𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 ( 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡 )

𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙮-𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

fleeting glances

the tension between me and running out the back door right before fifth period was palpable. unless maeve planned on doing the same, i could avoid seeing her and the revolting image of her and my cousin being together in my mind. but there was a slim chance of that. we had a test that we'd been reviewing for in class for days, so i one hundred percent knew she would be there, sitting across from me as i struggle to focus on bubbling in answers about the berlin airlift. this was the first time i didn't want to go to ap world for a reason apart from seeing my teacher or a test. what an odd feeling?

in the case of gym class, i had walker and a hunch that jordyn would be avoiding me as well. luckily, when walker and i entered the gymnasium, that was proven correct. i knew that we basically agreed on who the cast would be, but putting out a list without maeve felt illegal. and i didn't even want to talk about her to walker, so in gym we played thumb war until forced to play basketball. i was unfairly destroyed in the thumb war. but at least i got him back in the courts. i also beat a few other classmates that joined in. it was fun; a nice distraction.

fifth period unavoidably came around. i dragged my feet to mr fennel's class. there he was with his hairy self (except for his head, of course), passing out answer sheets. and naturally, maeve was there as well, passing out. yes, she was asleep at our table. her head was pillowed on her forearms, which were crossed on the plastic tabletop.

i questioned if she was actually asleep or just resting so she could mentally prepare for the test. so as an little experiment, i slammed my bookbag onto the table. it simply quivered and she just stirred. 

i dithered, unsure on whether to wake her up or not. we had a test and all, but the last thing i wanted to do was have to interact with her upfront. i could already imagine it: i'd go over to her, tap her shoulder a few times, she'd swat me away like i was a gnat, finally arise, and give me a dirty look. and i would probably apologize for waking her up.

clearly the only option was to volunteer mr fennel to do it, so i waited for him to give maeve's bubble sheet to her. he approached our table, humming a tune jollily. oddly, he seemed to be in a better mood than usual -- he must have missed being able to hog the bathroom with one less person in the house.

i stiffened in anticipation as he reached out the paper in front of him. but then i sighed in dissatisfaction. without looking, he let the sheet slip out of his hand and glide back and forth through the air before finally falling... right on top of maeve's head. he continued to make his way around the classroom as people piled in, completely unaware that he'd just created what could've been the hot new sleeping headwear trend.

i couldn't just sit there and let maeve be unknowingly mortified. i heard jake whisper to his friends and they all snickered. before i knew it, fennel was throwing a sheet at me. i needed to wake her up now, or she'd fail the test on behalf of incompletion and be the reason everyone else failed trying not to laugh at her.