A to Z

Chapter 2- "My Dorky B-F-F-E-I-C-O-A-Z-A-A-Y-T-T-E-M Is a Badass!"

Dedicated to miquel788- My first reader and a very sexy person ;)


I almost had a heart attack because of you!

Chapter 2- "My Dorky B-F-F-E-I-C-O-A-Z-A-A-Y-T-T-E-M Is a Badass!"



I sat quietly in Biology. I had to use a battered old copy that Mr Bunk had shoved into my hands. It was old and smelly and nothing like my own biology book but it still reminded me of said book whirling through the air as if in slow motion. The thought made my stomach clench.

Biology went by at a snail's pace and I slipped in and out of actual listening. I thought so much of the black haired boy and the biology book, I found myself to have forgotten about it completely and caught myself daydreaming about food. I then suddenly felt guilty for forgetting temporarily. I deserved to worry. I'd probably killed him.

I didn't hear the bell ring but I felt the rush of movement in the class and stood up feeling slightly lightheaded. I shuffled out of the classroom and down the stairs towards the nurse's office. Chanel had to attend rehearsal for the upcoming play, Romeo and Juliet so I walked alone. I treaded gingerly down the hallway of the 'incident' expecting to see a pool of blood and wide, dead eyes. I breathed out loudly, only then noticing I had been holding my breath.

The nurses' office. I stood in front of the door for a couple of minutes, rehearsing what I was going to say. I did some breathing exercises and plastered a friendly smile on to my face. Three quick knocks later-

"Come in!" I heard the nurse say. She had a shrill tone in her voice.

I opened the door, popping my head in through the gap.

"Hey. I was just wondering if a boy came in earlier. He has black hair and is quite tall. I think I might have accidentally hurt him so I'm just checking he's ok." I rambled. This was the closest explanation to the truth. The truth itself was out of the question. I didn't want the nurse to brand me a nutter. I smiled at the end, hopefully giving the impression I was a caring and trustworthy person-which I was... Probably.

"Aren't you a softie!" she exclaimed. "But sorry dear, no black haired boy came in earlier. Only a girl that was sick and a ginger boy with a nose bleed."

I nodded and smiled, thanking her.

"Maybe you could find him in the canteen?" she suggested.

"Yeah, I think I'll check. Thanks again. Bye."

"Bye!" she answered, scrunching her face and smiling. I saw her get back to her magazine before I closed the door.

Canteen? Haha-No. Instead I decided to head to the library and go over todays Biology lesson. The borrowed book was a nightmare and I hadn't listened, being too preoccupied with a certain boy. Now knowing he wasn't seriously injured, I justified my reaction. He was rude, obnoxious and bad-mannered. He hadn't even helped me with my books! He needed to be brought down a peg or two. In a way, I had helped him. He should really be thanking me. And, out of the goodness in my heart, I gave him a free biology book, further expanding his education. Yeah. He totally deserved it.

10 minutes into my lunchtime biology session, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out of my jean pocket and slid the unlock key on the screen. I tapped on my new message.

- Where r u? A

It was Alex. I felt a shot of guilt run through me as I realised I had forgotten all about him. I quickly tapped out a message and hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed.

- I'M SO SORRY. In the library torturing myself with biology. I'll meet you in the canteen asap. Z x

NO. Brick boy will be there! Just stay in the library. The annoying voice in my head screamed at me.

I got up to leave as soon as I'd sent the message, dismissing the annoying voice in my head when there was another prolonged vibration from my phone.

- No no. was just looking 4 u 2 tell you I have football practise. Stay there and torture yourself... for me. *puppy dog eyes* A x

I laughed out loud which earned me a glare from the librarian when I suddenly felt very boring and uninteresting. Chanel had her theatre and Alex had his football pitch. I had ... my library. It probably didn't even like me.

- See u in English Z x

Is this really my life? I thought. I plopped back into my chair, my bag slipping off my shoulder, overwhelmed by the wave of self pity I felt. I remembered back to a couple of months ago when I dated Jason. I thought I was in love with him. I think I was in love with him. I still don't know why, but at that moment, I missed him. I missed the excitement I had being with him. I missed daydreaming, thinking about our kisses. I missed giggling for no reason. I realised, I felt lonely.

You're not lonely. You have Alex, Chanel and countless other friends. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, I scolded myself.

I briskly opened the biology book I had borrowed from the library and stared at the words. I turned the pages, not taking in any information.

"Out. The bell's gone." I heard a snappy voice.

