If Only

Chapter 4- The Someone I Ran Into

 It used to be just your average high school but now it looks like a mansion. Sometimes I wish it didn't look like a mansion though. It makes people think that we're rich and snobby, which isn't the case for most people given a few exceptions like Ayasha and her clique. They were snobs, and I have no problem admitting that.

"Are you even listening to me?" Nadia pulls me back into reality. We've stopped in the middle of the common area.

"What? Oh, of course I was. You were talking about uh..." I think. What was she talking about?!

"The football team. I was talking about the football team. Well, this is where we part ways. See ya at lunch." Nadia smiles. I wave and start walking back to the locker rooms. Please don't be there, please don't be there, please don't be there, I think to myself over and over again, praying that the football players aren't still hovering in the hallway. And to my advantage, they aren't. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. I make my way silently into the locker room and toss my tissue. I examine my nose in the mirror. A giant bruise had begun to form but the bleeding had stopped. I sigh and open my gym locker, stripping from my uniform and redressing.

"Well, if it isn't Screw up 2.0." someone says behind me. They grab my shirt.

"Hey," I whirl around looking at Ayasha, "give it back! And I am not a screw up!" I begin to jump for it as they hold it above my head. Everyone laughs. Ayasha throws the shirt at me and scoffs, walking away. I curse at her under my breath and finish getting dressed. It's official. I hate physical education.

I walk through the flooded halls, people swerving in and out of the crowds, half of them walking the opposite way of the majority, like salmon swimming up a stream. People jut in and out of classrooms. I spot Alphie ahead of me and attempt to call out to him but he quickly heads into a classroom. I sigh, heading to my history class in the west wing. If I'm being honest, this is about the only class I understand anything in. Maybe it's because the teacher is really old and really cool and he doesn't take forever to teach. He gets straight to the point. I take a seat near the window, dropping my stuff on the ground next to me. The door slams shut and the teacher begins to talk. Someone takes a seat next to me. I look over to see Bryon Lee, the only football player I know the name of.

"Wassup, Flasher." he snickers. I shoot him a glare and go back to looking out the window. This was going to be one long class.

"Alright. And that's a wrap. Students that have A lunch may now head out. The rest of you can chill for the last half an hour." the teacher says. Thank God for A lunch, I sigh, retrieving my supplies and leaving. I head to my locker in the east wing and then head to the cafeteria on the second floor in the south wing. Our school is split into three separate lunches and I am glad I have first lunch, that being A lunch. I take my seat next to Nadia, who's teasing Reuben about his accent, Reuben being half Indian from his father's side. I watch them tease each other. I fake a cough to get their attention. They shush me and go back to teasing and flirting. I shake my head and get in line to get my food.

"I didn't make you bleed earlier, right?" someone behind me asks.

"What?" I turn around and see Number One standing there.

"When I ran into you. Well, you ran into me but still, I wasn't the reason you were bleeding. Right?" he asks.

"No, you weren't." I answer, turning back around.

"Mhm." he makes a noise before continuing. "So, what's your name? I'm Darion. Darion White. Football player. Freshman though I take some upper classes." he introduces.

"Fleur. Fleur Moss. Average girl. Freshman." I answer.

"Average. Huh, strange. Most average girls don't push football players while holding their bloody noses, screaming 'let go of me.'" he mocks. I roll my eyes. "You know, my friends made fun of me for that. Usually girls don't push me away so when you shoved me, they laughed. At me of course, not you." he adds.

"Then I guess I'm not an average girl, huh." I comment.

"Definitely not." he replies.

"Hey kids, keep it moving!" one of the lunch ladies yelled. I look in front of me to see a big gap. I quickly move forward, grabbing my bowl of lettuce that they call a salad. Well, at least there's ranch this time.

I take a seat at the lunch table and begin to stab at my lettuce. Reuben and Nadia don't even realize I came back. I take a bite, crunching as loud as I can. Nadia shoots me a glare and goes back to poking Reuben's chubby cheeks. I roll my eyes. I look around, my eyes stopping when I see Darion staring at me. We make eye contact. Awkward eye contact. He waves and smiles, catching me off guard. I almost choke on my salad, waving back. The moment however doesn't last long before someone decides to open their mouth.