The Wallflower And The Jock {on hold}

2. Twenty Seconds

*Eight Months Before

My alarm clock beeped loudly for the third time that morning. This time, I didn’t bother hitting the snooze button. I groggily got up from my bed, hating the fact that it was the first day of school; The first day of my junior year in high school, to be specific. 

I promised myself that this was the year that I would change.  No more being the shy girl that never stood up for herself.  No more ignoring everybody laughing at how I looked when I knew that I only dressed this way to not attract attention.  I was seriously done being the loser.

I quickly took a shower and put on my outfit, which I had chosen last night, and headed down for breakfast.  I looked at my watch. It read 7:00 am. Crap, I was late.  I hurriedly ran down, took my breakfast, and headed out the front door, where the driver was waiting for me.

I spent the whole car ride looking out the window, overthinking every tiny detail, all the while fidgeting with my seat belt.   

Needless to say, I was very nervous.

Yeah, as if nobody could tell.  I was practically a ticking timebomb.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself why I wasn't telling my driver to turn the car around so that I could change back into my usual graphic t-shirt and old jeans ensemble. I'd made a promise to myself that this year would be different.  I would be different, things were going to  be different.  I couldn't just stand there and be bullied any longer.  I'd finally decided to take matters into my own hands; no more silent and awkward Zoe.  I'd stand up for myself this time. 

 If only I wasn't so nervous.

I examined the silk blouse that I wore; it fell loosely over my body, accentuating my figure only slightly, pairing it with only slightly ripped jeans, and plain white chucks.

Baby steps.

I made sure that I went the extra mile to dress differently this year. I mean, I was considered a fashionable person--by myself, at least--but I never wore anything but baggy jeans and old t-shirts to school, because I never wanted to attract any attention to myself.

I adjusted my small necklace that had the figure of the Eiffel Tower on it, and smoothed out my top. This was a massive improvement on my appearance, if I do say so for myself, and I was extremely worried about how people would react to it.

Gone was the old Zoe that would hide in her gigantic American Apparel hoodie or stick her nose in an eight-hundred-page book whenever someone would make a comment about her introvert personality. Nope, that Zoe was dead, for all I care.

I hope.

The driver pulled up in front of the school, and I found myself staring at the students that were entering the school, chattering about the newewst gossip (already?), or about the changes that had occured in the school.

I sat there for about a full blown minute.  Just staring.

“Umm, Ms. Hale?" The driver said uncertainly. "Don’t you want to go in yet?”

I snapped out of my trance and gave the driver a small smile. “Y-Y-Yeah of course.”

I took a deep breath and got out of the car. Slowly walking up the steps as I held my bag tight against my side.  I pushed open the doors, and although there were only a few people there because it was only 7:30, I could already feel the stares pointed towards me. Their stares judging me, even if they weren't saying anything.

 I can't do this.  I can't do this.

I slowly backed away, and then hit something hard from behind.

“Woah. You look different.” A familiar male voice said.  It was enough to snap me out of panic mode. I took a deep breath and smiled. I would know that voice anywhere.

“Hey." I greeted, and then remembering that he had asked me a question, I answered, "Is that a good different or a bad different?” I questioned my best friend.

“Based on the guys that are drooling over you in the corner, I’d say pretty good.” He chuckled slightly as he finished his sentence.  I slapped his shoulder, calling him an idiot. I knew no one was drooling at me. I laughed when he winced in pain. He was such a girl sometimes.  

Moments like these were hard to come across, because Brent was usually out with his crowd. “The Cool Kids” as they would like to call themselves.  Luckily, they weren't around, probably off who knows where, talking crap about other people like what hey normally did.

I probably wouldn't even be able to talk to Brent much, which was really unfortunate, because well, they hated me.

It’s not that I did anything wrong to them, mind you.  I wasn't ugly (probably), nor did I have any weird foot fetish or problem that would cause them to hate me so much. I was quiet and shy, which was basically a death sentence in this school, if you asked me.

Suddenly, somebody snapped their fingers in front of my face, awakening me from my trance yet again.

I was spacing out a lot lately.

“Hello? Anybody in there Zoe?” he said, knocking on my head.

I shook my head slightly, facing him. “Oh what? I’m sorry. There's just a lot of things going through my head right now.”  

“No kidding, especially because you didn’t respond to me when I asked if you wanted any chocolate.” 

What. When did this happen. I love chocolate. I know I would never miss it being mentioned in any conversation.

I looked at him all wide-eyed like the crazy chocoholic that I was. “What? Where? Give me my chocolate!” I said, frantically.

“Relax. I was just kidding. I’ll buy you some later okay?” 

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t you dare lie to me about that next time. Understand?”

 He just laughed and patted my head. Jerk. 

He walked me to my locker, "I took the liberty of getting your combination for you when I got mine." he said as he handed me the small piece of paper.  I quickly put the combination in as I put the rest of the books that I didn't need inside. "So," I said, as I grabbed the geometry book from my bag. "Where's the rest of the clan?" I asked, referring to the popular clique that he often hung out with.

"They're waiting for me in homeroom, so I figured that since they weren't watching, I'd take my chances and come see you." he said smoothly as he picked at the hem of his shirt. 

I knew it was too good to be true.

"Well, I guess I better cherish this precious moment with the almighty Brent then?" I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice as I spoke.

He rolled his eyes, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You better."

Finally, we reached the door to our homeroom class. Brent paused, as if hesitating to tell me something.  Finally though, he came out and said it. “Twenty seconds. Just like the usual okay?”

I nodded.  I should be used to this though, I thought as I watched him enter the classroom and started counting to twenty.  You see, Brent made me do this so that it wouldn’t look like we walked to class together. God knows what his “friends” would think of it.

“Nineteen, Twenty.”  I finished counting and took a deep breath as I pushed the door of the classroom open.  

Welcome to Junior year, Zoe.  

*** 

A/N: Hey guys! If you're reading this, I just really want to thank you (again) for sticking with this story.  This chapter is kinda boring, because it's a filler, but I promise that it's going get interesting soon! Please do comment if you have any questions and such! :)