Masked love

Chapter five

Nikita sat in the back of the classroom in all of her classes. Her first class was an all girls class, and the teacher taught female health. Stella sat right next to her.
Joseph walked her to class. He saw Stella walk into the classroom ahead of them. "Are you going to be ok?" He asked looking at Nikita. Nikita stared at the ground. She didn't want Joseph to worry about her sad face. She was attempting to trust him, but she wanted to keep her sadness hidden.
"I'll be okay. You don't have to worry about me." She said softly. "Thanks for walking with me to class. You didn't ha-"
"Would you stop that? I know I don't have to, but I want to because I'm your friend. I'll meet you back here after class and walk with you to geometry, okay?" He said slightly annoyed. Nikita nodded and with a wave of her hand, she went into the classroom and took her seat. Stella was reading away at a book while tapping her fingers on the desk. Stella never bothered her in this class, but in return Nikita had to take notes for her.
Nikita pulled out some sheets of paper and a heavy duty black pen. The bell ranged, and the teacher began to lecture. Nikita wrote down notes, as she planned to enjoy her class of silence. Stella gave her a side glance as she spoke, "So how's your 'relationship' with Josie going?" Nikita gestured a so-so with her hand. Stella smiled and pulled out a pink lollipop. "Are you taking a heed to my warning?" Nikita replayed Stella's whispered words from earlier in her mind. She nodded with a slight frown. "Good. You got enough to worry about with me and Zeak. You don't need a boy taking advantage of you." Stella said and began to suck on her lollipop. Nikita continued to take notes. Her mind thought about her turmoils, as tears formed in her eyes. Stella glanced at Nikita's sad face, almost feeling regret.
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The class ended. Nikita waited beside the door, girls were giggling around her. She stared at the floor, waiting to be abandoned or forgotten. Geometry wasn't far away, and she had thought about going ahead on her own. "Hey, there you are," She heard his voice. She looked up and saw him battling with the crowds to get to her. Nikita met him halfway and they began to walk to class. "So how was class," he asked, trying to fill the silence.
"Okay, I guess." she answered. "Yours?"
"Boring as ever, but that's English for you." He looked at her questionably. She felt his gaze but kept staring at the ground. They entered the classroom. Nikita took her seat in front of Stella's. Two of Stella's squad girls were also in the classroom: one sat beside Stella, the other sat beside Nikita. Zeak was sitting next to Stella, falling asleep. Nikita watched, as Joseph went to talk to the teacher. Students were filling up the seats. Joseph came and sat next to Her, "the teacher said I could sit here. I guess being a good kid can be beneficial." She smiled slightly. However the giggles from the girls made her smile quickly vanish. Joseph sighed sadly, as the bell ringed and class begun.
Nikita took notes, following along with the teacher. Math was particularly challenging for her. She preferred science and art. Her face contorted as she tried to understand what was being taught. After awhile the teacher stopped teaching and allowed the students to practice on their own. Joseph finished the problems quickly and saw that Nikita was having trouble. He sneaked a peek at her paper, "you added those two together wrong, and this should be multiplied by the reciprocal." He pointed to the problems on her paper. She fixed her mistakes and listened, as Joseph explained how to do the problems she had left blank. He seemed like a math wiz.
The girl, beside Nikita, placed a folded up piece up paper on her desk. She picked it up. It was addressed to her. "What's that?" Joseph asked, looking up from checking her math. She unfolded the paper and read: Sicky Niki, oh so icky. Who knew she was so dopey. It had a bad drawing of a girl holding a graded paper beneath the writing. The grade was a F. Nikita quickly crumbled it up, but Joseph grabbed it from her and read it. Stella was giggling quietly behind them. Joseph looked behind him, giving Stella an angry glare. "Real mature, considering I see you in the tutoring room everyday after school. Yesterday in fact you visited four tutors and three of them declared you were unteachable." his voice was harsh serious. Stella quickly went silent. Nikita stared at Joseph questionably. He turned around to face her, his face quickly softened. "From five till six I tutor students in geometry, chemistry, and Algebra," he explained quietly.
"You must be really good at math. Thanks." She whispered. Her eyes landed on the paper in his hands. Part of her wanted to take the paper and cram it into her book-bag with the others, but she didn't want Joseph to see the others.
"Don't mention it." He said, folding up the paper. "I'll throw this away for you." He got out of his seat and walked away. Nikita watched him, almost wanting to stop him. She had always kept the hate-papers, but maybe it was time she started throwing them away.