Hate is a Strong Word

2)A Series of Concerning Events

School started a week ago, and it hasn't gotten any better.  That seventh grader, Jacob, likes me more than I thought possible.  You may be wondering how I can tell, and it's a well-known secret throughout the knowledge of my friends. 

I am a master of boys.  I have everything figured out about them. I know why they feel the need to make such inappropriate jokes, and I know exactly how they act when they like a girl.  Every boy is different for sure, but my love senses apply to all of them. People say I will be a love doctor when I grow up, but what they don't know is I already am.

"D-d-do you k-kn-now what-t b-u-e-nos d-i-as m-mea-ans?" Jacob stuttered for what seemed like 5 minutes, sounding out the Spanish word he was asking about.  He would only stutter when talking to me, and I knew that because I overheard him talking to other people with perfect clarity.

"It means good morning," I said, staring at my own Greetings Packet (which Senora Elizabeth finally remembered to bring), "but it directly translates to good days."

Jacob looked back at his packet with wide, focused eyes and looked back at me, remembering he had to say thanks.

"Th-hanks-s" he spurted out as quickly as he could, which wasn't that quick.

That was about all he spoke to me.  He happened to talk to Laurel a lot, which I didn't care. The more Jacob talked to her, the less either one of them spoke to me. I know it sounds very antisocial, but I honestly don't care.

What I do care about is a boy named Derek.  I couldn't help liking him with his adorably messy brown hair and loving eyes.  I usually don't care about eyes when it comes to boys, but he doesn't apply.  My love senses are numbed with him because whenever I see him I'm too busy staring at his soft lips instead of taking mental notes on how he's acting. Looking at him is way more entertaining than overthinking everything anyway, so I don't mind.

I can't tell if he likes me and it drives me insane. Cris says I should ask him out myself and fight against gender roles. I would because I'm all about feminism, but, well, it's comfortable being on the receiving side. It feels... safer.

But then again, I do overthink things.  A lot.

After I realized I was zoning out, I decided to change my ways and not think about boys (this is strange...).  I walked up to grab another book during our Spanish Reading time (no one actually reads), and when I was heading back, I overheard Laurel talking to Jacob.

"She will say yes, I promise you," she whispered with an evil smile, "If she does, I'll give you ten dollars."

Jacob's eyes widened when she said this.

"That's enough to get a Sour Cringe," he said in awe, "Some kids will actually kill for one."

She nodded, with a devious smile that I never see, just because of how much she despises me.

Once he got over the excitement of a Sour Cringe, he looked back at Laurel and said, "I'll do it," with a smile filled with excitement and sneakiness.  He turned back around and scooted his chair back to his spot, picked up the book on his desk, and pretended to read, still smiling.  Confused, I stayed faithful to my resolution and attempted reading a spanish book instead of imagining Derek's dreamy eyes looking into mine. Man, this is really hard.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alaina?"

I turned around to see Jacob smiling and standing with a new sudden confidence. What do you want now?

I took out one of my earbuds. "Yeah?"

"Do you want to be my... girlfriend?"

I didn't know how to react. So you know what I did? I started laughing. I don't know what I was doing or what came over me but I just started cracking up. I was laughing so hard I barely could breathe. I tried to play it off with a, "You're joking, right?" but it was no use. The laughter took over me and I suddenly got dizzy. The ground started rolling and the world began mixing it's occupants. Next thing I knew, the ground got suddenly got closer and closer to me, and then it hit me. The ground, I mean.

(750 words)