change of pace

enough

chapter nineteen

The alarm blared into my ears as I opened my heavy eyes to a dimly lit room. Its the first day back at school after suspension and I'm dreading every moment of it. I quickly tie my frizzy hair up in a green scrunchie while heading down the hall. Dad sits at the counter reading a newspaper.

"Ready for the big day?" he looks up.
"Not at all." I say grabbing the orange juice carton from the fridge.
"Remember, just ignore them."
"I know, I know." I say pouring it into a glass and chugging.

My backpack feels heavy having not carried it around in a while, but I ignore it and head out the door to wait for Eddie to pull up. His tires screech up next to the curb and muffled music blasts from the rolled up windows. I shake my head and start slugging myself over to his car.

"Good mornin' sweetheart." Eddie's swollen sleepy eyes look at me.
"Hi baby." I say smiling at him as he drives fast out of my neighborhood.
"Ready to rock it?" he says after pulling into the school parking lot.
"Not exactly..." I grab my bag from the floor.
"Hey." Eddie puts his hand on my shoulder. "I'm here, okay? No one's gonna mess with you." his sympathetic eyes look at me. I look into them for a moment before being interrupted by a slam on the driver's side window. Eddie snaps his head over angrily to see Dustin smiling.
"Motherfucker..." he sighs having been startled. Eddie opens his door being the sweet man he is and says, "What do you want, fuckface?"
"Woah, didn't mean to interrupt," he leans back, "but I really need to talk to Jessie." Dustin makes his way over to the passenger's side. I open my door and crawl out. Eddie does the same.
"What's up, Dustin?" I ask as Eddie makes his way over and wraps his arms around my shoulders from behind. He sets his chin on top of my head.
"Well...Lucas made the team!" he says excited but it disappears as he looks up at Eddie who I can sense made a face at the news. I reach up and poke at his face for him to stop and Dustin smirks.
"That's great! When's his first game?" I say excited as well.
"He said something about in October but the first pep rally is next week and I was wondering if you two would come and support him? He would really like it to se-"
"Of course we're going Dustin!" I say smiling at him.
"We-" Eddie tries to object, but I interrupt. "Yes, we will definitely be there!" I say.
"Okay, well, cool! I'm gonna go meet up with him and Mike, so, see you at lunch!" Dustin practically skips away.
"Ya know, you're just going to have to hear me moan and groan the whole time so it would probably be better if I skipped this one." Eddie says grabbing my hand as we begin walking to the building.
"Not that it would make a difference. I hear you moan and groan all the time, baby!" I say sarcastically and he rolls his eyes.

Many stares reached our way as I walked in. I felt like shrinking into a ball. My face felt hot and I leaned my way into Eddie who let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around me as response. "I'm right here..." he reassured me and my breathing slowly became normal again. Once arriving to my locker, Eddie's eyes scanned everyone that walked past us as I quickly grabbed what I needed. I slammed the door shut and grabbed his hand which prompted him to stop looking around and to walk again.

"Do you want me to meet you at your classes to walk with you?" he says as we get closer to my first period.
"No, you need to go to class."
"Jess, it'll be fine if I miss-"
"Eddie."
"Okay..." he lets go of my hand as we arrive at my classroom, "I'll see you at fourth then." he smiles.
"See you then." I smile back and begin my way over to my seat. Robbie looks up at me concerned.
"Oh, Robbie, I'm so sorry about the project! Is there anything you want me to work on at home?" I say remembering a whole week gone has a crucial effect on our assignment.
"No, Jessie, don't worry about it. How are you feeling?" he says seemingly not upset at me for not working on the project.
"I'm...okay. What did I miss in class?"
"Well, I made a copy of the notes from the days you were gone..." Robbie opens his folder to notes with his handwriting on a printed copy. I smile as I grab them.
"Thank you, Robbie, you're a lifesaver!" I say examining the notes.
"Well look who finally showed up." Cathy walks her way over to her seat near us. I ignore her but Robbie continues to look at her scared.
"How's it feel to be the most disliked girl in school?" Cathy leans her weight on her desk.
"Actually, all I've been hearing is how everyone's glad someone finally put Trent in his place..." Robbie mumbles quietly.
"Alright, everyone, take your seats please." Ms. Kerry finally starts the class.