Scholar

Two

"Alex, where were you this morning, dude?" my best friend of six years, Ava, asked at lunch. Chelsea had run off to be the first person to talk to Ryan, and I was grateful to have found Ava right after.

"Uh, internet?" I responded. Ava seemed to get the reference to Fairly Odd Parents and giggled.

"I love Fairly Odd Parents. But really, is everything okay?" I nodded.

"Of course everything is okay. I was just late. Chelsea already got on me for it." Ava smiled. She grabbed my arm, her golden, silky hair flowing behind her as if it were a cape. Weird comparison, I know, but it was so similar because her hair was so thick and long.

"Come on, let's sit down." We pushed passed crowds of people in the cafeteria that were standing and talking in huddled groups. Most people seemed to just complain about the cold weather. It really was so cold that if I stayed out too long, I'd lose feeling in my fingers.

At the long cafeteria table, I sat between Ava and Jackson, another good friend of mine. I wasn't friends with everybody at this school, but a lot of people liked me for reasons unbeknownst to me. I think it was because I was smart and tried hard which meant I always had every assignment, not just done, but correctly done. People loved copying me, and I didn't really care which I guess made me more likable since I never minded when someone took a picture of my assignments.

Our table had plenty of people. Each bench only held about three people, but there were three benches on each side. Most of the people were my friends' friends, but a few were my friends. My friends were Ava, Jackson, Gabriel, Jordan, and Chelsea (sometimes). Of course, Jackson, Jordan, and Gabriel were friends with Ryan, meaning he sat with us.

I stared at Ryan as he talked to Chelsea. I didn't like him at all. Maybe, it was because Chelsea was my little sister (yes, three minutes makes a difference, thanks for asking), but also, I thought he was a complete douche. I hated that Chelsea was so infatuated with him because it gave him power over her. He had the power to hurt her, and he knew it. I don't think it was fair of me to judge him solely because I didn't like that my sister liked him so much, but I didn't really care.

I looked away from Ryan right when he looked over at me and tuned in to Ava and Gabriel's conversation. I could feel Ryan staring at me. What was his problem? Sometimes, it felt like he disliked me as much as I disliked him which was totally unfair since he didn't have a reason to dislike me. What could I say? I liked being liked.

"I'm still upset you guys are graduating and leaving me," Gabriel said. Ava smiled.

"Awe, I'm always gonna love you, Gabe. I'm really gonna miss you more than anyone else," she responded.

"What, even more than me?" I asked with mock surprise. Ava laughed and shrugged.

"Gabe is actually really precious, and you're a sarcastic asshole," Ava pointed out. I shrugged. She had a point, no argument. "Plus, I don't think I'll be able to ever get rid of you." I rolled my eyes, and Gabriel smiled widely. No one really called him "Gabe" except for Ava, but she had nicknames for everyone. I wasn't big on nicknames. Suddenly, I heard everyone burst out laughing next to me.

"Oh my God, Alex, look at this," Jackson said. I turned to see what he wanted to show me on his phone, but I caught Ryan staring at me. I thought he might have just zoned out, but when I raised my eyebrow, he raised his. It felt like he was staring through me...like he could see inside me and knew what I was thinking. Right now, I was thinking about punching the smug look off his face. I felt a kick under the table, and Ryan and I both looked away from each other at the same time.

"Be nice," Ava warned. Her blue eyes were as clear and beautiful as the sky. I sighed.

"Fine," I said begrudgingly. Ava knew about my distaste for Ryan (so did Ryan...and pretty much everybody else), but she said I still had to "be nice" for Chelsea's sake. I glanced over at Ryan who glanced at me. We both looked away. Why did he keep looking at me? I mean, he's talking to my sister. I have a reason to keep an eye on him. What was his interest in me?

He probably wondered why I despised him so much. Or, maybe he didn't care and just liked to annoy me. If that was the case, he was doing a great job. Very commendable, but I wouldn't actually act upon any of my nasty thoughts about him unless he actually did something to Chelsea. Otherwise, I was stuck being "nice."

And as the day dragged on, painfully slowly, I grew more irritated with Ryan. We had three classes out of ten together. That meant 30% of my classes were with him. Not much, I'll admit. However, he was really testing my patience in those few periods.

He purposefully bumped into me, slamming his arm against mine and saying, "My bad, bud," with only the slyest of smirks on his face. He "accidentally" pushed my bag off the edge of the table, causing everything to spill out of it. And finally, he "just so happened" to "mix up" our phones and take mine. I had to chase him down and demand it back at the end of the day.

Needless to say, Ryan Smithe pissed me off beyond belief.

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I get so nervous about posting this bc I'm worried it's gonna be really bad oof. I'm not big on sharing my work bc certain things and characters are based on real things that happened to me or real people I know and idk i just get kinda worried. Anywho i hope you liked it ;)