We Should Be Together - Lams AU

7.

"Have they found the person who put Eliza's bag in the shower yet?" Herc asked Alex a few days later.

"No," Alex replied, anger hinted in his voice. "And I swear to God, when I find the person who did it..."

"Woah, calm down there, Mr. Psycho!" Laf joked, laughing. We all stared at him in silence. "OK, jeez guys, sorry!"

"Who do you think it was?" I asked Alex, smiling warmly at him.

"I honestly don't know... but it wouldn't surprise me if it was Maria."

"Maria Lewis?!" We all said in sync.

"Yeah! She has a huge issue with Betsy for no apparent reason, and--"

"Betsy?" I questioned, hiding the alarm in my voice.

"Yeah, that's my nickname for Eliza." Alex shrugged. "Anyways, Maria is definitely--"

"That's so cute!" Laf squealed. "Oh, Herc, we should have nicknames for each other!"

"Oh my God, yes!" Herc smiled at Laf, clearly in love.

I felt the bitterness rise in my throat as I bit back cruel remarks. I hated being single, but at least I would soon have my Alex.

My next lesson was English Lit, and as I went into the room, I realized that there was a new seating plan. Mr Washington was pointing at the seats people would now be sitting in.

"John?" He smiled, and pointed at a seat near the front of the room. I went and sat there, wondering who would be sitting next to me.

Everything then went wrong.

Eliza slipped into the seat next to me.

"Hey, John!" She tried her best to sound upbeat, but still sounded really miserable.

"Hey," I murmured, feeling really annoyed that out of the thirty other people in the room, I was forced to sit next to this skank.

Eliza smiled at me, which I ignored. She looked hurt, and I bit back a smirk.

Mr Washington stood at the front of the room. "I'm gonna give you guys your homework now, because otherwise someone will forget, and that someone will probably be me." Laughter rippled through the room. He clicked onto the PowerPoint slide.

"Sir?" I raise my hand.

"Yep?"

"Can I record it on my phone, because I sort of left my homework book at home?"

"Yeah sure." I pulled my phone out of my pocket, wincing because I'd forgotten I'd smashed it. Also I kind of cut my thumb on the cruel glass shards.

"Ahh, fuck!" I murmured.

"Are you OK?" Eliza asked, looking up. "Oh my God, what did you do to your phone?"

"What do you care?" I snapped.

"Well, it's just that you've shattered the entire screen, and that is not easy to do..." Eliza trailed off, realising I didn't give a damn about what she had to say.

"John?" She said, her voice much sharper.

"What?" I replied, exasperated.

"Why do you hate me?"

"Where've you got that impression?" My heart began to race. Did she suspect me of putting her bag into the shower?

"It's just, the whole tape thing in art, and that you always seem really grumpy when I'm around, and also how you're acting now," She listed. I stayed silent. "I mean, I really want us to be friends, because you're friends with Alex and I think you're really nice, but just not to me and it hurts. It really hurts, actually. I'm not going to break his heart, and nothing is really gonna change for all you guys. I'm not one of those possessing girlfriends who stops her boyfriend hanging out with his friends. It's just, I've been nice to you this whole time, and I was just wondering if you were worried about Alex."

"OK," I simply stated. Eliza looked a little defeated, and honestly, it gave me one hell of a lot of happiness to see her upset.

"Well, fine then," Eliza mumbled and faced the front, writing down her homework.

The lesson dragged on, with us making notes on various aspects of the book we were studying, To Kill A Mockingbird. I thought that I wouldn't have to speak to Eliza for the whole lesson, but boy, was I wrong.

"OK, now I want you to work in pairs to discuss the techniques Harper Lee has used to make us pity Boo Radly." Mr. Washington said.

In one horrified moment, I realized who my partner was. She turned to face me as I stared at her, before looking her up and down. She didn't even try to smile at me this time.

"Umm... well... she..." I stuttered, not really knowing what to say.

"Oh, John?" Eliza interrupted.

"What?" I replied, irritated.

"Can I have your notes for this class, because my book got kind of soaked and I really need those notes," She asked.

"They're not very good," I said, trying to keep a poker face. I wasn't going to give her my damn notes! Who did she think she is?

"I don't mind," Eliza pleaded. "I just need something to revise from."

"I mean, they're pretty awful." I faced away from her.

In the corner of my eye, I saw her raise her hand. Mr Washington saw it almost instantly and wandered over.

"Eliza," He said warmly, "What's up?"

"Hi, Sir, I was just wondering, is it possible that I can have the notes for this class, because my book kind of got destroyed and I need something to revise from?" Eliza smiled at him.

"Yeah, sure. John, can you give Eliza your notes?" Mr Washington turned to me.

"They're really bad, though!" I insisted.

"What? Your notes are some of the best in this class!" Mr Washington grabbed my book and passed it to Eliza, who pulled her phone out with a triumphant smirk and took photos of all the pages. Bitch. Of course she was looking to steal my work as well as my Alex.

Oh boy, she was going to pay. I would make sure of that.

I snatched my book back as soon as she was done with it. I honestly couldn't believe her! She just completely manipulated everyone like the whore she is. As soon as Alex saw her for her, he wouldn't want anything to do with her.

Little did I know that a huge chance was just about to come up.

The next day, we all had art, and halfway through it, we got told about a five long art trip to Paris. An email had been sent out to our parents, and Eliza excitedly revealed that she was definitely going, because her rich daddy had already paid.

Knowing Eliza was on it, I had to go.

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Word Count: 1109 Words