*all rights to the original author*
I knew my parents wanted me to try to live a normal life since we moved to Sacramento, but they were beyond relentless with the Lauren chatter the rest of the weekend. They seemed to think almost as highly of her as she did of herself.
I was so sick of them harassing me about her that when Monday came around and I had to see Lauren at school, the very sight of her made me want to punch something. She was standing out front with all of her football buddies when I got to school, and I could tell she wanted to talk to me, but I was not in the mood.
She started to approach me as I walked past her, but I gave her the most evil glare I was capable of. After that, she didn’t try to stop me, and Zayn wasn’t discrete with his teasing. "Oh! Iced by the queen of cold!" he said, slapping Lauren on the back. "I take it you didn’t get lucky this weekend. What’s the matter, dude—lost your mojo? I thought you were totally in after the way she was all over you before." I could feel them watching me as I walked away, but I didn’t look back. It made me angry that Lauren didn’t seem upset by the laughter and the taunting of her friends. And even worse, I hated her response. She actually laughed with them and then said, "It’s Camila Cabello, dude. It’s going to take me some time to break the ice."
"Laur," Zayn said. "I know you’re the quarterback and all, but even you can’t break Cabello. She’s impossible."
"Watch me."
Ha! If she thought I was mad at her Friday night… "Watch me"? Someone should tell her it’s not wise to make me angry, and after that conversation, angry would be an understatement.
I don’t get her! I mean, she’ll stand up to Jade in front of the entire school and say I’m not a slut, and then she’ll turn around and brag to her buddies about breaking me? News flash, Lauren—Zayn’s right.
Never. Gonna. Happen.
I was so mad that I was afraid just looking at her would make me lose control of my powers, so I opted to avoid the cafeteria at lunch, but English had me worried. I thought about skipping, but I didn’t want to look like I was hiding from her after she saw me cry this weekend.
Luckily, Lauren didn’t say anything to me during class, but she caught up to me like two seconds after I walked out the door. She’d flashed me a small smile as she walked out of the classroom, which she could tell I wasn’t happy about, so I thought I was safe. I thought for sure she’d just leave.
I took my time getting out of the room just to be sure. Enough time that Mr. Edwards asked me if I had detention he didn’t know about. "Sorry, Mr. E. I was just kind of caught up in my book," I lied.
When Mr. Edwards got up from his desk and walked my direction I started gathering up my things.
I wasn’t quite fast enough. "Interesting choice," he said as he picked up the biography of Stephen King.
"Hey, you said anyone."
"I’m not saying it was a bad choice." Mr. Edwards chuckled at my defensiveness. "Stephen King is one of the greatest writers of our time."
That surprised me. "You like Stephen King?"
"American literature isn’t just Mark Twain, Ms. Cabello," Mr. E. said with a wink. "I just find it interesting that you would choose the king of horror as the subject of your book report. Generally, people choose someone they can relate to on a personal level." Which is exactly why I chose him, I wanted to say. But I didn’t want a lecture and a referral to my guidance counselor’s office, so instead I grumbled, "He’s a lot more interesting than Lauren Jauregui," as I snatched the book back from Mr. Edwards. I was still a little sore about being forced to have a partner.
