bigger boys and stolen sweethearts // l.h.

5

it's been so long sorry I hope this isn't shit :-)))))

i felt a wash of relief come over me as i reached homeroom, knowing i wouldn't run into him.

although michael clifford was in this homeroom, one of luke's close friends, it was hard to deny how funny he was. his presence was usually pleasant.

"hey mr. jackson, come give me a hug!" boomed michael as he waltzed into homeroom five minutes late. it was hard for the class to hold in their giggles.

"hello, mr. clifford, I can see your lively personality will be joining me this year."

"you know it mr. j," said michael as he plopped into the conveniently empty seat next to me. i tapped my pencil as michael tapped my shoulder.

"margo carnie, what a pleasure," michael says as he leans back in his chair.

i laugh, "hello, michael."

"i heard about luke and your's little spat, it was probably the funniest fucking thing i have heard all day."

"how'd you hear so quickly?"

"calum texted me, he says luke's pretty pissed about it."

"well, that's the fucking point," we both laugh. michael was so relaxed it was pretty hard to hate him, even though he was one of luke's best friends. unlike calum, michael has always been quite friendly, much to luke's dismay, i'm sure.

i spent the rest of homeroom zoning out during all of the orientation stuff i've heard a million times before. i was actually quite scared for this year, junior year is always the hardest. i was quite angry with myself for letting a boy ruin my mood all summer, when i should have been enjoying my last months of freedom. the bell signaling the end of homeroom finally shook me out of my slump. i began my walk to first period: ap english literature, room 304 with mr. lineman.

making my way to the classroom, i say hello to familiar faces i haven't seen all summer. there were numerous "oh my god, how was your summer?" and "you look amazing!"s being thrown around the hallway.

arriving at the classroom, im met with the face of ashton.

"margo, thank god!" sighed ashton as i smiled widely.

"i can already feel a weight being taken off of my shoulders now that you're here," i said, "let's go find seats."

as ashton and i take our seats, i see two people i would not have like to walk into the classroom: calum and luke.

how cliché, i thought to myself.

i feel ashton nudge me and whisper "don't let him get to you."

i really needed that because i couldn't help but feel intimidated with the look luke was giving me. the incident earlier must have been a huge bust to his ego, even though it was quite minor. i have definitely learned that masculinity is a fragile after this last year with luke.

luckily, mr. lineman immediately got into the introduction of the class, so my worries shifted gears to passing this class. after the usual information was passed out, mr. lineman said something that caught my attention.

"there will be a "beginning of the year" project to show me who you are this year and your ability to work and show comradery with your classmates. you will pick an author, from a list provided by me, and present what they accomplished, their contributions to modern literature, and a brief description of the author and make assumptions about how their background affected their work. i will choose your partners, and before you hate me, this shows how well you are able to work with others and your maturity in achieving excellence in your final product."

the minute he said he would be choosing the partners, i knew fate would totally bite me. i would either get miraculously lucky and be partnered with ashton, or be chosen to be with the devil himself, luke. a tiny part of me wanted it to be luke, only because if we were forced to work in close proximities, maybe i could at least get an explanation from him on what happened. however, i was smart enough to know the latter was impossible. life is not a movie and luke and i would not ride into the sunset together.

the pairs were called off one by one, and the anticipation was killing me.

"susan and jake."

"kaitlyn and sarah."

"ashton and marissa." damnit.

"luke and mackenzie." well, there goes that.

"margo and calum." i looked back at the boy matching my surprise. i had seemingly forgotten him in my potential partners, and he obviously had forgotten too. fate was not on my side today.