𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 | Ben Clark

007. Embarrassment

Chapter 7: Embarrassment
It was only fair that she would be stuck in a predicament like he was.

At this very moment in the early morning, Vera, though it didn’t look like it, lacked sleep.

The entire morning she felt a need to busy herself with tasks, ranging from cleaning, cooking even if she wasn’t going to eat any of it, packing and realizing you didn’t really need it for the trip.

Even now as she made sure each student got into the bus beside the two parent assistants, even having to grab someone by their backpack for walking backwards and almost having an accident on the bus’ small staircase. Anything to relieve the unscratchable itch that only taking action on anything her eyes lay upon could bring.

Maybe she was staring too intensely at the papers in her hand but Vera wasn’t easy to startle. But today Thomas Walter was able to do just that.

Placing his hand on her shoulder, Vera’s first instinct was to scoot away but looking up to her teacher smiling down in a way she could only describe to be comforting. And soon enough he was opting for her to get on the bus only for her to inevitably oblige within a second or two.

For a moment she stood at the front to double check if every one of her classmates were truly there and if she was allowed to defend herself on why she was acting like this? She’d argue that someone was once left behind. 

But seemingly her history teacher was having none of it. Giving her a gentle push as if to encourage her to take a seat and it almost made her look like a bambi that was just learning to walk. And honestly to anyone the infamous Vera Jackson being as unstrung as she was now was a sight for sore eyes. It was unlike the usually carefree student leader that would let you skip class and would even tell you the best spots to cut class and not be caught, but made you promise to not do it the next time.

Well it was safe to say that she was off her game today, it was a first even. 

Looking for a seat it was a first to see the spot beside her best friend be occupied with someone else that wasn’t her much less someone at all.

And to see it was the ever smiling fake blonde it was almost to be expected even to her of all people. Throughout the whole weekend she saw Clark one followed by Clark two hanging out at the Banner’s place, and honestly they were a nice bunch. Even when Aiden was a bit pushy with personal space she found him to be a guy who, just like she assumed, didn’t know how to socialize properly. But putting into account how he was with his cousin Ben he was definitely a good kid. He just needed to work on reading people but that takes time and she was sure soon enough he would be able to do that but not today.

Finding an empty space to sit at and to find it ironically near Ben who throughout the weekend avoided her gaze as she sat down next to him.

Well she did get to talk to him in a one sided conversation over the weekend and hopefully just from the comfortable proximity and how his shoulders weren’t rigid nor tense she’d like to think he was at the very least comfortable to be around her. Just not looking her in the eye which was absolutely fine in her standards but makes her wonder because before he would make eye contact. Basing it off from interacting with an array of students who she couldn’t level out with. But with time hopefully from what she could reason from her experience he’d be comfortable enough for them to meet eye to eye.

Well not to blame Vera but I as the narrator had to narrate this boy butcher his pride with the whole towel incident. I don’t blame the boy.

As Mr. Thomas animatedly talked at the front whilst checking his watch about knowledge that everyone was fairly familiar with but still needed to be repeated. After all, some people still needed to have the schedule of the trip repeated to them to be able to remember it well.Vera had to commend him, he was getting better at this teacher thing.