The Meaning of Love

Chapter 1

I walk down the deserted hallway, whistling lowly with a bounce in my step. As I pass by the occupied classrooms, I see students struggling to keep their eyes open. Who can blame them? Mondays tend to do that to people. I hate school.

I stop in front of the English class. I can happily say that I hate English class. I hate all aspects of the arts, and I dislike writing essays. I open the door, and all eyes turn to me.

My best friend Sarah sits at the back of the classroom, her head resting on the window beside her, eyes closed. I stifle a laugh and turn to my teacher, Mr. Riley and smile.

"You're late Ms. Bloom." he says with narrowed eyes. I sigh inwardly. Mr. Riley and I never really got along. He never liked my witty responses, and I never liked his presence.

"I had an emergency." I simply say and hand him a forged doctor's note. Somedays I'm glad to have a Cardiologist as a father. I can oversleep all I want, and claim I had a medical emergency or appointment.

He scans the note and looks at me, his eyes still narrowed.

"This is the fourth checkup in three weeks" he says, folding his arms. I look into his eyes, forcing a smile on my lips.

"My father is particular about my health." I consider showing him the band aid I placed on my wrist, but he caves before I can.

"Take a seat." he says before going back to teaching. I head straight for the back and take the seat Sarah saved for me, right next to her. I lean over and flick her forehead.

"Hey Cupcake," I grin at her "how's it hanging?"

She groans, placing her head on her table. I laugh at her again, it was so clear that she was still nursing a hangover from yesterday's party.

In an attempt to annoy her further, I ruffle her hair. She raises her middle finger at me in response.

I normally would feel sorry for her, but she deserved every bit of torment, especially after what she did to me at the party yesterday. She should be grateful that I'm not screaming in her face with a megaphone.

Deciding to finally put her out of her misery, I discretely throw a pack of pills on her lap, my famous hangover pills.

Just kidding, they're just Panadol.

She opens it and throws one her mouth, chewing it slowly for a while.

"Seriously Elle?" she almost shouts, but somehow manages to catch the attention of the whole class and Mr. Riley. "gum?"

"Is there a problem Ms. Jones?" he asks, arms crossed with an annoyed expression. Actually I think that's his normal face.

She shakes her head. I place my fist against my mouth to hide my smile.

"Do you mind explaining why you're disrupting my lesson?"

She remains speechless and shakes her head again.

"Then I hope detention after school may help you straighten up."

Sarah nods. I think she just agreed to get him to shut up. On a normal basis, she would've argued a bit.

Mr. Riley goes back to teaching. Sarah huffs and throws the pack of 'pills' at me, returning her head to her table.

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"I hate school," Sarah says as she massages her temple "I fucking hate school"

I watch her with an amused expression, drinking in her pain with happiness. I take a fry from my plate and eat it, as she continues her rant to the lunch table.