The Big Bang Baby [The Big Bang Theory]

Chapter 10

Several days passed. The school holidays are finally over and today is the first day back. Raj has given me no news about his date with Lucy, which I hope is a good sign. On the other hand, he was freaking out the last time I saw him. Lazily, I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. I boil the kettle to make myself a cup of coffee. I take out a mug from the cupboard.

"Aren't you going to school today?" A voice asks me.

"Yes. I'm just making some coffee, and then I'll be off." I answered, pouring my favorite Nescafe latte flavor into the cup.

"How long have you been sitting there?" I asked, turning around to face my mother, who was sipping her coffee.

"A few minutes," she replies. I nodded as I poured the boiling water into my cup.

"So, about you going to school," she said again. I look at her, wondering what plan is brewing in her head.

"Yes, I said I am going; just give me a few minutes."

"Well, you're an hour late. The school has already started." I turn around to see my mother sitting at the table. I then stare at the massive clock on the wall. 9:30, it read. I look down at the floor and see my bed slippers still on my feet.

"Why did you not wake me up?" I said, eyes widening, realizing I was now super late for school.

"Believe me. I tried," my mom said with a smile. I rushed upstairs to change clothes, brush my teeth, get some books off my desk, and shove them in my bag while heading downstairs. I opened the front door and started to run. The school isn't that far from where we lived, so I usually walk. But today, I had to run. I look down at my watch. 10:55. I still have 5 minutes to get to my next class. This day hasn't started too great.

***

"Miss Wolowitz, you're late." Mrs. Stanley said as I entered her science class. I missed my first class of the day, English, which I am not mad about.

I stopped in my tracks, scanning the room. Everyone is looking at me.

"Only by 5 minutes," I said, looking over to the desk I sat at last year. This day is already going bad. I have already missed one class; 5 minutes late to the next one is not a big deal.

"Go have a seat." She said, turning to the board and writing something on it. I make my way to the only empty seat in the class. I put my bag down on the floor next to the table. I took the white lab coat off the back of the chair, put it on, and placed the see-through safety glasses on my eyes. I look over to see who my lab partner is. I smile.

"You finally showed up?" Gregg asked me.

"I overslept, okay," I said, seeing him grin from the corner of my eye. "And since when do you attend this school?" I asked. Gregg smiles at me. I scrunched my eyebrows together to figure out what to do. I look at the whiteboard in front of the class and try to understand what Mrs. Stanley wrote.

"What's this class about?" I whisper and take out my notepad, jotting down the notes Mrs. Stanley wrote on the board in the 5 minutes I was not here. I look over, and Gregg looks as confused as I am. I copy the drawing onto my notepad.

"Right, for the next assignment, work in pairs and try to come up with a solution for this problem," Mrs. Stanley starts, pointing to the board. I look over to Gregg, still staring at the whiteboard with a confused look.

"You have three weeks to finish the assignment. Find your science partner, and you can discuss the assignment now." She finishes her sentence and sits down at her desk to continue her work and for us to figure out the science problem she left on the whiteboard. I looked over in Gregg's direction, and he immediately knew why as he nodded his head. Guess we're science assignment partners now.

I'm supposed to be a science genius, but this problem got me.

***

"Are you going to tell me why you're late today?" Gregg's voice asked from the other side of the locker. I glare at him from the corner of my eye. Should I tell him the real reason, I'm late. He'll never believe me. He shifted his position as I placed more books in my locker.

"Come on, Halley. You're never late for any class. I know you, even though I haven't been going to this school my entire life." he continued when I did not respond to his first question. I closed my locker door and looked at him.

"Fine. I forgot to set my alarm," I said, starting to walk to my next class, Art. "My mother tried to wake me, but I didn't budge. She was sitting in the kitchen when I walked in when she asked me if I was going to school today."

"Maybe she forgot as well?" Gregg suggested, still walking next to me. I did not answer. Did he not listen to what I just said. My mother was sitting in the kitchen.

"Do you know what the weirdest thing is about all of this? Joel did not even leave for school. He's still at home, probably sound asleep." I said as I reached the door of my next class. I open it and leave Gregg standing there without him responding to my babble.

***

I take a seat at my favorite desk in art class. I am so glad we have this class today. Hopefully, it will give me some therapy to help me through what happened this morning. I search through my bag, looking for my pencil. We usually get some sketch paper from Miss Kent. Surely enough, I forgot my pencil at home while throwing all my books in my bag.

"Excuse me, do you perhaps have a spare pencil for me to borrow?" I ask, politely, the girl sitting in front of me.

"Sure." She says as she reaches into her bag, searching for her extra pencil. I look at her with a questionable look on my face.

"Do we know each other?" I asked her.

"Yeah. I've seen you before. Weren't you that girl that came to Gregg's apparent the other day?" She replied to me. Now I remember her. She had a date with Gregg.

"Is this your first year? I haven't seen you in this class before." I asked and ignored her question.

"No. I just changed the class from P.E." I would've done the same if I had chosen P.E. as a subject at the beginning of the year. She gave me her extra pencil, and I smiled to thank her.

"I'm Halley, by the way." I introduced myself to her, hoping to make some friends. I'm unsure if I want to be friends with one of Gregg's flings.

"I know who you are. I've seen your picture in the school's newspaper," the girl answered. Of course. I forgot about the newspaper. I thought no one ever reads it.

"I'm Angie." She says and turns back around and starts doodling on the piece of paper in front of her. Something vibrates in my pants pocket. I pull out my phone, unlocking it. I see that it's a message from Gregg.

Gregg: We don't have a shift this afternoon. Do you want to start on the science project?

Halley: Sure. See you after school?

Gregg: I leave at 2. Don't be late. Why am I glad to see him again? I smile at the page before me, sketching something on the paper. I'm not even sure what we are supposed to do. I'm just starting so that I can look busy and look as if I was paying attention.