10 More Days With You (REWRITING)

Chapter 7: Leah Thatcher

They were under the bleachers. He had her pinned against one of the metal support beams. They were talking and laughing. He would kiss her occasionally, short kisses that drove her even more crazy than they usually did. She closed her eyes.

      "You drive me crazy, you know that?" He said.

      She sighed, satisfied.

      "Noah," she whispered.

      "What?" The voice sounded more masculine than usual. Oh well. "Oh you mean that wimpy quarterback? God, am I even a little bit like him?"

      Leah opened her eyes. The boy with her was not Noah. It was Hunter.

      Leah gasped and pushed him away, stumbling over herself.

      When she woke up, she was covered in sweat. Oh God, she thought. What a weird dream.

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      "Math books, math books, where are you?" Leah could never find anything in the barf hut she called her locker.

      She moved her history textbooks to the side ever so slightly, and THERE! Her math textbooks and workbook had somehow (God only knows how half of the things in her locker ended up where they were) been pushed to the very back of the top shelf. She grabbed them, tucking them into the crook of her elbow. She closed her lock on the metal ring, sealing her locker. She started walking down the hall to her math class, when a foot appeared in front of her, and she tripped, falling on the ground, her books and papers spilling everywhere. She turned over in a sitting position, only to see Hunter Davidson, leaning against the wall with a group of outcasts stoner guys (so basically the all-male version of Leah's friends, only trying too hard to be cool and make fun of everyone, and they didn't like any music), with a big smile on his face. All of his new friends were doubling over with laughter and playfully punching his arm.

      Leah stood up and approached him, getting right up in his face.

      "Listen. I don't know what I did to you," She said, quietly but firmly. "But whatever it was...you deserved it. Back. The. Hell. Off."

      Leah whipped her head around, intentionally hitting Hunter in the face. As she walked away, she heard a series of laughs, oohs, and perverted whistles. Normally, she would have rolled her eyes and called them losers, but it felt good to have even Hunters new friends turn on him. What a cruel, cruel world we live in, Leah thought.

      The math work made Leah want to kill herself. Well, some things never change. Something about exponential functions. She tried to take notes, but Mr. Vatten talked so fast. Mr. Vatten was the only reason she tolerated math class. He was constantly making clever jokes, making things stick in her brain. He wasn't afraid to lightly make fun of students. He even flipped one of her classmates' desk once. He was constantly making jokes about Leah's friends' and her "emo hair dye". 

      "Oh Leah," He would say, shaking his head. "Emo Leah."

      He loved making fun of the stuff they said, like, "It's not a phase, Mom and Dad, it's a lifestyle" or "I can't talk to my parents, they would never understand".

      Sometimes it made her want to curl up and cry a little bit, but mostly it made her laugh. He had the best intentions. At least, that's what everyone thought. But there was really no way to know with good old Mr. Vatten. 

      Leah could barely focus in class for two reasons: 1. she couldn't understand the lesson, and 2. she couldn't stop thinking about what had happened with Hunter. Leah didn't understand what she could have done to him. All she did was try to be polite. Maybe she interrupted his episode of Bad Boys of America (her mom had told her he moved from New York), but that's still no excuse to treat someone so horribly. Oh thank God it was Friday.

      The bell rang. Finally. Leah closed her textbook and workbook, tucking them into her arm again, and began to walk out of the classroom.

      "Leah, can you stay for a second please?" Mr. Vatten stopped Leah before she could leave.

      "Suuuure," She said reluctantly. She had planned to go out for lunch with her friends. "Why?"

      Mr. Vatten sat down behind his desk. "You looked pretty lost during class today. Is there something you want to talk about?"

      "No, I just," Leah couldn't tell him what happened. "I just have a lot on my mind, that's all."

      "Oh really?" He asked. "Like what?"

      "Sex, of course," Leah said sarcastically, starting to walk out of the classroom. "I'm an irresponsible teenager. What else would it be, right?"

      Mr. Vatten laughed. "I'll see you on Monday, Ms. Thatcher."

      "Bye," I walked out of the room. Mr. Vatten didn't stop me. 

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      "He's right, you know," Ramona said. "You have been kind of distant lately."

      Leah and her friends were sitting in Reflection Park, the pretty little area just across from Foodland, where they had just bought lunch. 

      They sat on the brick steps leading into the grassy park. Across from them, there were long stalks of grass almost covering the rocks and two benches. On one of the benches, there were three girls that looked like they were in the eighth grade. They probably went to R.H. Cornish, the public school just up the street. The one on Leah's far right wore a black-and-purple Fall Out Boy: Mania sweater (Leah liked this one) and had faded pink hair, short on one side, and down to her chin on the other. The one to Leah's left of her was really short. Like really short. Her blond hair was in a little bun on the top of her head, and she wore an anti-homophobia button (Leah liked this one too) on her pale blue sweater. The girl to the left of her wore her longer dyed red hair down. Her black track coat was unzipped to reveal a Panic! at the Disco shirt, half of a skull, where the other half would have been, a rose (Leah liked all of them, they were all awesome). 

      The pink-haired girl stood up and screamed, "THIS BITCH EMPTY! YEET!"

      Then she threw the can of pop she was holding into the tall grass behind her. The girl with the Panic! shirt laughed, and said, "Maddy, no!"

      "Maddy, yes!" The pink-haired girl, Maddy, replied. All three girls broke into laughter.

      Well that is not very appropriate. 

      "Leah?" Ramona said, snapping Leah back to reality.

      "Yeah, sorry," Leah shook her head. "I just - have a lot on my mind."

      Well, it might be the oldest excuse in the book, but it was true.

      "Okay," Ramona said. 

      You can talk to us, Jasmina signed. 

      "I know I can talk to you guys," Leah said, patting Jasmina's knee. Mina tensed up, surprising Leah. Why would she do that? Leah was trying to be friendly. "There's nothing wrong."

      But there was something wrong. School was going to be a nightmare with Hunter. This was going to be a very long two months. Oh God.