The Wallflower of Parkview High

Chapter Five

I arrived at PE early the next day, so I sat down, took out my sketchbook and began to work on my latest drawing as eventually more and more people began to arrive. I tried my best to ignore Zander, who was sitting next to me, but failed and ended up looking at him out of the corner of my eye. He saw me looking at him and offered me a half smile, however it faded when I didn't return it back. I turned away from him just in time for me to see Damien walking by carrying a black case that I've seen some people carry around which I I guessed had some type of instrument inside. Right when he saw me, he eagerly waved at me with a huge smile on his face. I waved back awkwardly.

"Biased much?" I heard Zander mutter under his breath. At his words, my stomach began to clench up and I turned my attention to Mr. Greene who had just walked out with his clipboard in and hand and was scanning the class. He then wrote something down on his clipboard and spoke.

"We're going to be running again today so I want you guys to dress out and bring out a water bottle in case you get thirsty." Mr. Greene told the class. "After you get changed, return to your spot and I'll explain what we are going to be doing in more detail."

I stumbled into the locker room after he dismissed us and made my way to my locker. Copying the way Zander opened my locker yesterday, I pulled out my PE uniform and quickly got changed, making sure not to look at anybody while I did so. As soon as I finished changing, I grabbed my water bottle and got out of there are fast as I could. I then sat down and watched as people began to walk out of the locker rooms.

After most of the people finished changing and sat down, Mr. Greene called for everyone's attention.

"In a few minutes we're going to be going over to Gladstone Park to run." he explained. "You're going to be running with a partner, so I'll give you a minute to find someone you would like to run with. Once you find a partner, I would like you and your partner to jog out to the field and line up next to each other."

My stomach felt like it was in knots when he was done talking. I couldn't find someone to be my partner here, I just couldn't. Yes, I was able to get a partner in history class, but that was because someone asked me to be their partner, not the other way around. I looked around at the other people in my class and saw that most of them were partnered up already.

"Do you have a partner Noah?" Mr. Green's booming voice asked. I jumped and turned around to see him standing there, looking at me.

"Um, I-"

"Let's find you a partner then." he said, cutting me off. I watched as he scanned the people around us, looking for someone who was partner-less so that they could be my partner.

"Zander, can you come here for a minute?" Mr. Greene called, to my absolute horror. Zander, who standing there studying his fingernails, looked up, made an unidentifiable noise, and walked over to where I was standing with Mr. Greene.

"Zander, do you mind being Noah's partner for the run today?" he asked.

"Not at all." Zander said in the most flat and uninterested voice I've ever heard. I bit my lip as he looked me over, as if he was sizing me up and deciding how useful I was to him.

"Great!" Mr. Greene exclaimed. With that, he walked away, leaving us awkwardly standing there together. I couldn't help the tired sigh that left my lips as I wrapped my arms around myself, wanting a way to sheild my body from the slightly cold weather.

"Come on." Zander muttered, nudging the tip of my shoe with his own.

"W-What?"

"We're supposed to jog out to the field once we find a partner, remember?" he told me.