Taming The Beast

Chapter 3

As we answer the assigned page in our Calculus textbooks and scribble down the solutions, I rant to Elliot about the whole situation, still very much fuming from this morning.

"Well to give the guy some credit, at least he actually told you about your shirt," Elliot snickers beside me.

I give him a stare that makes him immediately shut his mouth and go back to working on the next problem. But I still see the small smile creeping up on his lips. I give a grunt of annoyance and roll my eyes at him.

"It's not the event itself that annoys me, you know that I couldn't care less about what other people thought of me. It's the fact that Austin waited to inform me about my mishap until the very last moment. If he had a heart beating in his chest capable of sympathy, then he should have told me sooner that I looked like such a mess," my voice raises a bit louder than I had intended.

And although I felt some stares come my way, I was lucky enough that Mrs. Schrider was too busy helping a kid in the front row with some questions to have noticed my brief rant. I sigh in relief and look back to my smirking best friend.

"What?"

He smiles and shakes his head, his scruffy brown hair bouncing, "I just don't understand why you always get so effected by him. You're normally- well around half of the time, so cool, calm, and collected. But once someone mentions his name, your blood starts boiling. I can't imagine how these next few weeks will be like with you two actually interacting with one another."

"It will definitely be an interesting next few weeks, that I can say for sure."

"Ah yes, I can see it now, all hell will break lose and you will end up being tried for mur-"

"Mr. James, I presume that you have accomplished the assigned seatwork since you have started chatting with Ms. Hamilton. Otherwise, finish your task or get out of my classroom," Mrs. Schrider chides sternly at us from the front of the room. The deathly look in her eyes says that she's deathly serious about her threat and we quickly go back to working diligently in silence. Time passes quickly and the bell quickly rings, dismissing us for lunch.

Elliot and I head to our usual spot, nearest to the chocolate bar vending machince, in the cafeteria where he chooses to continue our earlier conversation. The smell of frying oil and meatloaf subsides but eventually sticks to our clothes. I'm thankful that normally, neither of us will have to endure the torment of taking a bite from any of the food served here because we always bring packed lunch. Except today, I wasn't able to prepare my lunch while rushing out the door to school. And so Elliot is kind enough to share the magical contents of his precious brown paper bag. I take a bite on an apple slice from the tupperware container as he asks me a bizarre question, "Why do you despise Austin Parker so much? I mean sure he can be pretty cocky, but he never actually did anything to you that conniving."

I purse my lips as I try to decide on what to say. I settle for the honest true and come out with the news already, "I don't hate him. It's just that he is the exact definition of trouble, and you know that I cannot handle having nor want to have trouble in my life. As for not doing anything to me..."

I trail of but he raises his eyebrow inquisitively and his jaw clenches slightly, asking me to continue with a serious tone, "What did he do to you?'

"Elliot Anthony Thompson James, you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone about this. If this secret gets father than your ears and my mouth, I am screw. Then I will hunt you down and leave you tied to a tree bleeding to death."

"Why are you always so good at threats?" He asks in a slightly softer teasing voice and a sly grin.

"So remember when I told you that suspected that Diana was secretly dating someone? Well we stayed up very late last night, which is probably why I was very late this morning for school, having ourselves a chick-flick and junk food fest... After she had told me she was dumped. And it turns out that she was dumped by Austin."