Why so dense human?!

Part 2

"Nicole."

"Nicole?"

"Nicole!"

I sprang forward in my bed only to fall back down, grab my cover and duck beneath it. Catching a glimpse of sunlight so early in the day was considered cruelty. I poked my head from under the cover and gave my brother the evil eye. Even though he was only four years old, he was a pain. With his light green innocent eyes he looked down at me and smiled.

"Mommy said breakfast," he said, then scurried out of the room.

I groaned loudly, got out of bed, and headed downstairs. After reaching the bottom step I was instantly hit with the smell of burnt pancakes. Mom was obviously trying a new recipe again. They were always the same either burnt, lopsided, or were watery even when they shouldn't have contained water at all. The biggest problem, however, was the fact that even though they came out horrible the family was still obligated to eat them.

 "Morning mom," I said as I sat down in the chair opposite my little brother at the table.

 "Good morning sweetheart," my mom replied, lifting her head away from the burning experiment.

 "What is it this time?"

 "It was an Irish recipe for pancakes that your grandmother came up with herself," mom answered.

 "But..." she trailed off as she held up the disfigured object.

 I couldn't help but giggle. Mom meant well but I just didn't have the heart to tell her to stop trying new recipes. Even though she knew the outcome, she'd still do them and looked so happy while she did it. Oh well, she'll get it right one day.

**** 

Back in my bedroom, I stared at my reflection. My black shoulder length hair was in a tangled mess. Not to mention the all-nighter that I puller last night left dark rings under my green colored eyes. I brought my gaze down towards my lips and traced over them with a finger. My mind suddenly flashed to an image of Tyler. I quickly let my arm drop to my side. I admit, a couple of weeks ago I've wanted to kiss him but that was totally out of the question. I sighed heavily. I'd better get ready for school.

**** 

I walked up the stairs to the school entrance slowly. Nothing about this place excited me one bit. Strolling through the hallway I searched for my homeroom. I've never really been to homeroom much so searching for it was a pain.

 "I guess Nicole is finally going to grace us with her presence today."

 I turned around and saw Agnes standing still with a book covering her face. She sure was special.

"If that's your idea of hiding, then you probably stink in a game of hide and seek," I said as I playfully hit her on the shoulder.

"Why play hide and seek when I've got online games?" she asked as she hit me back.

 The thing is, not only did Agnes have the name of an elderly woman; she also had an awkward walk to match. When she walked, she had a slight lean backwards and a slow pace to go along with it. You can pretty much guess why she didn't make many friends. We both walked towards homeroom together while having one of our 'weird to others but normal to us' conversations.

**** 

The bell that signaled the end of second period finally rang after what seemed like five hours. I cleared my desk and made my way towards the cafeteria. I stood at the entrance and scanned the room for the table that Agnes was sitting at. There she was, positioned at a table on the left side of the room almost to the back. I walked over, placed my things on the table and sat down. Immediately after, we began a conversation about her latest game find. Suddenly she stopped mid-sentence. I looked up from my sandwich and took notice of her facial expression. I followed her gaze towards the front of the line near the counter. There stood Tyler, with a tray in his hand searching for a table to sit at. I turned back around to face Agnes. She wore a huge smile on her face. I suddenly got a bad feeling. My bad feeling turned to pure horror when I realized what she was planning.

 "Agnes, please don't," I pleaded.

 It was no use. She completely ignored me. In one quick movement she shot out of her chair, thrust her arm into the air and waved it from side to side.

 "Tyler!" she shouted.

 "Over here," she sang, dragging out the last syllable.

 I instantly felt like throwing her down a well. What the heck did she think she was doing? I glanced behind and saw Tyler look towards our table. He looked at me, smiled and proceeded to walk towards us. I returned my gaze to Agnes and gave her a look of disbelief. She sat back down and winked at me.

 "Hey," Tyler said as he arrived at the table.

 "I noticed you slept in English class," Agnes replied.

 "Yeah, I stayed up all night trying to do some homework."

 "You should have just left some undone," said Agnes.

 "I couldn't. My grade depends on them and the teachers would be on my case."

 "You're not a very daring kid are you," replied Agnes. She wore the same smile she did before she called Tyler over.

 What was she up to now?

 "I am when I want to be."

 "Go ahead and hold her hand then," Agnes said. Her head nodded towards me.

 I looked up from my sandwich and almost choked on the drink that I was drinking. I glanced at Tyler. He was looking at Agnes as if she'd just said something purely evil.

 "What?" Tyler asked. He wasn't sure if he'd heard her right.

 "I know you heard me."

 Tyler looked towards me and I stared back at him. The situation wasn't good. If I refused he'd think I wanted nothing to do with him. But if I said yes, it might become awkward because he might not have wanted to hold my hand and I'd rather not get rejected before anything had actually started. I began to rack my brain for a possible escape. I shot out of my chair and looked at them both.

 "I have to use the bathroom," I said.

 "What?" Agnes and Tyler both asked in unison.

 "I have to go to the bathroom."

 Without waiting for a reply I turned around and ran out of the cafeteria. I ran through the hall, spun around the corner, and forcefully shoved open the bathroom door. I got into one of the stalls, locked the door and just stood there. I really need to stop running away, I thought to myself. I sat down and waited for the bell to ring. I refused to go to chemistry class after what I just did.