Accidentally on Purpose

Chapter Four

I never thought there'd come a day when I actually, actually honest to god, was irritated by Jonah Gibbs' presence.

I guess I just thought that I'd be immune by his tendencies to get on your nerves—whether he actually meant to do it on purpose or not—because I'd been in love with him for so long. Things had been sunshine and rainbows for me whenever I'd used to look/admire/drool at him, and  I guess I'd always been staring at him through rose-colored glasses and never actually realized why, while a lot of girls admired him the way that I was, there were some people who could actually be grateful that I dumped my drink all over his chest.

But truthfully, I couldn't pinpoint exactly which factor that got me all irritated and bothered, because he'd never made me feel this way before. Maybe it could be how he had insulted my hair; or maybe it could be how he managed to make me look and feel stupid twice in a row. Either way, this was probably the first time I'd ever felt anything remotely close to actual "hatred" toward him, which was the weirdest thing ever.

But no, I didn't actually hate him—how could I possibly? He just annoyed the crap out of me for leaving me standing dumbly there this morning, but I was sure that I would get over it soon.

That being said, I was so pumped to get through with Operation Bite the Apple. My annoyance toward him should be able to help me annoy him back, so let the game begin.

[]

During Life Skills, which was one of the classes that I had in common with Jonah this school year, I asked the guy who sat next to him to switch seats with me.

I stopped him in front of the classroom, and he instantly paled at the sight of me. He was actually bigger than me—he was a few inches taller and noticeably broader than me, and my petite figure shouldn't be able to intimidate him, but I did anyway.

I clicked my tongue when he just kept shifting his weight from one leg to another. "Well? Will you switch with me?"

"W-why?" he stuttered.

I looked at him as if I was stating the obvious and he was just too dumb to get it. "Because I said so?"

"But—but I sit in the back," he said nervously. "I'll just block the whiteboard. You won't be able to see, uh, the front of the classroom."

I tilted my head and shrugged. "I don't mind."

"But—but—" he tried to insist, but I raised one of my eyebrows and he instantly looked down, only to look up again and nodded at me. He fixed the glasses that was perched on his nose and spoke defeatedly, "Alright."

"Thanks, Tommy!" I said brightly, and his eyes widened as if he couldn't believe that I actually knew his name. I leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek in a form of gratefulness and brushed past him into the classroom, leaving him standing in front of the door, stunned in silence.

Jonah was already there when I got into the class, slouched at his desk with the earphones stuffed into each one of his earbuds. His eyes were closed and one of his feet was tapping rhythmically to the beat of the song he was listening, so I immediately rushed toward the seat next to him—which previously belonged to Tommy—and sat down obnoxiously, bumping into his desk in purpose and making him jerk up in surprise.

I pretended not to notice my surroundings though, seeming as if I was in a rush as I dropped my bag onto the floor next to my leg and bent down to rummage through it, pieces of my hair falling all over my face. I felt his eyes on me, hearing the stifled groan of irritation that was emitted through his lips, and feeling my own cheeks getting warm at the thought of him staring at me.