Scatterbrain

Too Much

Cecilia walked into the cafeteria, the usual haunt for early arrivers. She shed her backpack onto the squeaky table and stared at the white painted brick. Mornings weren't always her forte.

Chatter from the incoming bus filled the empty silence of Sunday's funeral. Words of next weekends plans and all the fun they had at Queen's Lake, the nearby amusement park, made her head fall against the cold table. It almost seemed like the only thing the "popular kids" cared about on Mondays was one-upping everyone else's weekend.

Cecilia's gaze turns up at the sudden whiff of air. The seat in front of her is filled
by the neon backpack she'd recognize from a mile away. Shifting her body to an appropriate form, Heather smirks.

"Who do I need to punch to get back at making my bestie's day worse than it already is?"

Cecilia rolled her eyes, tilting her head toward the table filled with Dahlia High School's top tier preps. Heather sighed. Her friend's aversion to the word "popular" and everything associated with it never ceased to surprise. Soon the bell rang, signaling the start of the daily rat race.

"I'll see ya later, in Algebra, alright? Don't die just yet," Heather joked as she got up from the table. Cecilia groaned and stood up as well.

Making it through her first two classes drained the life out of her. Boring biology, boring history. But finally third period.

After slamming her locker, Cecilia made her way to room 132. Algebra. Huddles of backpacks crammed the walls, buzzing with the latest gossip or break-out band. Sometimes is seemed like things would never change in the realm of high school.

Her mind drifted. It'd been two weeks since that spark jumped between Warner and her. Two weeks of her chest jolting every time he crossed her path and two weeks of wishing it'd happen again and again and again. She had always "liked" Warner, in middle school terms. From asking teachers questions that took up half the bell to quietly screeching songs while they'd be taking notes, she noticed him pretty quickly. And after seeing his face the other week she'd been sure he had caught on. Hoping he'd caught on. She didn't think he did. Same jokes, same flippant behavior. But that dumb, wire-filled smile was no where to be found. Maybe it had only been a spark. A passing flame that burned out all too quickly.

Arriving to Algebra, Cecilia slammed her books on the table. Whoever decided they should be learning the quadratic formula at 9 in the morning surely didn't think kindly of their students.

"Whoa Cecilia, rough morning?"

She didn't even need to look up to see who it was.

"A silent act of rebellion, more like," she told the boy next to her. "Not like you'd know too much about silence, Mr. Screech-whenever-we-take-notes."

Warner let out a sigh of amusement. "You know you enjoy my mini concerts, Cecilia," he remarked. "Just think, when I become rich and famous you'll be able to say you were the first to hear the Warner Osbourne sing."

She rolled her eyes, her mood lifting like an old balloon refilled with helium. "Ever so humble," she muttered. For never being one to start conversations, Cecilia sure could hold her own against Warner.

Algebra finally ended. Their teacher had handed out a math packet to prepare for the chapter test on Friday. Between Warner grabbing her paper, asking questions (most unrelated to math), and making her laugh way harder than he should have, she only got the first page done. Out of five.

She was about to guilt-trip (AKA get an excuse to talk to) Warner but Langdon, one of Warner's best friends, came up to him. Chatting about basketball and everything else, Cecilia grabbed her books and left.

Pushing to get through the halls, she talked to Heather and Chrissy. But something caught her eye as she stopped at her locker. Warner. And his smile, the one that she caught only a glimpse of two weeks ago. A braces filled smile she thought was just for her. She had the perfect angle to spy on him, talking to the "popular kids" she despised.

Granted she didn't have anything against Warner talking to them, especially since Langdon hung out with most, if not all, of them. She wasn't that possessive. She did, however, have reservations for the short, fiery haired girl chatting up Warner, Natalie Jester. Sporting her cheer team jacket and pearly white smile, she was definitely one of the "it" girls at Dahlia. Almost half the population of guys had some crush on her.

Her stomach still dropped, the stone of doubt and anxiety falling. She'd never tried to be that girl, clingy and protective, when it came to crushes. Warner and her weren't even that close in terms of a "relationship". Algebra buddies, maybe small talk in the hallways, nothing much. And even as she thought that, tried to believe it "wasn't that much", it was. Somehow talking to him, even for five minutes, let her know her heart was beating. Let her know she was breathing, taking up space in world so huge and her so small. She couldn't let him go that easily, couldn't watch him laugh with Natalie even if he was just being polite. Smiles like that weren't just for being polite.

Cecilia hurried with her books and darted to her next class. She couldn't keep watching.

The day stretched on. Paying attention was useless, especially since she could catch up quickly. Her mind was still stuck in replay of Warner and Natalie at the lockers. Whether it had been as innocent as a conversation of asking for notes or not, it didn't matter. It still stung. And so what if she was being dramatic? It just showed she cared for him. Maybe too much.

*update, probably not ever gonna add to this 😂 was about a guy that I no longer feel  the same for and it seems awkward and cringey. Unless any of y'all want more, it'll end on a cliffhanger - S"