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As Jake sat in his free period, watching his friends deal out another hand of cards for a game of poker, he knew that he had completely, utterly, purely fucked up. Lunch had been a disaster, and not a small one.
When he had first got in the queue for food, there had been a slight discomfort he felt in his stomach - nerves and anxiety - but this had been tolerable. It was only natural - after all, who wouldn't feel on edge when they were about to go and ask out the girl they'd liked for years on end? He was going to apologise to Natalia for Biology, and then ask her if she'd be interested in going on a date with him to take things slow... at least, slower than the way things had been going.
It had been a great idea... until he heard his best mate asking her for her number and her excitedly giving it, accompanied by a kiss on the cheek.
Fucking fantastic!
He swore at himself mentally for thinking that Natalia had ever liked him and then swore quietly out loud that his best mate - his best mate who knew the way he felt about her - was asking her out. But he also found himself being angry at Natalia. Strange, he knew. It was unreasonable to be mad at her, as all she had done was like someone that wasn't him, but the fact that it was James stung more than it would have for anyone else.
Apologising to Natalia, of course, still had to be done, but now, he had to erase any suspicions she may have about his feelings towards her. So, to Jake, it appeared obvious that the only fitting solution was to pretend to like another girl - there were plenty of other girls he could have named, other than Rachel Novak, but deep down, perhaps he wanted to piss Natalia off... just a bit.
So, now Jake supposedly liked Rachel Novak - a pretence he hoped he wouldn't have to visibly maintain - and Natalia and James were both in love - something that made Jake furious as he watched said best mate over his hand of playing cards. Even the sight of him made him grit his teeth in annoyance. He considered challenging him about his intentions with Natalia, but was stopped, as an announcement rang out over the sound system in the Sixth Form common room.
"Due to absent teachers, it appears that all of Year Thirteen is now in a free period. As a result, this period should be used as an additional sex education lesson. The work for this period can be found at the office and will be given to you by Miss Spade."
When Natalia heard this news, she was struck by waves of irritation and disappointment. There was no greater feeling than getting an additional free period due to an ill teacher, but she hadn't even been able to enjoy this satisfaction for more than a minute, before Mr Whitaker's stupid announcement. Begrudgingly, she made her way to the Sixth Form office and took what appeared to be a sheet of printed questions from the secretary.