I stood up, closing the book and hurriedly shrugged my jacket on. I shoved the book back into its slot on the shelf and grabbed my back.

"Out. Now." The librarian demanded, her face the epitome of hatred.

Jesus, what had I ever done to her?

I left the library and checked the time. 12.54. That liar. Lunch wasn't even over yet. I thought of marching back in and not leaving until 1 but the thought of being late stopped that thought in its tracks. On second thought, I decided to make my way to English. I unwrapped a long lost bar of kitkat and munched on it, strolling towards my nearby English class. The door was already open and Mr Nero was struggling with a mountain of books. I rushed over to him, sliding half of the pile onto my own arms.

"Thanks Zoe." He smiled a warm toothy smile. I blushed.

Mr Nero was a young, handsome teacher, fresh out of university. All the girls had had a crush on him but that soon disappeared after they realised Mr Nero was a complete nerd. I would never admit it but I preferred the nerdy Mr Nero and my small crush intensified when my female classmates' crushes had diminished.

"Hamlet. What do you think?" He asked, placing two books on each desk.

"What?" I asked foolishly.

"Hamlet by Shakespeare. We're studying it for the next couple of weeks." He answered still smiling.

"Oh. I think it's a great choice. We usually only ever do Romeo and Juliet or Macbeth." I commented, slightly breathless.

Mr Nero's' eyes lit up and he looked like a little boy on Christmas Day. "That's exactly what I thought! I -"

He was cut off by Dan laughing raucously. Dan, Mark and Amir entered the room shortly followed by an annoyed looking Alex. A stream of girls followed, giggling and gossiping. The last to enter was Jason. He walked in, his face blank of emotion. He looked indifferent and cool, confident but quiet. Just for a moment, his eyes connected with mine. His green eyes were as piercing as ever. I turned away. I smiled at Mr Nero then walked to the back of the class to sit next to Alex.

I slid in between the desk and sat on the chair, dropping my bag on to the floor. I got out my notebook and a pen. Alex did the same.

"Are you ok?" I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Me? I'm fine!" He claimed breezily. "Bit tired though." He smiled widely. Fortunately for me, Alex was an open book. Unfortunately for him, he was a... Open book.

"You know what I mean." I spoke gently. I felt better talking to him face to face. I could tell Alex wasn't as angry as he was yesterday but more vulnerable.

He took his time answering but when he did, his voice was low and quiet, very unusual for him. "He makes my mum happy. She's happy, so I should be happy that she is." He sounded like he was half reciting it from heart and half justifying the statement to himself.

"Are you happy?"

He looked at me. My eyes were wide and my hand was in his having moved down from his arm on its own accord.

He smiled sadly and squeezed my hand. He stared at me for a while before whispering-

"Yes." He nodded, unblinking. He cleared his throat and I noticed he wanted to change the subject. I let go of his hand.

"How was football practise?" I asked Alex lightly.

"It was good. We've got a match in 2 weeks time so training's every lunchtime until then." He answered sighing.

"You'll win. Trust me. How can you not? You're great." I squeezed his hand underneath the table.

He smirked. "I know."

"And you're so modest." I added sarcastically.

"I know!" he repeated. "I'm just an all round perfect guy."

"Shut up." I laughed poking his chin with my pen to close it.

Mr Nero gave me a pointed look so I quickly looked down, pretending to scribble something.

"You're such a goody two shoes." Alex commented smiling.

"Thanks." I replied dryly and continued writing notes on the first page of Hamlet.

He chuckled quietly.

10 minutes passed and for the past 5 of them, I had a strange feeling that I was being watched.

"Jason's staring at you." Alex' voice was tense and I could tell he was gritting his teeth.

"So?." My voice was calm and I carried on scribbling, but I no longer had any idea of what I was writing.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" He asked incredulously.

"What? Tell Sir, that Jason is looking at me? This isn't primary school." I said sharply.

"You broke up ages ago. Don't tell me he wants you back." Alex snapped irritably.

This time I looked up and glared at Alex.

"Yes we did break up ages ago. And even if he did want me back, doesn't mean I would want him back. So drop it." There was a fire in my eyes and I secretly felt ashamed as I recalled my thoughts in the library. Alex held my gaze for a few seconds, and then sighed.

"I'm sorry. He just- He gets on my nerves." He finally let out.

"He's never done anything to you. You don't need to hold a grudge against him." I reasoned.

"He hurt you and that's reason enough." He stated with a firm sense of finality. "But you know I could still-"he started.

"Alex." I warned.

"Whatever." He smirked.

