The Flynn Effect

15 | man of my dreams

Jo

"YESTERDAY, WE TALKED about how some human genetic disorders can be ascribed to the inheritance of single gene traits or—" Miss Kate taps the whiteboard and circles the word 'Non-disjunction' repeatedly. "—some distinct chromosomal changes such as Non-disjunction."

I look down at my table and circle the word in my textbook with a red pen. I flip to the next page and look back up when the door to the class bursts open. Craig Johnston strides in like a man who owns the world. As usual, he's putting on the swim captain varsity jacket and it makes me wonder if he never takes it off. He glances around like he's looking for someone and then has the nerve to smirk when he meets my glare.

"Craig, you're late." Our AP biology teacher says with a pointed look and he nods.

"I'm sorry. Practice took longer than normal today," he says like he's truly sorry.

A girl next to me swoons and rests her chin on her palm while staring at him. She probably thinks he's Jesus and doesn't know how much of a dick he is.

Miss Kate nods and waves him away. "Take a seat."

He sashays over to my row and to his luck and my misfortune, there's an empty seat right behind me. He pushes his table and chair forward until I can feel the edge of his table against the back of my chair and then he decides to take a seat.

I'm fuming without even realizing it. A few students turn to us and look away as Miss Kate drones on and I move my chair forward but it makes a screeching sound that disrupts the flow of her teaching. Heat floods my cheek immediately she and the rest of the class turn to me and she raises a brow.

"Everything okay there?"

I nod and look away, hoping all the attention can move away from me as fast as possible. It does but I'm still not satisfied because I'm not far away from Craig enough. His legs spread out from under his table and kicks mine. I turn my head around as slowly as possible and find him staring at me with a raised brow and a smirk as if asking me what I'll do about it.

"Stop it," I whisper harshly and turn back around. But that's the thing with Craig. He never really listens.

The first time I noticed him was in junior year. I'd just joined this class and he wasn't invisible like I was. Far from it. Instead, he was smart, easygoing and I thought he was really cool. Then I found out he was in the swim team and he'd offered to help me study for an exam. I had no idea it was all a facade and he sucked me in. And I fell pathetically.

"Any of you research those disorders like I told you to?" Miss Kate asks bringing my attention back to the class and no one raises their hand. I did but the last thing I'll do is raise my hand to answer a question in class.

"No one?" She looks round and folds her arms. Craig kicks my feet again and it takes every ounce of self-control not to snap at him.

"Alright then. I'm just going to ask," she says and I slouch on my seat.

"Tay-sachs disease?"

A girl's hand is up. Miss Kate nods. "Autosomal recessive."

Miss Kate smiles and leans against the table. "Oh, so you actually did a research? Meaning you all did and refused to speak up, right?"