If I Fell

9 | Common Ground

❂ CHAPTER NINE ❂

In AP psychology Mrs. Lloyd discussed chapter 13 in class for the most part of this week. It dealt with personality, defining it, and tackling the theories that answered why people were the way they were.

It was important we read the chapter at home since Mrs. Lloyd said she had only summarized it while the textbook explained in better detail the "Big Five" personality traits. Our weekend assignment was to write a 1-page essay on which one we believed was the most relevant in ourselves and why.

Although Mrs. Lloyd told us about the assignment a week in advance, I still hadn't read the chapter. I had put AP English on top of my priority list the entire week since, after my constant pressing and writing an unassigned argumentative essay on the good reasons teachers should offer extra credit, Mr. Muller became fed up enough and relented in allowing me to do extra credit work.

And so I started reading chapter 13 at Janice's shelter during my breaks. Unfortunately, I had a hard time concentrating. While other people could, or even preferred to work in chaos, I was a person who needed quietness to focus. Janice's nonstop chatter was distracting me and also giving me a headache.

I sighed and closed the textbook after I read the same paragraph three times and still didn't digest the information.

I had a lot of homework due. Whenever I had that problem, I divided the work by hardest-to-easiest. Today, I'll focus on just psychology and whatever else I could fit. And tomorrow, I'd finish the rest.

I massaged my temples as I thought of all the assignments I had to do by Monday.

"What's wrong, Skinny?" I cringed at the nickname.

Janice was now staring at me instead of talking to Peter. Peter looked relieved. Janice liked to gab but he didn't. For the past minutes, while I had been doing homework, she had been trying to get Peter to open up more but the boy wouldn't budge.

Peter was like that to everyone. In class, he always stayed silent unless a teacher called on him or, of course, it was to be a snarky know-it-all whenever I said something that rubbed him the wrong way.

He mostly kept to himself though. If he wasn't so recluse and rude, he'd probably have friends. Loser friends, but friends nonetheless. He made himself the outcast.

"I have to read six chapters and write an essay for psychology by Monday. I'm starting to get a stress-headache." I let out a deep, woe-is-me sigh.

"You still haven't finished the chapter?" Peter said incredulously.

I gave him a dry look. "Excuse me for having a life."

I had tried being civil to Peter for the sake of ending our punishment, but he would just make it so difficult. And to think this was only the second time we had been at Janice's.

"We've had a week."

"I had cheer practice and other AP assignments. Since you don't have any extracurricular activities after school or social life, I can assure you it's not easy to just go home and finish everything."

"You're so self-absorbed. You don't know what I do after school— not that I would tell you because I don't need to constantly whine about my problems."

"Good," I snapped. "I didn't ask anyways."

"Hey, you two better knock it off," Janice interjected angrily. She sat on the side of the square table, between Peter and I. "For Christ sake, both of you are self-absorbed!"

Before Peter and I could argue, she continued her scolding, "And narrow-minded and judgmental and petty! Have either you thought maybe you'd get along if you'd just try to get to know each other? Hm? Maybe you'd find that you're not so different... But no, you two don't do that. Because that would mean letting go of this—this picture you have painted of each other. And both of you prefer focusing on the negatives."