All The Way

PRE-BATTLE PREP

| 1 |

5:00 am

And the day starts. I knew I should have slept early last night but I've got to ace today's calculus test. Never will I let that stupid prick James top in the class again. I pledged to my hidden chocolate stash that last time won't be repeated. I studied hard and I'll rock. Yes.

Well, I have to get out of bed first. Yeah.

Half asleep, with groggy eyes, I step into my flip-flops towards the bathroom. And like always, it never fails to surprise me how bad my eyebags have gotten. I go about my business, put on a pair of yoga pants with an oversized hoodie, the most comfortable things on the planet and I'm ready to fight anyone who says otherwise.

Walking on my tiptoes so as to not wake my mom and Marie, I make my way towards the kitchen. Opening the half-stashed fridge, I munch on an apple while fixing up today's lunch for Marie and I. Get the groceries by tonight, stat. Noted

6:30 am

Just as I'm about to get my backpack for some last-minute revision, I see Marie coming out of her room.

"Hello there sleepyhead."

"yeah, yeah whatever. Oh, by the way, no need for lunch today, I've got it figured" she says while roaming through the hallway like a ghost. Literally.

"What dude, I made your fave today. You can't do me like that"

"Well you can't expect me to choose PB&Js over a pizza party", she says with a pointed look.

Yup, there's a point.

"Oh, and mom, she came back at 4 this morning, so we're gonna have to get the groceries this time"

"That's okay, who doesn't love grocery shopping," she says bouncing towards her room. Man. I'm jealous of how cheerful she is every morning. One minute she's all ghosty, and then, boom, the happiest kid in the playground.

Our mom is a nurse and started working double shifts since dad died last year. It's been hard on all of us, and that's why I need the scholarship, which I can get only when I beat fricking James Alarie on that test. I'm coming for you, blondie.

Anyways, I do a little revision while Marie gets ready, we pick up our backpacks and phones, head towards the bus, and hop on.

7:45 am

The minute I enter the classroom, I rush toward Cassie, my best friend, and my soulmate. She gets me, man.

"Cassieeeeeeeeeee"

"Tashaaaaaaaaaa" with a bored monotoned voice.

"You prepared for the calculus pop quiz, right? Cause I'm not letting you copy off me again. You do remember how that cost me last time, right" I say with the same monotonous voice.

"Cmon Tasha, you still got an A+. So what you came second, you still did loads better than me and I passed. What can be better than that."

"Me getting the highest grade and beating James, that's what."

"Seriously Tasha, stop being so competitive. What is all this for, are both of you keeping some sort of points on whose winning and all?" she says while laughing like a maniac. Turning heads disrupt me for a second, but I'm used to it by now. We are an odd duo, I get it. Me, the crazy topper who cries for even half a mark, and Cassandra, who barely passes even when I tutor her for all the subjects. Maybe I'm not a good teacher, I guess or it could just be the amount of gossip we do in our study sessions. Cassie is a walking distraction machine.

"We do have points, actually. I'm better at literature, calculus, and biology, and he's better at chemistry, algebra, and lab work. We both kinda suck at physics. So that balances the whole thing until you ruined it last week." I say with a straight face.

"Goodness gracious. You and Thomas are crazy !!! And why do even call him James, I've always thought about it but never asked, you know" she says with curiosity flooding her eyes.

"Oh, that. Well, for some unknown reason, it really annoys him when someone calls him James, so I do it. Kinda keeps the fuel of hatred and competition pumping you know." I say with a mischievous look on my face.

Before Cassie could question me further, the bell rang.

Alright then, time to kick some blonde prick ass.

♡

Classes fly by, biology, literature, and finally, it's wartime.

Turning towards the classroom, I'm shocked to see how everyone is present for Mr. Kumar's pop quiz. Looks like there's some kind of trick he pulled up, cause there is no way in hell that everyone is suddenly interested in calculus. Hell no.

Cassie and I take our seats in the last row, yup, I'm a backbencher. It's strategy mostly. During tests and exams, You maybe get your sheet a little later, but being in the senior year has its perks. Teachers like Mr. Kumar Give a minute or more if someone is almost done. Adding up all the minutes till he reaches me, 'cause everyone treats calculus like rocket science, I get a buffer of around five minutes. And voila, you got yourself extra revision time. Works like a charm.

Mr. Kumar isn't here yet, so I pull out my notes for some revision. A little more revision harms no one, does it?

Just as I'm about to pack everything up, I see James walking into the classroom with his gang. I'm still not over the fact that he's so popular. Let me count the reasons why he became popular in the first place:

1. He's a snob. A stuck-up bitch. What he CAN perfectly do is ignore your existence, but somehow being a bully got him high in ranks with the boys. Stupid generation.

2. He's only got a gang 'cause he's rich. His dad is the owner of the biggest law firm in Manchester, London, and here in Minnesota, The Alarie Group of Firms, and is apparently from an old family of richer snobs. I got no problem with richy-rich people, but there's no need to act like you're god, James on the other hand thinks he's Zeus. Ha.

3. Good looks. I know, I know that it isn't exactly my place to blame his genetics, but He's got herds of girls and BOYS chasing before him. Teenage attraction is so deceiving, not to mention

4. His accent. That man still speaks with the same London accent. He moved to Minnesota when we were all in middle school. I remember him being all scared, so I went to say hi. That accent is still the same. I remember we had lunch that day, the both of us, in the greenhouse. And poof, the next day, he acted like we never met (that's a story for another time). That accent has girls falling around him like flies. Now, I do, by all means, preach Taylor Swift but I don't love a London Boy if that person is James.

Well, lets not waste anymore time on that ass and get prepared for battle.

♡

A/N : do vote the story if you liked it, would mean the world to me :)