Ain't Shady Baby, I'm Hot

18

"Ma. You didn't tell me I was enrolled in senior level courses." I spoke as I walked into her classroom my eyes glued on my schedule.

"Well you completed all the Junior ones last year so the office had to push you into those. Don't worry, you don't have to graduate after this academic year. Hun, can you help me?" I looked up from my schedule and ran over to grab the picture frame encasing a world map.

"Ma, I told you that you should have let JJ and John B hang this up the other day." I let out a small huff as I rose the frame higher.

"Hush. Give me two minutes and I'll have it hung." I stayed quiet as she went hunting for her tools. "I'll just use a chair." She mumbled to herself.

When she got the desk over to the frame I sighed in relief, before we both found out that even on the chair she was still too short.

"Oh for crying out loud." I couldn't help but laugh slightly. The slight moment reminded me I was still holding the large frame.

"You're lucky this frame isn't as heavy as it should be." I groaned out as I took turns moving my fingers to keep blood flow.

"Oh, hold on. Let me see if I can find someone." Then she left.

"Uh, Ma?" I turned my head slightly to find an empty room. "Of course." I sighed, my head bowing forward as I tried to not touch my head on the glass.

"Xena, I found this wonderful young man to help." She was very giddy as she came back in.

"Fantastic. Is he tall?" I asked without turning around.

"I'd say I'm well above average." My stomach dropped at the smirk in his voice. This is not the plan.

"Hmm. Unfortunately well above average isn't good enough. Ma, don't they have custodial staff with ladders?" I still didn't turn around. I didn't want to see the smugness.

"Xena, be nice. He offered his help. Here, sweetie, go ahead and use this chair. You should be able to reach." I felt him get close to my ear.

"Try not to drop it, Xena, hmm." My nostril twitched at his whisper. Son of a bitch.

"I'll drop it on your head if you don't get this hung up." I hissed back, my fingers once again going numb.

"So violent. I'm just trying to help." He rose his hands as if he was defenseless.

"Xena, play nice." My mom chided. I rolled my eyes and proceeded to glare at the map in front of me.

"Yes, Xena. Play nice." I felt a shiver roll down my spine.

"Just hang the picture, Rafe, please." I ground out through clenched teeth.

"Since you asked so nicely." I heard him hit the wall three times before some pressure was released on my right side. Then he moved to the other side and quickly got the nail in to hang the left of the frame.

"There you go. All good." Rafe's smile hid the smirk that burned in his eyes as he played my mother like a fiddle.

"I'll see you around, Xena." I crossed my arms and swallowed my comment back as he sent me a mocking wink.

This Prince knew how to play.

"He was quite handsome." My mom spoke as we watched him leave the classroom.

"Yeah, if handsome stood for: heckler and narcissistic dick, seriously obnoxious motherfucking enemy." My mom rose an eyebrow as I finished my train of thought.

"Oh you have got yourself in deep."

"What?" I asked turning to look at her. I saw this knowing look in her eyes as she saw something I didn't see.

"Oh don't worry about me. Your enemy should be your main focus." I squinted my eyes at her.

"You know what, I don't even want to know. I'm gonna go find my first class though. I'll see you in fifth period, Ma." I grabbed my backpack off the floor and proceeded out the door.

"I'll see you later, Xena."

I walked outside and immediately saw groups of kids wandering around. Their eyes naturally drawing towards me.

I put a small smile on my face as I took a look at my schedule before moving down the hallway to find the room number for my Calculus class.

This was going to be terrible.

_______•*•*•*•_______

I don't think I could be more grateful for the fact that the first day of class is used for going over the syllabus.

Calculus homework, none.
Chemistry II homework, none.
English IV homework, none.
Graphic Design homework, none.

I was already halfway done with the first day and have yet to be assigned anything. Mostly because I already put the assignments into my calendar while covering it in class. All that was left of my day was World History and then athletics. Or as I like to call it, workout prep waiting for basketball season and extra minutes outside of boxing.

I'm not even sure what this athletic program is going to look like. Honestly, I'm worried. I need competition and a team, not some social media guru who records everything from when they wake up to when they go to sleep.

Who knows. I may be surprised. After all. How much different could Kooks really be?

I shook the thought from my mind as I threw away my lunch trash and made my way across the building towards my history class. As I exited the library a few students eating in the foyer looked at me in curiosity.

I chuckled slightly and shot them a wave. The chuckle turned into a laugh as I saw the red cheeks of the young teens as they noticed I had caught them.

I kept the smile on my face as I weaved through the building. People finishing up their lunches and moving around made the large hallways much more crowded.

When I finally made it to the Skywalk I nearly let out a breath of relief. When I made it to my classroom I sent the teacher a kind smile as I set my bag down one of the desks at the front.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Bayford."