On My Way to Believing

Chapter 7 - Gretchen Wieners

I turned around to see what my friends were looking at, but I didn't see anyone or anything of interest. I then felt a slight push over on my left side, indicating that someone had taken a seat beside me. Unfortunately, it was one of the two guys that I didn't see this morning.

Oh well. At least the greater annoyance isn't around.

"Hey, Townsend." Axel said, smirking at me. "It isn't nice to talk about someone behind their back. Unless, you were talking about how amazing I-"

I held my index finger up, interrupting him. "Shut up. What are you doing here?"

"Ooh, feisty." he remarked. "Isn't it obvious? I'm hanging out with my good friend, Townsend."

My left eye slightly twitched at the mention of the word 'friend.' "Axel, we aren't friends."

"Aw, even after everything we went through yesterday?" he said in a mocking manner.

"We talked about Physics." I said, flatly.

"True, but you still spent that time with me." he said, with a smug look on his face.

I don't get it. Was I supposed to be swooning right now? Because, I sure as hell am not right now.

"Yeah, whatever." I said as I rolled my eyes. My friends were all staring at me, obviously stunned by what's happening. I shrugged at them, not knowing why Axel was here either. "Can you go somewhere else?"

"Nope." he said, popping the 'p.' I sighed, not wanting to cause a scene in the cafeteria.

"Please?"

"Oooh, I like it when you beg. Do beg some more, won't ya?"

"Hell no!"

"Then I won't move." he said smiling, as he placed his feet up on the table. "Simple as that."

"You can't sit with us." I said, sighing and crossing my arms.

"You going all Gretchen Wieners on me?" he said laughing.

Did he really just reference Mean Girls?

I blinked at him. I looked at Paula helplessly, and she held her hand up to say that it was fine for him to sit then, I looked at Mary who just sighed. Ruth and Henry were lost in their own conversation about GTA 5. I sighed.

At least it's only for today right? Right?

"So, we still on for later?" Axel asked me, smirking. He probably meant our tutoring sessions.

"Depends." I replied. "Will you continue pretending that you're having a hard time in Physics?"

He stayed silent, all while smirking at me. After a few moments of silence from him, he spoke.

"Same place?" he asked.

"What?"

"Same place? The library?" he reiterated.

Didn't he...didn't he hear me? I already implied that I know he's pretending. So...why?

I pushed my thoughts aside and decided to respond to him. Though, Marian Downey, our class secretary, came over before I can say anything.

"Hey, Claire, got a sec?" she asked smiling, and gesturing me to follow her.

"Sure." I replied, standing up from our table, and followed her. We walked over to where the rest of our class officers were seated. Marian sat down, and I sat beside her.

"Hey Claire!" Davina greeted.

"Davi, hey." I said, smiling at her. "Soo...what are we doing?"

"We were planning that Accountancy project." Alyssa Mendez, our class president, said. Last week, every Accountancy teacher had given the task of building a booth, selling food, and recording the sales to every section in our batch.

"Oh, alright. What are mine and Claire's roles?" Davina asked.

"We've decided that all of us here, including Davina, would help build the food booth." Marian replied. "So for the rest of the week, we'll have to stay for about a few hours after dismissal."

"However, we still don't know who can do the banner, and other decorations." Philip Ward, our vice president, said. "Can we rely on you for that, Claire?"

"Uh, sure." I replied. "But am I gonna be working alone on that?"

"No, you can ask others for help." Philip said. "Just tell me who you're gonna be working with, once you've confirmed with them."

I thought about it. I'd have to leave Keido with Paula, so she can properly take care of Keido, although she may be busy as well, so I'd have to ask her later. Other than that, I really have no reason to decline. We also need all the help we can get in this project. After all, we are building a booth by ourselves. I doubt it'd be easy.

"Alright. I'll do it." I said. "How about you, Davi?"

"Hm... I think there will be days when I'd have to leave early, or not be able to stay at all." she said. "But, I can stay otherwise. I'll just inform Claire when I can't stay."

"Alright, that's settled." Philip said. "We'll start next week. The place to build the booth is at the student lounge."

"Though, you can choose wherever you want to work on the decorations, Claire." Alyssa said. "It doesn't have to be with us, considering how every section is going to be working in the lounge."

"Right." I replied.

I don't think there'd be enough room for us to work on the decorations in the site itself...

After planning, I left their table to return to my friends. Mary and Paula were in their own conversation, and so were Ruth and Henry. Axel was still there, on his phone, surprisingly. I sat down beside Axel, because there wasn't anywhere else to sit, and was immediately noticed by Paula.

"What did Marian need, Claire?" Paula asked.

"Ah, it was about that Accountancy project." I replied. "Every officer in our class, including Davina, are gonna build the booth."

"Oh. So what will the rest of our section do?" Mary asked.

"Well, making the food and recording the sales will be their job." I replied. "Though, Mary..."

"Yeah?" Mary said.

"We discussed a banner, decorations, and such to liven up the joint." I said. "You're pretty good at art, so wanna work on it together? I need help."

"Sure!" Mary said, smiling. "Where are we working?"

"Although the others will be building the booth in the student lounge, I don't think we can work on the decorations and the banner there due to lack of space." I said. "So, anywhere really."

"I see." Mary said, thinking. "What about my place?"

I thought about it a bit. "Yeah...that seems like a good choice. You do live a couple blocks down the street from us."

"Yeah! I can drive you home after we're done too!" Mary said.

"Alright, that's settled." I said. "Though, Paula, can you take care of Keido for me next week?"

"Sure. I don't have much to do on our project anyway." she replied.

"Thanks a lot." I said. "I appreciate it." I looked at Axel, to see if he has any reaction on the project. As expected, he was still on his phone, not bothered by the incoming project.

Looks like next week will be a busy week...

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Author's Note:

Keke Palmer as Davina Lewis. 

By the way guys, election day is over in our country, the Philippines, and I'm really bummed out that my candidate, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, landed on the last spot. Best president we never had. Well, here's hoping our country really will improve. 

~T