My Boyfriend's Best Friend

Chapter Twelve

Connor

The bell had just rung, signalling the end of lunch. Rylie and Aidan hadn’t returned from their ‘talk’ and the group had long since given up gossiping about them. Tara had left shortly after they did, saying something about a project, and I had spent the remainder of the lunch hour chatting aimlessly to Beccy about the odds and ends of England.

I was power walking to where I remembered the science laboratories to be but I had just taken a wrong turn and had to backtrack until I finally found the room. The second bell had already rung and the class was seated inside the room. I quickly grabbed my Chemistry book and student diary, ready to show my teacher, Ms Crenella, my timetable. I went to open the door but I misjudged the force and the door swung inwards quickly, slamming against the wall loudly. The whole class jumped and the old lady at the front of the room almost had a heart attack.

“Sorry,” I cringed.

The teacher recovered from her almost cardiac arrest and turned to scowl at me through her thick glasses. “I’d appreciate it if you opened the door slowly and on time next time.”

“Sorry,” I apologised again, shuffling my book so it didn’t fall out of my arm. “The science lab wasn’t where I remembered it to be,” I said with a grin on my face. A few kids dared to chuckle but a quick look from Ms Crenella had them looking intently at the dark grain of their desk.

“Do you think you’re funny?”

Whoa, was this teacher serious? I was freaking hilarious. “I do, actually.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t appreciate backchat, Mr…”

“Connor,” I answered, holding up my diary and timetable.

“Well, Mr Connor,” she said, shuffling over to look at my timetable, no doubt hoping I had made a mistake and wasn’t actually in this class.

“It’s Johnston actually. Connor Johnston.” I couldn’t help but grin at the angered expression on her face at either my timetable or my comment or maybe a mix of both. I wasn’t usually a stirrer but this lady was making it far too easy. “Can I take a seat now?”

I gazed around the room and found an empty seat in the back corner. Much to my delight, I saw that Tara was in my class and she gave me a small smile. I returned one and was about to step towards the back corner when Ms Crenella’s voice interrupted me.

“Could everyone from Miss Jones please stand up and move one place to your left.” Without any protest the students started gathering their stuff together, preparing to move.

“It’s okay, Miss,” I said, not wanting to inconvenience anyone. “There’s a spare seat in the back.”

By now the teacher was practically seething. “Did I ask for your permission, Mr Johnston? You will sit where I tell you to.”

“But, Miss-”

“I’ll be seeing you at lunch for detention Mr Johnston. Now take a seat next to Miss Jones.” I couldn’t help but gape at her. Detention? What the hell for? I opened my mouth to argue but a stern look from her shut me up. I turned to the class and tried to figure out who ‘Miss Jones’ was. I caught Tara’s eyes and gave her a panicked look and she rolled her eyes. She pointed to the seat next to her and I breathed a sigh of relief as I walked up to her.

The classroom was set with three rows of three long desks, each desk containing enough room for three people. Tara had previously been at the desk on the middle left in the middle, an empty space on her right and a guy with curly hair and glasses even thicker than Ms Crenella’s on her left but he had moved to the middle group. I assumed I was to sit next to Tara and leave the other desk vacant.