Wanderlust ✓

4. Annoyance

•Parker•

"Think about it Park, this is the best situation you could be in. A week in Florida with a hot girl and seeing a ton of the greatest bands this century!"

I gripped the steering wheel tighter as my best friend, Marcus, droned on about me winning the competition on our way to school, not even thinking about the scenario where I got both tickets and he could've gone with me. The scenario that I wish could be true.

But Paige was going with me...

The feisty girl I met for two seconds and would be traveling with. At least she was easy on the eyes and it may just be fun to get to know her. Who knows.

Of course, I'd done my research on her. I don't really want to get killed by some psychopathic teenage girl on my trip to Florida. That really would ruin the experience.

So, using Marcus' accounts, I logged on and began the search. When I first came across her Instagram, it had been set to private. So like the good friend I am, I got Marcus to request to follow her so I didn't seem like too much of a stalker. It took her about the week to accept, probably doing background checks on him too, and finally I was able to get more of an insight into her life.

She didn't have many posts so it was easy to just scroll through, looking at each for a couple of seconds before moving on. The only thing I really got from it was she had a little brother and two friends

Kinda sad if you ask me.

Kharis, I knew from school. She's in some of my classes but we've only spoken a handful of times but she seems nice enough when she's not rambling about science or math. There are only so many times you can be lectured on the importance of algebra before it starts to be easily tuned out.

I had stopped myself before I had gotten myself too far in. I'd rather her second impression of me wasn't some cyber stalker out to get her. Marcus called about an hour later to "yell" at me for using his account, even though I knew he didn't really mind.

So here we were in my car as he continued to talk about her like he had for weeks.

"You gotta send me tons of pics. Can you facetime me during Blink-182?" He asked with wide eyes.

I chuckled at him, absorbing his excitement and actually feeling eager about the trip.

"Yes dude, I'll hold your face up during All The Small Things so you can rock out with Paige and I." Damn, I couldn't wait to hear that song live.

She better like all the bands I do.

As I pulled into Oak Hill High, Marcus said,"I don't know her dude but I have a good feeling about her."

I shrugged, turning off the car and grabbing my black backpack from the backseat. "We'll see!"

•••

"I heard you now know my friend Paige, eh?" A voice said from my right as I was just getting to the next math problem.

I looked over to see Kharis eagerly leaning towards me with a smirk. She had wild violet lipstick on today which didn't surprise me from the wide range of colors she usually wore.

"Look. If you're going to tell me to back off, I had little choice in going with her or not going at all." I responded in a low whisper so Mr. Martin wouldn't send me to detention again for talking.

She chuckled, finding my words amusing. "No," she drawled out the 'o', "actually the opposite. I think you'll be a good influence on her to get her out of her comfort zone. You gotta help Paige actually live for once."

Damn this girl must be shy.

"I'm not looking after her like a charity case." Kharis immediately changed her demeanor to a sad one. "But if you tell me more about her, maybe I'll just help her live."

Kharis lit up again, already starting to blabber on about Paige. I caught a glimpse of Paige's confidence for one second and I wouldn't mind trying to bring it out again. She needs a break from being the "good girl" for once which I heard all about from Kharis.

"She's probably not going to talk to you much at first but—" The bell cut her off as it was time for next period.

"I gotta run but thanks for the info!" I gave her a wink as I entered the crowded halls of hormonal teenagers.

•••

As soon as I sat down at our usual lunch table, Cody went off on his routine speech about the girl he was with last night. And it was always a different girl.

"Bros, the brunette I was with was crazy! She—" I tuned him out, not interested in his latest girl adventure. Instead, I dig into my below average cafeteria pizza and ignore the chatter around me. Sure, I sit with the popular guys and "jocks" if you want to classify but not many of them I'm close to. Marcus is the only trustworthy guy in our group.

Occasionally, I would join in with the conversation, whether it's because I'm being dragged in screaming or they have something interesting to actually talk about that isn't the pair of boobs Cody had seen the night before. They're all pretty smart for "jocks" but they don't seem to know how to include that knowledge into a normal conversation which kinda sucks when you have to put up with it regularly. Although, I do listen into the conversation sometimes when it's about girls, just keeping up to date on the drama. Figuring out where or who  to stay away from. I don't need anymore drama in my life. 

Marcus flashes me a sympathetic smile before immersing into the conversation himself. I stared down at the greasy french fries on my tray, willing the day to be over. My ass hurt from the uncomfortable benches that lined the cafeteria, too tall for the tables as my knees hit the top each time i moved them slightly. This annoyance definitely wasn't helping my now sour mood. I'd had enough on my plate this week and right now, the last thing I want to talk about is sex and parties. At least summer break was coming up soon. Only two weeks away and then I'm down to Florida, with Paige, who I have yet to have some sort of realistic conversation with, without her tensing up or snapping at me. Well first impressions aren't that much of a big deal, right?

The bell rang signalling the end of lunch. I bolted up and dumped my pizza. Facing away from the group I spoke,"I gotta go guys, Ms. Flint will have my ass if I'm late again. Don't need another complaint sent home. My mom would beat my ass."

"Hey Parker, you not ditching with us? Come on man, loosen up a little. You want me to pull that stick out of your ass or what?" Snickers came from the guys behind me as I turned to look at Cody.

"Sorry Cody, maybe next time find a girl who can actually satisfy you instead of having to turn to other means. Or better yet, look in a mirror if you want to see an asshole."

Cody's face began to fade into dark shades of red as the rest of the guys burst into laughter. I turned back round, Marcus coming up beside me. He waved bye to the guys before we headed to English with Ms. Flint.

Two more weeks of this hell hole then I'm out.