Crash

Chapter 14

"So what do you do Bells?" 

I groaned slightly and slowly turned to face the obnoxious boy. He had his eyebrow raised and smirk on his face.

"What ever do you mean." My tone was patronizing, yet that didn't deter the smirk on Kyle's face. Instead, he almost laughed to himself as though whatever was going on in his head - most likely an insult to me - was extremely amusing.

"I mean-" He paused and pretended he was choosing his words carefully, which earned an eye roll from me.

"I mean, Westlake is a school for, you know, the best of the best. The gifted and talented. But you - well, unless you count being a pain in the ass as a talent..." His voice intentionally trailed off as he smiled, awaiting my reaction.

I knew that's what he wanted. A reaction from me. And I tried, believe me, I really tried to refrain from reacting. But he knew how to push my buttons. 

A mature person wouldn't have played into his silly game. It's a pity I'm not mature.

"Listen here, asshole, every single person here has more talent in their pinky finger than you do in your entire body. Now would you please scoot away from me, I genuinely cannot handle the smell of whatever you're wearing."

"Made to Measure by Gucci. Does it smell to expensive for you?" He was clearly unaffected by my blatant insult. Unfortunately for him, I used to work in the fragrance department of our mall. Although the brand had its prestige, the perfume was affordable.

"You think I can't afford $75? The problem isn't Gucci. Nope, it's your insistence on wearing the entire bottle one time. That's not how you're supposed to use it." I smirked. He smile dropped a little, but returned straight away.

"You didn't answer my question." 

It was a Monday morning and I was engaged in a passive aggressive argument with a moron. What was my life.

"I don't need to prove anything to you, jerk. Me being here is proof enough. Now, if you don't mind, I have some maths to pay attention to." I resumed my work. That was the problem with this class. It was just Kyle and I. No Jay, Natasha or James to keep us from killing each other.

"Why do we even do maths? Isn't this an arts school?" He continued talking.

If Mr Dunbar was here, he would've received a detention for talking in class and I would've been spared from having to sit listen to his nonsense. Unfortunately our substitute teacher was a young 20 something who loved Crash and Burn so much, she gave our entire class a free pass to do whatever we wanted, if Kyle agreed to take a selfie with her.

He had agreed.

"I sing, Kyle. I sing and I play drums, bass, guitar and piano. I'm a one woman band. Now for the love of God would you please shut up. Some of us actually wanna pass." I groaned, hoping this information would change his life enough that he'd leave me alone.

"You sing?" He sounded impressed, "Can I hear you sing."

I rubbed my face in annoyance, sighing. He clearly wasn't going to leave me alone. I closed my book and faced him.

"We are literally in the same music class."

"We haven't done any practical music yet, it's all been theory."

"Well, wait until we do something practical." With that, the bell rang and we were off to our next class, which just so happened to be music.

*****

My face instantly lit up as I walked into the class. James was there, so I was kind of free from Kyle. "Kind of" being the key words.

I chose the seat between James and Jay, and behind Danny giving me optimum protection from Kyle freaking Fletcher. 

This was going to be a good class. I could feel it.

To begin with, Scott - the one teacher who allowed us to refer to him by his first name, because he thought calling him "Mr Jones" aged him - went over some of our previous work, which was basically listening to and discussing Hans Zimmer,  even though there was literally nothing in our exams about him.  

Finally, Scott moved on to our next topic. Practical stuff. He discussed our next showcase and what was required from all of us. We had finally reached the part of the year that I enjoyed, performing.

"Now, I'm going to need everyone to find someone to perform with for the showcase," I immediately turned to Jay, who was also facing me. The dynamic duo was back at it again. 

"someone new. Someone you haven't worked with before and preferably someone with a different musical preference to you." 

I audibly groaned at Scott's words, eliciting a laugh from him and weird glances from the rest of the class.

No biggie, I thought, as I turned to face James. We had semi different tastes. I smiled at the idea of getting to work closely with him. He nodded in my direction, a non-verbal agreement to work with me. It was settled. Everyone else found their pairs and moved around the class. Soon we began discussing our ideas with our partners.

"I was thinking-"
"I think we should-"

James and I spoke at the same time, causing us to both laugh.

"You go first." He leaned in closer to me, causing my heart rate to increase. I momentarily blanked, but regained my composure.

"I was thinking, our piece should reflect what's going on in society. Like, the political unrest or depression in teens - something with meaning."

He blushed slightly, chuckling to himself.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow. Was my idea that stupid?"

"Nothing bad, I promise. It's just that you went so deep and I was thinking a freaking love song. I feel shallow. Your idea is amazing."

My turn to blush, he wanted to do a love song with me. I mean it could've been a platonic thing. Jay and I did love songs every year, but with James it felt... different.

We elaborated on our ideas, but I couldn't help but notice Scott talking to Kyle, who appeared to not have a partner. I felt bad for whoever wound up working with him. 

I'm ashamed to say, I eavesdropped slightly, not that it was easy to hear him over the excited chatter of the music class. What I did pick up were the words "uneven number... work alone... join... group of three."

Oh. Hell. No.

Kyle sauntered towards us and I silently prayed that he's join Kristy and Tiffany who were eyeing him up. I leaned in closer to James, intentionally looking away from Kyle so he would get the message we didn't want him. But oh boy, I knew he's try get under my skin.

I heard him pull out his seat and go to sit down. Without hesitation, I turned to him and swiftly pulled the seat from under him, so he fell to the ground.

"Not today." I angrily whispered.

Can you believe a whole NHL season has gone past since my last update? Sorry about that :( Darn those Penguins winning again... Vote (50+ for the next update), Comment, Follow Annabelle on Twitter her @ is AnnabelleCutHer. I will try to be more active on here and there. ALSO ITS MY BIRTHDAY WHOOP WHOOP!!