It's Complicated

Chapter 1: Annoying Joseph

"Stooopppp!!!!" I yelled, trying to hold down the marker Joseph, some annoying boy in my class, was rubbing in between our desks.

"It helps me concentrate!" Joseph argued trying to act sincere although I could clearly see he was trying to hide his smile.
      I rolled my eyes and laid my chin on top of my hand, my elbow resting on my desk. Using my other hand, I grabbed a pen from my desk and clicked it in and out repeatedly. Joseph looked at me and glared.

"Can you stop that, Melanie?" He asked, annoyed.

"It helps me concentrate!" I mocked him.

      Joseph sighed in frustration but then a smirk formed into his face. He took a marker and started rubbing it in between our desks. I put one hand on top of the marker and one hand on his in an attempt to stop him but it only slowed him down. He was stronger than I thought.

"Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are? If not, I'll be happy to be the first!" I muttered sarcastically.

He smirked, "Sorry, has already been said."

      I glared on him. I swear, sometimes I just want to strangle him to death. I mean, who WOULDN'T want to? He's a jerk, annoying, weird, and a nerd. He's also cocky and VERY dirty minded. Ugh, why are the guys at my school so.... unattractive in every way possible.

      Well except for Ryan.... HE'S boyfriend material. He also sits on my right in class! Ryan is so dreamy and just so... kind! HE'S not dirty minded. I looked over at Ryan, who was staring at a wall and said,

"Whatcha thinking about?" I smiled at him.

"We have 8 hours of school.... Did you know that? 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00!" He replied dragging his gaze away from the wall and in my direction.

"Except you don't count the hour your starting with so really it's really only seven. It makes sense y'know, 'Seven Crappy Hours Of Our Lives'." I giggled.

      Ryan had a confused look on his face  like I just spoke a different language. My smile faded. Ya, he wasn't the smartest guy in the world but still very much boyfriend material.

      I heard a laugh on my left and turned to see who it was. It was no other than Annoying Joseph. He looked at me and smiled.

"S is for seven, C is for crappy, H is for hours, O is for of and our and L is lives. It spells out school!" He laughed again. "I get it!"

     I rolled my eyes in disgust.

"Anyone could have figured that out." I said annoyed.

"Actually, I had no idea what you were talking about until he explained it...." Ryan said, quietly.

"It's ok, you were probably way to distracted by Joseph's annoying laughter." I assured him.

Ryan laughed and smiled at me.

       "Your so funny." Ryan said.

      I gushed and felt my heart melt as he said that. God he is so perfect.

      "For your information, I started laughing after-" Joseph started.

      "For your information, I-do-not-care." I said, pronouncing the words as if I were speaking to a little kid, which he is.

      At that moment, Ms. Lynch, our language arts teacher, started passing out a worksheet for us to work on. Joseph, finally, kept his mouth shut for most of the class. He was so weak sometimes.

      I started the worksheet and half way through I got stuck on a question and decided to try and copy it off of Ryan, who had finished a few minutes ago.

      I looked at his paper out of the corner of my eye and while I was looking for the answer to the question, something caught my eye. He had gotten question 3 wrong! It was obviously letter A not C! The question was practically holding up a sign with the letter A on it and shouting "choose A"!

      I shook my head and shrugged. He made an honest mistake. As a last resort, I looked over at Joseph's paper. Dammit! His arm was in the way! I tried, as subtly as I could, to sit up a bit so it would be easier to see his paper. He moved slightly and froze. I looked at him and we made eye contact for what seemed to be forever.

      I looked down at my paper, defeated. I saw him move out of the corner of my eye and when I looked up, I saw him looking at me, his arm out of the way and his paper slightly facing more in my direction so I could clearly see his paper.

     I got the message and quickly copied down the answers.  Thanking him with a smile. Maybe he's not so bad after all.

     A few minutes later, the teacher got up and collected our worksheets. As Ms. Lynch collected our papers and walked away, Joseph leaned in towards me and whispered,

     "I copied your answers for 1, 4, 6, and 8 as well on other things so I thought I should return the favor."

      He smirked, winking at me.

      "And to think, I thought you were becoming a pretty decent guy. But no, you are still a nerd, still a jerk and still annoying." I muttered, glaring at him.

      Joseph shrugged, "What can I say? Not everyone has the ability to see how amazing I am."

      I laughed at him. "Ya, no one can. You know why? Because your NOT amazing you're.... you."

     "What is that supposed to mean!" He whined.

     "It MEANS," I said as if I were talking to a 2 year old, "That your no more special than... a blade of grass."

     "Well, if that blade of grass wasn't there-" He began, and I put my hand on top of his mouth to stop him from saying anything else."

"Just shut up already. Your going to make my head explode."

     Joseph looked away looking quite grim and I pulled my hand away from his mouth. 'Please let him be quiet for the rest of the day!' I prayed silently to God.