Almost Friends

Chapter 11- Elizabeth

Chapter Eleven

Elizabeth

E the Graffiti Artist

"Despite Elizabeth and Darcy's differing social status, they share the same character flaw." Ms. Mallory pauses to clear her throat and I tighten my grasp on the pen in my hand, eager for her to continue.

I vaguely remember Grandma telling me that Pride and Prejudice was one of her favorite books when she was my age. For that reason in itself, I can't wait to read it for class.

"So, when—" Ms. Mallory is cut off by the bell and I roll my eyes.

Oh well ...

"We'll pick this up tomorrow. Bye, guys," Ms. Mallory says, but her small voice is lost among the scuffling feet and buzz of conversation.

I grab my purse and backpack, briefly shooting a glance at Mia's empty seat. Before class I saw her take Josh Phillips' hand and slip away with him.

I guess that means they're holed up somewhere finally giving in to a mutual fantasy. They've been eyeing each other for as long as I can remember; it's fairly obvious that they should be together instead of Mia and Ran.

I glance at Ran. He's been uncharacteristically quiet throughout first hour. He's frowning as he swings his backpack on over one of his broad shoulders. He catches me watching him and I start to ask him what's wrong, but he's already talking before I can get a word out.

"Do you have any idea where Mia is?" He's still frowning and his voice is low, which is very different from his typical happy-go-lucky tone.

"No." I turn away from Ran and busy myself with gathering my pen and notebook. "But yesterday she said something about dropping Ms. Blanchard's Film and TV class. Maybe she's with the guidance counselor, taking care of that."

Briefly closing my eyes, I exhale. My God, I hate lying on Mia's behalf. Especially to Ran. He's a good guy; he deserves better than that.

"K, thanks, E." Ran gives my backpack a gentle thump with his fist and stalks off, calling, "See you later," over his shoulder.

I bring my notebook to my chest and follow him with my eyes as he exits the classroom. His shoulders are hunched and there's an unusually grim expression on his face.

As much as his relationship with Mia is killing him, he refuses to ditch her -and I totally understand why. At first, I assumed we stuck by Mia for the same reason: we both wanted to be popular. But the more I hung around Ran, the more I realized that not only does he have no need for Mia's status, but the boy seriously stresses himself out about being "a good guy." It's actually sort of an unhealthy obsession with him: he sees someone in pain and he can't just walk away—he has to fix it. Randall Hawke sees how broken Mia Reeves really is and he's taken on the never-ending burden of fixing her. For Ran's sake, I hope Mia realizes she'd rather be with Josh.

I glance back at my desk to make sure I haven't left anything behind and a high-pitched shriek at the classroom door nearly scares me to death.

"Oh, my God!"

Horrified, I turn to the noise and it seems to have come from Meagan Nellit, an underclassman cheerleader and member of our dance team. She's frozen in the doorway, her mouth wide open in surprise as she points to me.

"Why are you pointing at me?" I demand.

She emits another one of those weird shrieking noises and then runs towards me.