The Haloed Disease

Chapter 2

Leslie wouldn't shut up about our eventful meet with Her Highness of Doomsville. By now I had zoomed out of her constant bickering about how I should stand up for myself. 'Yes yes, very heroic, Les.' I commented internally, my words dripping with sarcasm whilst rolling my eyes. Before she could comment on my lack of attention, the bell rang signalling us to go to our classrooms.

I took my seat, fourth from the front, in the last row near the windows. It was a quiet spot which allowed me just enough distraction if the classes got too boring. I was surprised how no one had paid attention to that. The class started filling up and I started doodling on my desk to avoid eye-contact with any familiar faces.

It was English now and Mrs. Wright entered carrying a pile of papers in her hand. She handed out the papers to the first benchers to pass it behind. It was then, did I notice who was sitting in front of me. He had honey coloured hair and grey eyes. His chiselled jaw was covered in a light stubble and a smirk rested on his face. Dave Lawson.

I may have taken a moment more than usual because he cleared his throat signalling me to pass the assignment papers. I hastily took them from his hand and turned around to pass it. I don't know what the universe was planning but this had to mean something because behind me sat Justin Carter. His hair was a bit darker than Dave's and he had ocean green eyes instead of stormy grey. An annoyed expression rested on his face so I quickly passed him the extra papers and turned around.

Dear universe, if this is your way of apologizing for the unfortunate incident that took place in the morning, then I forgive you. Somehow I was celebrating the fact that I was sandwiched between the two most attractive guys in the school. I mean don't get me wrong, I didn't have a crush as such on either of them but you couldn't deny the fact that they were attractive. And I hoped that seeing me sitting between these two, the rest of the school would see me as a much less abomination than I already was in their eyes.

Mrs. Wright cleared her throat which pulled me out of my reverie. "Before we dive into the syllabus, I have an assignment for everyone. In three hundred words, you need to explain what you've learnt so far and what is it that you're expecting this year. You must take every assignment seriously for these will be considered in your score card. You'll start working on your assignments now and I'll collect them by the end of the class."

I knew exactly what I had to write so I dug into my assignment. I'd just completed fifty words when I heard something. I looked around and saw everyone scribbling away on their respected papers.

"Psst."

I heard that sound again and when I looked around everyone was still writing. Maybe it's just my imagination. I'd just resumed writing when a pencil poked at my back. I turned around to see Justin's assignment sheet completely blank. I raised my eyebrow at him when he handed me a piece of paper.

"Pass it to Dave," he whispered.

"What?"

He rolled his eyes and pointed at Dave, "Pass it to him, missy."

"But Mrs. Wright would-"

"Would you just pass the goddamn paper?" he cut me off in an annoyed tone.

Gee, what crawled up his ass and died. I took the paper from him but I had no idea how I would give it to Dave. I was honestly terrified if Mrs. Wright caught me passing answers then she would assume it was me who was copying. And let me tell you this, Mrs. Wright is one hell of a vicious teacher. Quickly, I tapped on Dave's shoulder and shoved the paper to him without saying a word. He probably understood it came from Justin because he didn't question me further.

I had completed one-third of my assignment now when Dave turned and held out his hand holding the same piece of paper.

"I am sorry but I can't. If Mrs. Wright catches –"

"She won't. And even if she did, we'll take the blame." Oh, gee! Would everyone just give it a rest with all that interrupting?!

I eyed the piece of paper for a moment and sighed. Damn me and my good manners. "Fine."

Just when I took the paper from Dave, I caught a movement in the corner of my eye and quickly shoved the paper under my thighs. Luckily Mrs. Wright had only moved in her seat to arrange the remaining sheets. I breathed a sigh of relief and muttered profanities before turning to Justin.

"Here," I said in a tone harsher than I intended as I gave him back the paper holding the answers. This was infuriating. I still had two third of my assignment to finish and here I was acting like a carrier pigeon in a hunting zone.

I turned back to my assignment and decided to ignore them until the end of the class. They may be attractive but beauty will not buy them intelligence. Or respect for that matter. I started working furiously on my assignment to cover up for the lost time. Not much time had passed when I heard a  "Psst" again. I ignored him and bent down further on the table hoping that the extra centimetres would take me miles away from these troublesome guys.

Unfortunately, it continued but I didn't take my eyes off of my assignment. I was just a hundred words away from completing it.

Justin now started poking my back with his pencil, trying to get my attention. His constant poking irritated the life out of me so I turned around seething with anger. "What?!"

He just handed me the paper and started working on his assignment, completely ignoring the daggers I was throwing his way.

Suddenly, a loud clearing of throat disrupted the silence and I turned around to see Mrs. Wright standing in front of my desk, glaring at me.

"Mrs. Wright, it's not what it looks like. I can expla-" My voice sounded strained as I tried to hold back my tears.

She didn't even let me finish as she snatched the paper from my hand and opened it. My mouth went dry. Maybe, just maybe she won't punish me because surely my answers were different than the ones these two were exchanging. But all that self-assurance went down the drain as I saw the colour disappear from her face.

Oh, crap.    

*****

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