Nobodies [ a. irwin ]

seven

My alarm woke me up at 7 am sharp on Monday as per usual, meaning I had one hour and a half to get to school.

I quickly made my way into my bathroom, had a bath and then proceeded to go to my closet to pick my outfit.

Differently from almost the whole human population, I was indeed a morning person.

I chose on wearing a jean shirt tucked in a simple school-girl type navy skirt, topped off with a grey cardigan and some simple blue-navy flats.

I tied my hair up in a loose ponytail and after applying the makeup basics, which were mascara and red lipstick as Lucy called them, I picked up my school bag and headed downstairs for breakfast.

If I were in my grandparent's house grandma would have prepared me a breakfast worthy of the royal family, but since I wasn't (I had left their house yesterday), I just poured myself some milk and some cereal in a bowl and ate silently on the kitchen island.

Later that day when I met Ashton outside our English classroom, I didn't mention his text, simply because this whole friendship process was happening too fast and I was feeling a little lost.

I decided not to overthink this too much and instead just go with the flow. That's what people did, right?

Mr. Hendisburg, our English teacher, gave us the entire period to group up and work with our partners on the project, so soon enough I was sitting next to Ashton and we were trying to come up with good ideas for the project, but failing miserably.

''Picking out a classic shouldn't be this hard.'' He complained, even though it sounded more like he was whining than as if he was actually complaining.

''Well, I've given you all my ideas but apparently they aren't good enough for you.'' I huffed frustratedly.

''They're all related somehow to books!'' He raised his voice.

''So?'' I asked, not seeing how that was a bad thing.

''I've never even heard about half of those dudes, who are probably already dead too by the way, much less read one of those books!''

''It's not my fault you don't know anything about classic literature!'' I shot back, throwing my hands up in the air.

''Says the girl who's never watched a decent movie before!''

We were yelling at this point but nobody even noticed our argument. We just seemed to be another two faces in the crowd and I think that could sum us up quite well.

I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms. I put on my blank face and looked at him, ready for war. ''That's true. Is this discussion getting us anywhere productive? Because if not I may as well just ask Mr. Hendisburg to do this by myself. I know I sure as hell wouldn't mind and I know for a fact that it'd make things much easier for me.''

He looked taken aback by my response for a minute. Then he shook his head slightly and sighed, rubbing his eye tiredly. ''You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. Let's do this.''

I nodded slowly before speaking again, this time more calmly. ''It's just a dumb school project about a classic though, why are you being so picky?''

''I just don't want it to be about something completely random. I want to actually make a good project about something that matters to me, you know?'' He replied, twirling his pen between his fingers.

''Yeah.'' I nodded understandingly.

''Plus, I really do need to get a good grade.'' He laughed and I joined in.

''Wait, are you telling me you're not a huge nerd?'' I asked, raising an eyebrow with a playful grin.

He rolled his eyes. ''Believe it or not but I have to study my ass off to pass my classes.''

I started chuckling. ''You look like such a nerd though!''

He raised an eyebrow confusedly. ''Is that a compliment?''

I nodded eagerly. ''Of course it is! Being called a nerd is one of the best compliments someone can give you! It means they don't only think you're smart. You're more than that. You're.. a nerd. You know things most people don't and you are smarter than most people are. That shouldn't ever make you feel bad because honestly, being a nerd is way better than being dumb.'' When I finished my little speech, I was almost out of air due to speaking too fast.

I looked at Ashton and he was staring at me wide-eyed.

I furrowed my eyebrows. ''What? I rambled again, didn't I? Dammi-''

He interrupted me, shaking his head and leaning forward on his chair, a smile on his face and his dirty blonde locks faking slightly on his eyes. ''No no, it's just that.. I thought I was the only one who thought that way.''

I tilted my head, frowning slightly. ''Well, that's a very dumb thing to think since there are 7.1 billion people in this world and it's obvious that someone else would think like yo-''

He interrupted me again, this time by covering my mouth with his surprisingly huge hand. He was laughing more than I had ever seen him laugh before and I didn't quite get the reason why since I wasn't even trying to be funny, I was just saying a fact. ''Shut up, Emma. Just shut up.''

It took him about a minute to calm down and when he did the bell rang and everybody started packing their bags to leave the classroom, including Ashton and I.

''Well, we still don't have anything to do our project about.'' He pointed out, when we were already standing outside of the classroom.

''I know, I know.'' I sighed, nodding my head. ''This is a tragedy. I can't believe I'm letting you ruin my perfect grades.''

He smirked. ''You can thank me later.''

I rolled my eyes and after we said our goodbyes, we parted our ways, each one of us going to our next class of the day.