NOTEWORTHY - America/Reader

Chapter Sixteen

By the time the bell rang, Alfred was immediately at your side. "Hey, (Y/n)..." he called your attention to himself. Looking up from your books, you briefly made eye contact with him. His presence was getting less and less annoying in your life. "Hmm?" you hummed as you placed your things in your bag. "After school today, you should totally come to my basketball game. It's in the gym." Zipping up your bag, you looked up. He seemed almost flustered, which confused you. He usually was fairly confident when asking you out to events. Basketball must be very personal to him if he's acting so bashful about it.

Almost guiltily, you replied with a firm, "I can't...sorry, I was going to the library after school today to work on my English paper." The dejected look on his face made you feel absolutely horrible. "The next home game, though! I promise." He nodded his head at that, but then shrugged.

"Today's the last home game," he said quietly. The disappointment didn't last very long, as his bright loud voice soon returned. "It's alright though! This just gives me an excuse to get you to go on another date with me some other time!" You felt you face pinken at the word "date", the term sending memories of the kiss fresh back into your mind. "Ha, that's what you think," you said teasingly, but to be honest, you wouldn't mind another 'date'. Catching you off-guard, Alfred smiled and leaned down to place a light kiss on your forehead.

"I'll see you later then, 'kay?" he said. You swear your eyes must have had hearts in them after that small act of affection. "Okay..." you said softly. Alfred smiled before walking off to his next class, leaving you gawking like an idiot. Quickly blinking, you regained your dignity and turned heel in the opposite direction. You made your way to your locker, switching out notebooks for science textbooks.

Heading towards the three-hundred hallway, you half-expected Miss Savannah Brown to come up and terrorize you. However, when you passed her on your way to science class, all she gave you was one of the deadliest glares you've ever seen her muster. Must've really pissed her off this morning, you thought to yourself.

Retreating into the classroom, you released the breath you didn't realize you were holding. You really did despise Savannah, but damn she could be scary sometimes! Taking your seat, you took out your textbooks and began to follow through with the lesson the teacher had prepared.

Afterwards, once the bell had rung, you placed your heavy books back into your bag and zipped it up. Walking out of the classroom, you zigzagged your way through the crowded hallways. Occasionally, you would get stuck behind the slow-walker, leaving you to mentally groan in your mind.

Eventually, you made your way to the library, where several students were hurrying to return and check out books before their buses were scheduled to leave. Taking a seat near one of the windows in the corner of the library, you waited for most of the fuss and noise to leave before taking out your laptop. Pulling up your blank English paper, you sighed. The prompt question was 'What inspires people to embrace change?' and so far, you had been left stumped.

Thinking about the question, you tried to personalize it so that it would be easier to apply to yourself. What inspires you to embrace change? Reflecting on your life, you tried to figure out the answer to this question.

The change of your parents' work schedule came first to mind, but the more you thought about it, the less you feel like you had embraced it. As a kid, they kind of forced you into the whole ordeal. Now you never saw them, and while you have come to terms with their disappearance, you never really felt inspired to accept this change.

The next thing that came to mind was Savannah. You had known her since grade school, and she had always been horrid to you. At first you had attempted to befriend her, hoping to avoid anymore conflict; but, overtime you'd learned that there was simply no befriending her. All of your attempts were in vain, and in effect you changed your vulnerability to strength. You would defend yourself against her onslaught of sparkly-pink terror.