Chasing Jamie Williams (on hold)

Chasing Jamie Williams - Chapter 4

Waking up at 5 AM was not an easy task, but being me, I did it way too often. 5 - 7 was homework hours, seeming I couldn't be bothered to give up my boring afternoons to homework. I had a little maths to do, which would normally be done and dusted within a half hour, but bailing on Carter last night was still fresh in my mind, distracting me from anything else. Minutes turned into hours and I finally finished, leaving 10 minutes before homework time ended. In that 10 minutes I had to somehow fit in a breakfast meal. 10 minutes is simply not sufficient for me to cook a decent breakfast, so it's the left over banana bread slices I forgot to add to last night's dinner for me! Though to be honest, I didn't really care. I mean, it's BANANA BREAD. Who wouldn't want that for breakfast?

After filling myself up with banana bread and getting myself ready for the tough day ahead, I proceeded to the family garage, where my tiny, black Mazda hatchback, that looked strangely like a slightly squished egg, sat. I climbed in the drivers seat, shivering at the temperature of the leather seats within. I turned the heater up to full blast, and turned the ignition key, the stereo blaring a random pop song.

The short drive to school was filled with bad drivers, angry drivers and traffic jams, thus making it a long drive to school. I parked in my usual space, around the corner from the school in a secluded street, and sauntered through the school gates. Eventually reaching the cafeteria, I saw Carter conversing with Charlie and Grace, her face morphing from a pleasant look to pure disgust.

"Hey!" I said, waving at the trio. "Um, Carter, listen, I'm-"

"I don't want to hear it, Mason," Carter said, cutting me off. "We're done here. There's nothing more. I've given you plenty of chances, yet you just keep ruining this for yourself."

What Carter did then was completely unexpected. She sashayed right up to me, slapping me as hard as she could, then sauntered off, leaving me stunned and red faced, with a bruise beginning to form.

"Are you alright?" Grace asked, concern lacing her voice.

"Yeah," I stammered, a little dazed. The realisation had finally hit. Carter had dumped me! "I'm just gonna head to class."

"But the bell doesn't go for another ten minutes!" I heard Charlie yell. I didn't look back and I didn't care. I just wanted to escape the awkward situation and avoid all the usual break up questions. Are you okay? Are you sad? Do you wish you'd done it differently? All questions I'm truly not bothered to answer.

The rest of the day passed excruciatingly slowly, and my mind began churning. What if I used Jamie to make Carter jealous at the party? Maybe then she would see I wasn't hung up on her and I had the ability to move on, just like her. There's no doubt she would be making out with the closest guy, so why not try my own luck with Jamie?

Finally the bell signalling the end of the school day rang, and everyone got up and left, ignoring the teachers desperate cries to put our chairs up and don't rush out the door. I slowly made my way down the stairs and to the quad, trying to formulate a plan to get Jamie to agree to go with me to this party. She's not exactly the social star, this may prove more difficult than I first thought.

Jamie was standing alone, underneath the flag poles watching everybody walk past, occasionally looking down at her phone and scanning the crowd. It was a great opportunity to sneak up on her, so I seized that opportunity, and walked around the back of the school. I crept up behind her, launched forward and grabbed her shoulders, shouting in her ear. She leapt off the ground, muttering a string of colourful words, as she turned to face me.

"God darn it, you," she said, a playful smirk present on her face.

"Language, missy," I replied, referring to her choice of words earlier.