No Status Quo

5. Stuck

Avoiding someone is so hard, I swear. 

Especially if that someone is Ren Accetta. That's what I tried to do; leaving the room when he entered, forcing myself not to look back at him whenever I felt his gaze, sitting away as far as possible from him. I give up now, seriously. Even chemistry, also known as my favorite subject, was brutal. My head was so filled with Ren that I couldn't concentrate on the equation I was solving. He kept creeping back into my head just when I really needed my focus. Hence I got a few answers wrong. 

The rest of the week was uneventful. I made a new routine for our cheer squad and impressed the Coach easily. All the other teachers were happy with my work submission. I went out with Amy and Kate, got the dress I wanted from Chanel. Whatever I did, I still couldn't help but think about Ren. I don't know why it bothered me that students were treating him harshly, just because of his status. I hadn't been any different either. I know I was mostly being selfish. But not everyone had their name on the top of the popularity ranking list, not everyone had the perfect hourglass figure, dark hair like mine, grey eyes, and of course, full lips. 

Anyway, it was odd that whenever someone ridiculed Ren, I felt myself feeling helpless yet wanting to do something for him. It was really odd. How easily I had laughed at Veronica Landry's green hair, made fun of Jeremy's drawings with everyone else...but now? I couldn't do either at him. Thinking about it made me restless. 

It rained cats and dogs over the weekend so I was able to sleep well. Like my mom, I find comfort in the rain. 

People greeted me in the parking lot earlier in the morning, and as usual I waved and smiled back. Except for boys. It's become a habit now. I even denied Cam when he asked me for dinner tonight, why won't he get it. The rest of the day passed real quick, partly because I had good classes. 

School's going to be over in an hour. I told Aunt Olivia I would do the cooking today, and baking too. I was on my way to the locker room to change back to my clothes (we had cheer practice before) but upon hearing too-familiar voices, I halted in my tracks. The laughter's coming from English 2. I think of entering the room but decide against it when I hear Kate exclaim, 

"Guys, Amy did it! Now it's our time."

"Are you sure it's safe?" Rory seems stressed. 

"It's just champagne, we're giving our new student a welcome." I can hear the smile in Cam's voice and I don't like the sound of it. "Have you seen how he looks at Gina?" 

"Okay so," Kate says urgently, "The bucket's on the top of the door at the languages corridor. We have ten minutes, Accetta would be there on his way now, he has a class." 

Stunned, I understand right away what their plan is. As I hear the scraping of chairs, I hastily run from there and take a shortcut towards the language hall. In my haste, I nearly trip on the staircase. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Ren walking towards the blue door. 

"Stop!" I yell, slapping my hand to my mouth immediately. Quiet. They could've heard me. 

He turns, his eyes confused, "Huh?" 

"Here's the thing." I lower my voice, "You cannot go there." 

"And why not?"

"Teacher's not here." Easy.  

"I saw her in break." 

"You have no class today." That should work. 

"She didn't say so." He says in his rugged voice and I grimace. "Look, if you're trying to make a joke, stop." 

I stare at him, "Why would I play a joke on you?" I say in disbelief, how could he think that. "Look, on the other side of that door, doom awaits you." or champagne anyway.