The Root of the Problem

Chapter 2

Laney was right about one thing, her partner would be useless. As she walked into her fourth period class the next day, Beck was sitting in the seat next to hers. She walked hesitantly to sit beside him and saw how he tensed up as she approached the table. Even before she could sit down he snapped,

"You can't sit here."

Laney was thrown off guard by hearing his voice for the first time in months. She ignored his remark and continued to sit.

"Trust me, if I had a choice I wouldn't be sitting here." She responded dryly.

She said this as confidently as she could but she knew deep down she was happy that at least she could spend some time with him even if he would completely ignore her.

Throughout the lesson, she snuck glances up at him. He stared ahead with hard eyes not daring to glance back. Laney noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He'd looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks and Laney wondered what had been keeping him up at night.

After an agonizing hour, the bell sounded for lunch and most of the class had rushed out as Laney gathered her things. Left in the room was Beck and a few other stragglers. Laney walked out but stayed next to the doorway in the hall, curious as to why Beck stayed behind.

Beck approached the teacher's desk.

"I need a new partner I can't work with Laney." He demanded.

Hearing her name come out of his mouth sent goosebumps across her body. The teacher tapped her foot annoyed with Beck's usual antics of trying to get out of things.

"I'm sorry Beck but the partners are set in stone. If you wanted to pick your partner, maybe skipping the first day wasn't the best idea."

Beck grew frustrated but gave her an innocent smile.

"Oh no I wasn't skipping, Mrs. Winters, I simply felt the urge to puke after coming into this hellhole and needed to go home. Which is why I need to switch seats because sitting next to Laney makes me wanna hurl even more."

Mrs. Winters' jaw slacked in disbelief and her face grew red with anger. She smiled her own sweet smile and said,

"The seats stay the same and I'll be seeing you after school today for detention, Mr. Denson."

Laney filled with rage and didn't want to hear more. She couldn't comprehend why Beck had such a problem with her for no plausible reason. She needed to get her mind off things so she angrily walked away from the door.

As she maneuvered her way through the hall she bumped into Chris. He smirked down at her as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to a secluded hallway wanting to distract herself and test Chris like Gabby suggested.

Chris placed his hand next to Laney's head to support his weight and stared lustfully at her lips. She leaned in and gave him a quick peck. This kiss ended too quickly for Chris's liking as Laney pulled away.

"Hey." She stared into his eyes wistfully as he looked back not matching the same emotion her eyes held. Chris pushed himself off the lockers and let out an annoyed sigh. He looked at her with bored eyes.

"So you know how I've been working on that painting?" Laney tugged at his sleeves slightly.

"You paint?"

Laney refrained from making a snarky remark and tried to keep herself calm.

"Uh yeah...I was going to ask if you wanted to come to my art show."

"Oh yeah, I was just playing with you. I know you paint babe." Chris tried to recover. "Yeah I'll be there."

She hid her disappointed, knowing Chris had no idea about such a large portion of who she was. Feeling stupid for thinking that he would even care. She mentally reprimanded herself for asking him when they aren't even officially together. She didn't know what she expected from him. Chris had a one track mind and barely listened to anything that came out of Laney's mouth if it didn't have to do with sex.