New Girl on the Block

Chapter Two: Benjamin

"Come on! Stop being so stupid, Anderson!" Coach shouts at me, smacking me upside my helmet. "Yes, Coach," I groan, resetting back to my position. We re-run the drill, and this time I do it at least somewhat right because Coach simply scowls at me instead of beating me upside the head. "What are you, the favorite now?" Jeremy says, laughing as we walk back to the locker room. "Guess so..." I joke back.

I quickly shower and get dressed in, as Jeremy calls them, my "civilian clothes:" black jeans, white Nike tennis shoes, gray t-shirt, and navy blue sweatshirt. "Come on, Anderson!" Jeremy calls, so I throw one strap of my backpack onto my shoulder and jog up to Jeremy. He holds the door open for me as I slide out right before he closes it.

"You ready for the game Friday?" Jeremy asks as we walk up the stairs from the athletic hall. Other students pass us as we make our way to the high school foyer. "Eh..." I mutter. Coach has been riding me about not screwing up this week's game. It's the first game of the season, and Coach always wants us to make an impression. A really good impression. "Eh?" Jeremy says, distracting himself by winking at a group of volleyball girls who reject him every time he asks one of them out.

I laugh at his ignorant act then say, "Yeah. I mean Coach wants us to win-"

"No," Jeremy cuts me off, "Coach doesn't just want us to win; he wants us to destroy the other team!" He says with a laugh that sounds more like a voice crack. "Exactly my point," I say, stopping at the front of the hall. Jeremy adjusts his bag on his back. "You ready to go defeat the torturous high school game locally known as geometry?" Jeremy says, causing me to laugh.

He always has and always will absolutely despise geometry. The only way he's passing right now is because he's taking an online tutoring session and an in-person one. "Yeah, let's go," I tell him, and he sighs with disappointment and annoyance.

We walk down the hall and step inside Mrs. Voong's classroom. A girl with long blonde hair and an outfit most definitely defying the ridiculous school dress code stands in front of Mrs. Voong's desk. "Oo, la, la," Jeremy whispers, his eyes floating dangerously below the girl's waist.

"Pfft! You can hardly get a girl to look in your direction. I don't you'll be able to get a girl to flirt with you," I tell him as I take my seat in the front of the classroom. Jeremy rolls his eyes and goes to his seat.

"Right there, dear," Mrs. Voong says, pointing to a desk for the new girl to take. Mrs. Voong walks to the front of the classroom and connects her iPad to the TV hanging on the wall. "Take out your notes, and let's get started," she announces, and the class listens. "Wow...y'all are actually doing what I tell you. Are y'all sick?" Mrs. Voong jokes as she scrolls on her iPad to today's notes section.

Mrs. Voong begins teaching, but my attention keeps drifting to the new girl sitting on the opposite side of the room from me. She's fidgeting with her pen cap. I wonder where she used to live before here. She's clearly not from Cali. She doesn't look like she's from up north either. Maybe she's-

"Benjamin!" Mrs. Voong calls at me, pulling my attention away from the new girl and her attention to this side of the room. "Sorry, what was the question?" I ask timidly, blood rushing to my cheeks with embarrassment. Mrs. Voong rolls her eyes and asks, "What does supplementary mean?" Ugh...I hate vocab questions. I can do anything in geometry except vocab questions. "Uhh..." I stutter, and Mrs. Voong rolls her eyes again. "Can anyone else answer the question?" She asks, scanning the room as kids raise their hands. She settles on the new girl with curiosity.

Mrs. Voong tilts her head down and says, "Helena?" Helena?! That's this girl's name!? What is she...a fricking Greek goddess?

"Two measures that add up to a hundred and eighty degrees," the girl says, and Mrs. Voong seems satisfied with her answer. "Good. Now, flip to page seven, and start writing," Mrs. Voong instructs, and I force myself to focus on my school work. Why in the world am I so drawn to this girl? I mean, she's not really much different than any other girl I've...been with.

She glances over here, most likely looking at Mrs. Voong since she's directly in front of me. I roll my eyes at myself and attempt to focus on the lesson instead of my weird new obsession with a new girl. I refocus and start writing down what Mrs. Voong has already.

Toward the end of the class, while Mrs. Voong has us doing our homework, Jeremy leans over his desk behind me and whispers, "I'm gonna get that girl's number over there." I glance over at her. She's turned around in her seat, her homework page on the desk behind her, talking to the girl occupying the seat. "Yeah...you're gonna fail," I say with a laugh. There isn't any way he's actually going to get her to give him her number.

"Oh shut up!" Jeremy says, sitting back in his chair.

When Mrs. Voong releases us to pack our things in the last five minutes of class, Jeremy gets up and immediately goes to the new girl's desk. I cross my arms in front of my chest and lean back in my chair as I watch what I assume is going to be an absolute masterpiece of Jeremy getting annihilated by the new girl on the block.

Jeremy waltzes over to the girl and begins talking as she's trying to pack up her things. Her pink lips slowly tug into a smile, and she, surprisingly, scribbles something on an orange sticky note and hands it to Jeremy. He takes her hand and kisses the top of it like he's some sort of a gentleman. I roll my eyes as he waves the orange square of paper in front of me. "Okay, okay. You've proved your point. Let's go now before your ego gets so big and you explode!" I joke, and this time he rolls his eyes.