I poked him on the chin again. Mr Nero gave us another pointed look, warning us. I looked down hastily pretending to scribble while Alex chuckled quietly beside me.

***

"No thank you. I've gone off chocolate." Chanel wrinkled her nose. I smirked.

Chanel and I were at Hot Stuff, sipping our own hot drinks. Chanel clutched an extra super skinny low-fat latte with no sugar in her hands while I enjoyed a mega chocoholic hot chocolate with whipped cream, sprinkles, marshmallows and a ginger nut biscuit. The biscuit was tiny compared to the hot chocolate and it looked ridiculously disproportionate.

Chanel was eyeing my hot chocolate with desire, bordering on lust. Her eyes had gone wide and she had a look of yearning across her face. Without warning she straightened up and rushed to the counter. I just looked down at my hot chocolate, trying to suppress a smug grin.

This always happened. She would skimp by on a super skinny latte whilst I would gorge in chocolate heaven. I would persuade her to try some of cake or hot chocolate to which she would reply with a stiff 'No thank you. I've gone off chocolate.' After 3 minutes and 56 seconds of agony, (for her anyway), she would rush over to the till and snatch up a fat blueberry muffin and demand a hot chocolate for herself. She would then return, her nose in the air and her hair flicked backwards. She would sit down comfortably and say-

"Shut up."

I laughed for a couple of seconds and she joined me soon after.

"Why does chocolate have to be so good?" she moaned loudly. It sounded rather inappropriate and many people surrounding us turned to glare. I smiled weakly back while Chanel devoured her muffin, oblivious.

I nibbled on my biscuit. I had barely finished the gingerbread mans' head when-

"So spill." Chanel looked at me expectantly, cradling her hot chocolate. (The skinny latte sat to the side, lonely and forgotten.)

I sighed wearily. I opened my mouth to let the words spill out. Arguing with Chanel was a complete lost cause. It would be like trying to break a 100 ton brick wall with a plastic fork. The brick wall suddenly morphed into the black haired boy. I couldn't remember what his face looked like so he was just a tall faceless creature with black hair at the top. Freaky.

"After you left to go to the toilet, I was walking down the corridor that Robert puked on last year." I started.

Chanel nodded in recognition.

"Yeah. So my bag split, but it was too crowded so it took ages to pick up all my books. And some random guy was kicking my Biology book around." I added with distaste.

Chanel opened her mouth and I interrupted her without a second thought

"No, you are not going to do anything." I warned Chanel. "Besides, I don't even know who he was."

"Whatever." Chanel retorted, obviously miffed. She reminded me of Alex at that moment.

"So yeah, I'm getting late for class and I'm all angry when I bump into this guy-"

"Was he fit?" Chanel interrupted with a straight face.

"Chanel!" I protested.

"What! It's only a question. It's like asking how he looks like, just quicker and more to the point." She pointed out.

That actually made sense- in that weird Chanel sort of way.

"Well?" She raised her left eyebrow in a perfect arch.

"I don't know really. I was sort of busy." I answered truthfully.

Chanel rolled her eyes. "Yeah sure."

"Anyway, he bumps into me-"

"I thought you bumped into him!" She shrieked.

"Stop interrupting!" I scolded her. "So he bumps in to me and my books go flying for the second time that day!" The memory makes me grit my teeth.

"You're such a dork." Chanel snorted.

I glared at her. She straightened her face. "He was so rude and so arrogant and he just left me to pick up my books while he looked over me like he was a king and I was some peasant. So yeah, I threw a book at him and he sort of fell, clutching his head." I finished casually.

Chanel's jaw dropped open, her face beyond shock. I had never seen her looking so gormless in my entire life.

"You did what?" She asked, astonished.

"I - err- I threw a book at him." I repeated.

"My god. Sorry, just... just let me take this in." Chanel turned to the side and did some of her breathing exercises. I couldn't help but think she was over reacting as I watched. After a minute or two she turned back to me and squealed.

"You're such a badass!" She trilled. "My dorky B-F-F-E-I-C-O-A-Z-A-A-Y-T-T-E-M (Best Friend Forever Except In Case Of a Zombie Apocalypse And You're Trying To Eat Me.) is a badass! Who knew?"

"Errr, thanks?" It sounded more like a question than a statement but Chanel didn't care. Instead she forced me to tell her the story again but with more detail. I tried to provide her with the utmost detail but she interrupted with questions like, 'What colour shirt was he wearing?' or 'What does he smell like?' or 'Does he like dogs?'. It literally left me physically exhausted but no way in hell would that stop Chanel. I recounted the story twice more, and still Chanel held that gleeful look of astonishment etched on to her face. She looked far too happy for my liking.

