He Was A Ten

My Friends Can Do My Project For Me

"Alright, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" I asked Cindy as the bell rang for class to be over.

"Yep," she confirmed with a nod. "I'll see you then and we can start on the presentation, since that will be pretty easy to do. Then we can focus all of our energy on the essay."

"Sounds good," I said, holding the door open for her.

I turned to leave and found myself face to face with Marcus. Well, more like face to chest. I barely came up to his shoulder.

"Marcus, this better be a coincidence," I sighed.

"Well hello to you too Precious," Marcus smirked. "So, how was World Studies?"

"Interesting," I answered, walking to my next class. "Cindy and I are working on a project about this criminal named Johnny Bones and his partner Stitches."

"It's Lady Stitches," Marcus corrected, smirk no longer present on his face.

 I narrowed my eyes at Marcus. "How did you know?"

"They were the biggest criminals of the 90s," Marcus replied. "How could I not?"

"Well, my mom's a cop, and I didn't know," I countered. "Although she doesn't really talk about her job much." 

"You're lucky. My parents are constantly telling me about their jobs and how to do it, so that way I can take over the family business."

"Really? What do your parents do?"

"Uh, they uh, do classified work for the military," Marcus answered distractedly. Pointing to the door in front of him, he asked me, "Hey, isn't this your class?"

I looked behind me and, sure enough, it was my class. "You know what, I'm not even going to ask how you know that."

Marcus' signature smirk found its way back onto his face. "I have my ways. I'll see ya around Precious."

"Yeah, if you happen to run into me, I'll see you," I said, trying to subtly remind him that he wasn't supposed to come find me during every transition. Judging from the wink and the grin though, I don't think he was paying any attention to my reminder.

This class I had with Hattie, but not Alice, so that meant 45 minutes of no Marcus. I mean, technically I had that last period too, but hey, who am I to count my blessings?

I took my regular seat next to Hattie and happily greeted her, "Hey, what's up girl?"

"Ugh, way too much homework," Hattie complained. "Plus, I promised Alice I'd help her pick out a dress for the dance."

I let my head bang against my desk. "When even is this stupid dance?"

"I don't know, sometime this week?" Hattie shrugged. "On a less boring note, how was World Studies?"

"It was actually pretty good," I said, a smile appearing on my face. "I'm working with Cindy on this project that's due in two weeks."

"That sounds like fun," Hattie replied. "What's the project?"

"Well, we're going to do a presentation and an essay on Johnny Bones and Lady Stitches," I answered. "The essay and presentation were required, but so far the people we chose seem to be pretty interesting."

I swore I could see Hattie start to worry. "Why them?"

"I don't know, Cindy suggested it," I replied nonchalantly, a little suspicious of Hattie's odd behavoir. "How am I the only one who doesn't seem to know who they are? I'm the one who has a cop for a mom."

"Well, you are pretty clueless," Hattie teased, acting normal again.

"I am not clueless," I defended.

"Yeah right," Hattie started, but she was cut off by the teacher starting class. Thank goodness for Mrs. Miner, otherwise that could've gone on forever.

Before long, it was the end of the day. Alice had come with me to my locker to tell me more about this dance.

"So, the dance is on Friday this week," Alice explained. "You know, so we can celebrate coming back to school."

"Or the fact Hattie has made it to first period everyday this year so far," I joked.

"Or the fact that you haven't forgotten anything yet," Alice teased. "Now let me finish! The dance starts at six, so we'd have to come back to school, but on the other hand, we'd have a couple hours to get ready-"

"Hold up," I interrupted, making a time out sign with my hands. "We?"

"Yeah, we," Alice confirmed. "You, Hattie, and me."

"Okay, first of all, it's you, Hattie, and I. Second, what makes you think I'm going?" I asked, putting my combination into my locker and grabbing my backpack.

"You're going to the dance?" Marcus asked.

I sighed. I guess he was bound to run into me at some point. But right now? "No, I am not going to the dance. I don't do dresses, and I definitely don't do dancing."

"Oh, come on, please Paige?" Alice begged. "I don't want to go alone."

"Isn't Hattie going?"

"Only if you go."

"Ugh. Fine. But you owe me one," I said, slamming my locker shut. Waving, I told Alice, "I'll see you tomorrow."

I started walking to the bus loop. I was aware of Marcus walking next to me, but over the course of the afternoon, I had gotten used to it. I mean, I pretty much did this every morning anyway, since he and I had the same morning classes. So we walked silently to the bus loop.

I really wish that I could say we made it there fine, I sat next to Hattie like I usually did, and I went home to do my homework.

Well, I guess one of those things is true.

A/n-okay, yes, i'm leaving you all with a cliffhanger. hopefully, the next chapter will be out soon.