What It Seems | Wattys 2023

Chapter 13

ADALYNNE

This morning was dreadful. I was not in the mood to listen to six teachers and sit in the same room as my classmates. Honestly, I wanted to stay home and sleep. I wanted to lay in my warm bed and watch Netflix all day. I desired to stay home and do anything besides school today. The only thing I was looking forward to going to school was hanging out with Jo.

I was in a hurry to get dressed. Well, really, I was being rushed by my absurd brother who just had to go to the gym at seven forty-five in the morning. I rubbed in some light foundation and powdered that down with some powder and ran mascara over my eyelashes.

Looking at my alarm clock, I only had five minutes. I haven't even done my hair, so I threw it up into a messy bun and considered myself ready.

I grabbed my book bag from my moon chair and scurried out the door.

"Why exactly are you going to the gym so early in the morning? Geez, Aiden, I'd still be sleeping if I didn't have school." I turned on Aiden's radio to hear Sweater Weather come on. I clicked the lock button on my phone to read the time: 7:39 AM.

"I'm training some new kids today," he answered. "And I'm not lazy like you are and plus, I have a job." With that, I rolled my eyes.

Exchanging "I love you" to one another like usual, I closed the car door and was on my way to meet up with Jo at break. I trotted along the sidewalk, ignoring the stares (for no apparent reason) that I received daily. I don't get it - I'm always lowkey. When I come to school, I hardly ever talk to anyone, except Jo and Baylor. I'll have decent conversations with the laid-back teachers like the new ones, or the mid-fifty teachers who are cool to converse with. The mid-fifty teachers who really don't care about what you do - just assign you work and teach here and there, not minding if you're on your phone or dancing on desks. Other than that, I speak to no one.

"Jo the Hoe, there you are," I grin, sitting my bag on the table, and sitting down in front of her. She pulled out the earphones of blaring music and laid her iPod on the table alongside her book bag.

"Claire the Hare, you finally showed up," her pearly whites lined up in a straight line, smirking. Jo and I have nicknames that we came up with in her second week of school here. One day, we were sitting at break after lunch, and Jo and I decided to name each other names that rhymed with our names. They weren't insults; it was just your ordinary best friends kidding around. Calling her a 'hoe' went well with her first name. Jo found it remarkably hard to rhyme an insult with my first name, but it didn't work out well as she planned.

"Okay, I am so sorry for not coming over the other night. I hate to start off with excuses, but my mom said she didn't want me going anywhere after six because I'm supposedly 'grounded'," she air-quoted, and continued. "Because I didn't unpack my room when I was supposed to. Then she took my phone away when I got smart with her." Jo rolled her emerald eyes.

I giggled, "It's okay, Baylor came over."

"Not uh! Details!" she demanded, tucking her bangs behind her ear.

"Well, I guess we're friends now." Her eyes grew to the size of saucers and her smile held a vast grin.

"Anyway, all we did was watch T.V and played twenty questions." Her jaw dropped open, and a gasp escaped her unbolted lips.

"Adalynne, do you not see that that boy is trying to get to know you better?! That's a sign that he has a crush on you!" She silently yet exclaimed in a nonchalant voice.

"There's no sense in being friends if you don't know one another, now is there?" I asked but I already knew the answer. She sighed.

"Well, that, but really? You're a gorgeous girl, so he probably thinks you're hot. I wouldn't blame him if he tried to get to know you better. If he's smart, he'd go for your personality and not your appearance because to me, looks are a bonus. But you have good looks and a good personality, so it won't be before long when he'll want to take it to the next level with you." At that, she beamed brightly and wiggled her thin eyebrows. She took a sip of her Starbucks mocha and twisted the cap back on, waiting for my response.