When she asked for me to recite the story a fourth time but this time 'properly', I refused.

"Chanel, please. Let's go do some shopping or something?" I suggested. Yes, I was that desperate. I hated shopping with a passion but I wanted to escape the nightmare of chanting the same story over and over again.

"Ok!" Chanel responded brightly.

Already I was regretting my suggestion.

***

The cold rush of air was invigorating and it woke me up a bit. It was darker than I thought it would be and I felt Chanel clench my entwined arm tighter towards hers. We had just left the shopping centre.

"Take my keys out." Chanel mumbled.

"Where are they?" I asked.

"Back pocket." Was the simple answer I received.

I struggled to push the bags back on to my arms as they kept dropping. It didn't help that Chanel's body was almost completely hidden by a flood of bags. I reached my hand into her right back pocket and felt nothing there. I slid my hand out and stuck it in the other one. I grabbed one of the cold key rings and tried to pull my hand out. Tried.

"My hand's stuck." I whispered, my face horrified.

"Get it out yourself." Chanel moaned.

"Did you hear me? My hand is stuck!" I whisper-shouted.

I struggled to heave my hand out, so much it hurt.

"Stop touching my bum!" Chanel giggled. Honestly, Chanel. But she was too sleepy too care.

"Why does your bum have to be so big?" I hissed.

"Jealous." I heard her mumble.

I rolled my eyes. I needed her to cooperate if I was to free my hand. So I decided to poke her in the buttocks- hard.

"Owww!" She let out a high pitched whimper. An old woman, hobbling past, tutted at us, and shielded her eyes. I distinctly remember hearing the words 'Lord, save us'. I was too embarrassed to be offended or angry.

"Did you hear that old bat?" Chanel asked, her voice now a lot more alert and conscious sounding.

"Yeah." I replied.

We were both quite for a couple of seconds.

We both started laughing at the same time. Chanel chortled while I giggled. It was one of those times when you couldn't stop laughing, even if you thought of dying children. I had to rest my chin on her shoulder as we were both limited for space, given our -ahem-compromising position.

We both sighed after a second round of giggling and laughing.

"Ok. I'll sort of suck in my bum and you take out your hand. Please don't forget the keys." Chanel reminded me.

I probably would have too if she hadn't told me not to.

Two men holding hands strolled past and smiled at us and quickly looked away. They probably thought they were giving us privacy. I felt bad for deceiving them but it was nice to know some decent people existed. Chanel insisted that she make moaning noises every time someone walked past. The majority of them ignored us.

When we finally got the key, we both slopped into our seats ungracefully. We giggled a bit more and Chanel told me to slap her. Chanel, now awake and bright-eyed (and with a red mark on her cheek), revved the car and we set off home.

Chanel was a reckless driver and she swore at anyone and everyone, even at old ladies walking their corgis. (She's probably sworn at the Queen in disguise.) Mind, some swore back, with even fouler language.

I left the car, mumbling a bye and carrying several dozen bags. I sat them all down to open my front door when the door swung open. It was my Dad. He smiled his usual cheeky grin and scooped up the bags. I carried the remainder and trudged in. I looked at the stairs. I sighed. Never before had they looked so appalling. Dad had already gone upstairs and was now coming back down. He made it look so easy.

"I'll take the rest sweetie." He held his hand out for the bags.

"Thanks Dad but I think I'm going to sleep now. I'm beat." I managed to say.

He chuckled lightly.

"Oh yeah. I got you some cookies." I remembered.

Dad's eyes crinkled into a warm smile.

"Thanks, sweetie."

I only smiled in return. I honestly felt too tired to do much else. Slowly, I stumbled to the stairs and took the steps, one by one.

***

WOW! I can't believe how many people have read this already. I tried to thank everyone that voted, fanned or added this to their reading list but I might have missed some people. If I haven't thanked you, I'm thanking you know. I'm so grateful for all the reads and votes. It means so much to me. I start jumping up and down in my bedroom in my pyjamas singing an Imagine Dragons song. Then I stub my toe but it's worth it because the response I've got back... it's just incredible. I can't describe it. It's just- ARGH!

I hope you like Chanel. I do. I think she's hilarious. And there will be more Alex in the coming chapters so don't worry about that.

Please check out Miquels book, Twins. She works really hard on it and she's helped me so much! She's really nice and super interesting so go talk to her! :)

Comment, Vote, Fan If you want to. :)