M3RG3

Chapter 17

Sunday

I gently rubbed the aching bruise on my jaw. It was beginning to fade, but some ugly purple indentations still remained. A burst of anger flared in my chest, but I snuffed it out quickly. Getting angry at Lauren would only prove how petty I was, and I had to be more mature and face problems more rationally.

"Hey," Jamie juggled a stack of paper as he approached me. "What's up?"

"More like, do you need some help?" I grabbed half of Jamie's papers and opened the door for him. "You first."

"Thanks," Jamie mumbled, stumbling twice through the door. A few sheets of paper fluttered away from his stack, landing to places that were out of his reach. I sighed and bent down to pick up the clean, white sheets of paper.

"So, what's going on?" We were walking along the aisle towards the printing room. Jamie let out a groan before stretching his lips to the widest and fakest grin I had ever seen.

"Well you see," Jamie took another step and his toe caught the gap of the door. He tripped, spilling all the paper across the entire hall. I rolled my eyes while Jamie muttered a profanity under his breath, bending down to pick up a few sheets of paper. "I bumped into Hayden. Since he was a teacher, he told me to be a good student and take this stack of paper to the printing room. Apparently, they're running out of paper."

"And you decided to find your good friend, me, to help you out. Wondrous." I bent down and began picking up the papers to add to my already hefty stack. "This is going to take forever."

"Seems like you two need some help." Natasha sang, bursting through the door. She was radiating rays of golden light as she casually bent down to pick up a sheet of paper.

"Y-yeah, sure," Jamie stuttered. I smirked at him as his cheeks bloomed crimson. "You can start over there."

"I could give you her profile," I whispered suggestively, nudging his shoulder playfully. "Natasha is a really nice girl."

"She's 18! I'm 15!" Jamie screamed back at me, causing Natasha to whip up her head at the commotion. "There's no way I could get her on a date!" His voice had lowered to a whisper, but his eyes were still screaming bloody murder. Moreover, blotchy spots had begun surfacing on his neck and cheeks, evidence of his humiliation.

"Yeah, so?" I had finished cleaning up a section of the corridor. "It's love. You can't do much about it."

"It's a crush, not love!" Jamie denied immediately, his eyes widening even more comically.

"I understand that Natasha is a very pretty girl and the majority of the male population would find her attractive." I patted Jamie on the shoulder mockingly. "With her blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin-"

"Shut up!" Jamie screamed again. This time Natasha turned back to us in acute confusion and puzzlement. I coughed into my fist, attempting to hold back waves of laughter. Jamie being embarrassed and humiliated were one of the most hilarious things I had ever seen.

"I cleaned up that pile over there. Do I need to help with anything else?" She furrowed her eyebrows, handing me her stack of paper.

"Nah, we're good." Jamie grinned, scratching the back of his neck. Natasha shrugged then quickly left. A little while later, Jamie dropped his papers again, scattering them everywhere. 

"Jamie," I stood up and crossed my arms, half smirking and glaring at him. "You are a klutz. And if I keep helping you, we will never finish this within a day. So, what I am going to do, is leave and let you be."

"Arista!" I ignored Jamie's pleading, lips pulled up in a devious smirk. "Come back!"I ignored him, yanking the door open, slamming it shut with a satisfying thud.