suffer just for it all to end in nothing."
He nods. "That's cute."
"What?"
"That you're so hopeful. You want to believe in it because you would find it depressing if it wasn't true. That's adorable."
I blush and look away.
When we're finished eating, he kisses me again, and I hate it that my brain instantly compares him to James, and wishes that kind of spark that we had.
"So, are we, like, dating now?" he finally asks.
"Yeah, I guess," I say, and smile.
He smiles back.
The next day, James is in school again, and that does not make me happy. Quite the opposite, actually.
We're in the classroom first, and he nods towards me.
"Canmore."
"Miler." We put down our stuff and start unpacking. "You weren't in school yesterday. How come?"
"What, did you miss me, or something?" he grins.
"No," I shout, and I hate that my cheeks heat up. "Answer my question, Miller."
He sighs and fixes his hair. "That's really none of your business."
"You missed a lot of things, you know. Ms. Arquette yelled at me."
"Really?" His face lights up.
"Yeah. I was joking around with Layla and she got all psycho."
He giggles in an annoying manner. I hate him so much.
"Why are you friends with Layla, anyways?" he asks. "She's too kind for you."
"Why are you friends with her? I didn't know you two were on such good terms that she'd invite you to her party."
"Oh, are you still stuck up on that?" He fixes his hair, to my greatest annoyance. "She invited Maud. Maud insisted on me coming with her. I don't think Layla was very happy about that."
"Yeah, well, not just her." I walk up to the window, next to him, to fix the curtains.
He beams and stands close to me. "Why do you hate me so much?"
"How is that a question?" I breathe. His face is uncomfortably close to mine. "You're arrogant, dumb, and you think you're better than me."
"Well, isn't it true?"
"No, it isn't." I walk away, but he grabs my hand. Oh, no. He's going to hurt me, isn't he? Just like how he hurt Ben. That causes me to turn around, and he lets go of my hand. He stuffs his hands in his pockets.
"How's you and Mike?" he asks. His smile seems ingenuine. Why?
"Great," I answer. "We're dating."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
What's happening? This is usually not this uncomfortable. James teases me and I smack him on the head. But not today. Why?!
"How about, you and your 'new girl', Jamie?" I ask finally, imitating Maud's whiny voice at that last part. "I can't imagine someone lonely enough to date you."
"Consider that feeling requited," he says, smiling. "We're great. Maud is awesome. Unlike you."
I smile spitefully, and I look at my watch. "Why isn't anyone here yet?"
"I don't know," he says. "They're usually here by now."
I think and think, and it hits me. "We're in the wrong classroom. They changed our lesson order. French is first. Well, for you, Spanish."
"Right! I forgot."
"What a surprise," I say sarcastically, and I pack my things. I want to walk out of the classroom, but he blocks the doorframe again.
I sigh. Is this going to become a habit?
"Lucy..." What? He never calls me that! "I... just..."
"Just say it, Miller."
"I..." He clears his throat. I notice that his cheeks are bright pink, and he's unable to look me in the eye. Is he... flustered?
"Are you blushing?" I ask in complete surprise.
"No." He looks away, then back at me. "So, uh... can we forget about... Layla's party?"
"What about it?" I pretend to not know what he's talking about. "Oh, you mean the... game?"
"Yeah. Ever since it, you seem so... uncomfortable, and I don't want that. I don't like you, but I also don't want you to feel bad around me."
"Hell of a compliment, Miller."
"I know." He smiles for a moment. "So... can we?"
"Yes, of course. Just don't long for more, alright?" I grin.
"Oh, you don't have to fear that, Canmore." I'm glad we're back to last names now. He awkwardly steps away from the doorframe and gestures me to go. I nod as a thank-you and storm out of the classroom.
That was incredibly uncomfortable. I hope that never happens again.
YOU ARE READING
Blame Gravity
RomanceLucy and James are academic rivals. They always have been. But when Lucy gets a boyfriend James starts acting even ruder than before. Lucy doesn't understand why. After a game of Spin the Bottle everything changes. Lucy's feelings towards James bec...