sympathy ~ e.d.

II

I hear the bell ring and it distracts me from my blank staring at some leaves. I sigh and head back inside. I have History next. I'll probably be taking notes the entire lesson, just like I always do. I actually like History most of the time. It's a lot of interesting stories, which is always nice.

I am too busy with talking to myself in my head, I don't pay enough attention to my surroundings. I also don't notice that until someone's shoulder bumps into me rather forcefully. Great, now I have to seem sorry in front of this annoying person. He was standing in the middle of the hallway, it's his fault. He should be looking where he was going as well. But I walked into him as well so I need to seem sincere when saying sorry. I look up with an apologetic smile.

'Sorry', I say. It's one of those kids from the football team. 'It's alright.' I send him another fake smile before I walk away. I can feel his eyes burning holes in my back, still looking the direction I'm walking in, while he's heading off the other way. Why would he be staring at me?

I sit down at my usual table, somewhere in the middle of class. People walk in, filling other seats in the classroom while talking with their friends. A few seats are still free but most are taken. 

The door is closed by the teacher but opened again not more than thirty seconds later when a guy walks in. It's the guy I bumped into, I think. I didn't get a good look at him, I was hurrying to class.

He immediately looks at me and slightly turns his head, as if he is intrigued. Why would he be? I look at him a bit longer but he doesn't seem to tear his gaze away. So I do, I  look away from him and focus all my attention on grabbing a pen from my pencil-case. My pencil-case is very interesting when I'm trying to avoid eye contact with this guy. All contact, for that matter.

I finally found a pen I can use so I slowly open my notebook to a fresh page. I'm still looking down at it and write down the date as slowly as possible. I can hear the footsteps of the boy coming closer to my desk. And I'm done with writing down the date. I wasn't slow enough.

He seems to stop next to my desk. Does he want to take a seat next to me? He'd better not. There are still a few empty tables left, he could easily sit at one of those. To my relief, he doesn't take place in the seat next to me; he sits down at the empty table behind me.

'A bit late, aren't we, Dolan?' the teacher asks annoyed. The entire classroom seemed captivated by this little play they had just witnessed. The class is nearly silent and watching as the teacher breaks the spell. 

Now I remember who this guy is. He's one of those twins. They're rather popular at school. Mostly known for their athletic ability, they are supposedly good at almost every sport, and they are decent human beings. Not as rude as other people at school, they could even be considered nice. And they are really hot if I were to believe most girls.

What were their names again? Um... one was called Grayson, I believe. And the other Ethan. I don't believe the teacher knows which one is currently sitting in his class, though.

'Coach had us gather for an emergency meeting for the game this Friday', the boy smoothly says. I can hear the grin on his face while he talks. I don't think that's the entire truth. 'Sure he did. I'll let it slip this one time.' The football boys really are the angels of the school. Our school will do anything if it means they even have a slight chance of winning. They've won quite a lot of matches this year, so apparently that helped. 

The teacher starts his lesson and I pay attention to what he's saying while taking notes. About fifteen minutes before the end of the lesson, he first assigns and then lets us work on the homework. I take a look at the exercises and start them. The more of them I finish in this lesson, the less I'll actually have to do at home. 

The teacher walks up to the Dolan sitting behind me and they start talking. The teacher is telling him about his concerns for the guy's next test. I find myself listening in to their conversation while pretending I'm not. 

'You've missed quite a lot of lessons due to you being sick, right? Well, I read your e-mail and I would like to help you but I haven't got any time to explain it to you these few weeks. Maybe you should ask notes from someone', the teacher explains to the Dolan.

I don't hear the guy reply, he's probably just nodding or something. I pretend to be focusing on the exercises in front of me instead. I shouldn't have been listening, I am afraid I already know where this is heading.

'Zera', I hear from my right side. I look up and see the teacher standing there, staring straight at me. 'Yes, Sir?' A fake smile decorates my face as I turn around. 'I know you always take good notes and since Mr. Dolan-' 'Ethan, Sir. I am Ethan. My brother Grayson has a different teacher for History', the boy interrupts while I feel him looking straight at me, as if he wanted me to know his name. Self-absorbed much? 

'Yes. So, Ethan has missed quite some lessons and I would really appreciate it if you sent your notes from the last few classes to him. I know you always pay attention very well.' I look behind me and see Ethan with a small trace of a smile on his lips.

'Sure, Sir.' I say with a fake smile and clenched teeth. It's not like I can say no to this teacher, he'll force me to send those notes otherwise. And I'd rather not land on his bad side. 'Very well, thank you, Zera.' The teacher starts to walk away, content that his plan had worked somewhat and he didn't have to do any extra work himself.

'Um, excuse me, Sir?' Ethan asks from behind me. 'Yes, Ethan?' 'Is it okay if I grab my phone to exchange my number with her? That way, we certainly won't forget.' 'That's alright. For this one time, you may take your phone out.' The second he said that a few people around us also reach for their phone. 

The teacher walks back to his desk again, ignoring the complete chaos in class. Everyone is talking, throwing things, and annoying each other. 

'So, you're Zera, right?' 'How did you guess?' I ask sarcastically. Ethan's small smirk doesn't seem to disappear while he hands me his phone. He doesn't seem affected by my complete unwillingness to give him those stupid notes. I'm pretty sure he won't even use them in the end.

'That's another way to get someone's number. Just forcing them to communicate with you by getting a teacher involved.' I hand him his phone back, now with my name and number in it.

'Original, right? And it works, I think.' 'If I put the right number in, then yes', I say with a blank face. I turn around and read the next exercise.

'So, when are you sending me the notes?' 'Whenever I have time.' I quickly pack my stuff since the bell already rang. I swing my backpack over my shoulder and head out the classroom, not once looking back at Ethan.