Electric Dreams (Choni)

6.

The rest of the days leading up to Saturday passed in a blur. My regular routine had somehow become to spend most of my time arguing with or glaring at Toni, and the rest of the time thinking about her. I couldn't stop myself. All I could think of were points I should have made in previous arguments, insults I'd save for future arguments, and generally how much I disliked her. I couldn't understand what it was about her that triggered all this hatred in me.

Saturday finally arrived, and I woke up with the sun. I was dreading today. At least there was a party at Veronica's after detention, which meant I had something to look forward to. That was, if I managed to survive the detention.

I put on my best outfit. I was going to intimidate the hell out of Toni. Admittedly, a small part of me wanted to impress her, but I put that down to wanting her to be jealous of me. I wore leather shorts, a figure hugging red top and a black jacket over the top. I was going to do my best to make this bitch scared.

A small part of me was happy about the detention. I hated my home and my mother, and this gave me a good excuse to escape. The more time spent away from Thistlehouse, the better.

I arrived five minutes early, sitting down at one of the two desks set up in the classroom. Wetherbee came and sat at the teacher's desk, waiting for Toni to arrive. 

"What's the bet she thinks she's too good for this and doesn't show up," I muttered. Wetherbee glared at me.

"What? It's probably true," I defended myself.

I was a quarter of an hour after when we were meant to show up when Toni sauntered in, ripped skinny jeans, a mesh top under her leather jacket, thick black combat boots on her feet. 

"Sorry, I got held up," she apologised to Wetherbee. She didn't look at all sorry, and I rolled my eyes.

Wetherbee didn't look convinced either, but ignored it, and told her to sit down.

"Okay, you two are here until 4pm. Write an essay on why violence is a bad way of resolving issues, and suggest alternate ways. I'll be in my office, doing work, and the door will be wide open, so if you start fighting, I'll be able to hear you."

He left, leaving the door to the classroom open a crack, and I sighed.

"What are you staring at?" I demanded, turning to Toni. 

It was the first time I'd ever seen her caught unaware. A slight blush crept into her cheeks, and she turned away, though her smirk remained. I grinned inwardly. I'd scored the first point.

She kicked her booted feet up on the desk, and made a paper plane out of the sheet in front of her, throwing it across the room as she leant back on her chair, and it creaked.

I turned again to glare at her. "Do you mind?"

She scowled at me. "Look, this detention isn't my idea of fun, so I'm having my own fun. You be a teacher's pet and do your work. I'm not going to."

"I'm not a teacher's pet," I snapped back. "And Wetherbee won't let you leave if you don't do the work."

She shrugged, and threw another paper plane. "Do I look like I care?"

She rocked in her chair, and the creaking grew louder. 

"Can you quit with the creaking?" I asked, my voice getting louder. Her desk wasn't far from mine, and I could watch her in detail, observe all the things which had escaped my notice before. She wore loads of rings, including a silver serpent which elegantly coiled around her finger. Her hands had small scratches and bruises on them, and she couldn't keep them still. She was constantly fidgeting.

She raised an eyebrow. "Fine, princess. Calm down. Famous ginger temper coming out?"

"Fuck you," I told her. Her eyes were trained on mine, her dark pupils huge. I could see myself reflected. I looked angry. Her eyelashes were so thick and long that I was surprised they didn't get all tangled up when she blinked, and there was a certain softness that wasn't usually there.

It was silent for a second as we stared into each other's eyes. I had goosebumps, and I saw her throat contract as she swallowed, hard. Something about the way she looked at me made me feel like she could read me like a book. Like she could uncover all my secrets if she wanted to. I hated that. So I glared, my eyes sparkling with a fury that danced across the distance between us, crackling like lightning. The whole world, the classroom around us, the hum of the fluorescent lights, disappeared as I fell into her eyes. My heart was racing, and she slowly ran her tongue across her bottom lip, watching me.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, to snap out of whatever trance I'd momentarily been in. When I opened my eyes again, she was no longer smirking, but looking at me with questioning eyes.

"What?" I demanded.

She broke into a grin, but it was an exasperated one.

"The world doesn't revolve around you, princess," she replied, a hint of bitterness.

"Nor you. Nobody cares that much if you make your stand by refusing to write this essay. I couldn't care less."

"What would I even write? This is a bullshit topic," she said, twirling her pen between her long fingers. I watched the movement of the pen as it became a blur, then turned back to her with a scoff.

"I'm starting to get why they closed your school down. You really don't give a shit about your education, do you?"

She clenched her jaw. "Oh yeah? And what part of my education does this essay belong to?"

"Like I said," I replied. "I couldn't care less if you write it or not."

She looked like she was about to throw her pen at me. Her hand was clenched, her eyes narrowed, her jaw tight and defined.

She decided against it, lowering her hand.

I chuckled dryly. "Haven't you heard? Violence is never the answer," I mocked, imitating Wetherbee's voice. 

To my surprise, a small laugh escaped from her lips. It was only there for half a second, and she looked furious at herself for having laughed, but I'd heard it, and my stomach was dancing. It was a strangely pleasant sound, and there was something warm pumping through my veins at the fact that I'd made her laugh. It was a nice feeling, and it made me angry. Who was she to kickstart these feelings? I was not letting this happen again.