The Safety Pin Affair

n i n e - i know you hate romance

all i want to do is
get next to y o u . . .

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My last class of the day usually takes forever to end, but I think that's because I just can't wait to get home. It's a history elective class and the only reason I signed up for it was because Blair did and she said the teacher was really lax. She was right – my teacher Mr. Kofta is a cool guy.

Except she got put in this class at a different time, so we don't have it together. I probably could have dropped out of it and signed up for something else, but it's an easy class to have at the end of the day. So I stayed, and that's where I am right now.

The bell is about to ring in a couple minutes and I've been shaking my leg up and down, antsy to get out of here. It's only Wednesday and of course, I have Gracie today. But there's also the fact that there's a little more than a month left until Christmas and a week until Thanksgiving. It's safe to say that everyone is pretty excited for the holiday season that's quickly approaching us.

"Alright! So I've been thinking of ideas for the midterm because I've decided to give you all a test instead of a project," Mr. Kofta called from the front of the room. Simultaneous groans filled the air and he laughed, shaking his head at his unenthusiastic students. "Well you're already doing a final project, so I figured you wouldn't want two!"

"Why do we have to have a test? Can't you just give us all A's?" A jock in the back asked.

Mr. Kofta laughed at that and nodded. "Wouldn't that be great?" He smirked, and then bell rang right after he finished his sentence. "Have a good rest of the day, guys! See you tomorrow."

I whisked my bag off the floor and headed out the door, venturing to my locker to put away anything that was making my bag too heavy. I pulled open the metal door and threw my things inside it, adjusted my bag on my shoulder and shut the door. When I turned to walk away, I probably made it two steps before someone grabbed my wrist from behind and stopped me.

"The fuck?" I muttered in confusion, spinning around to face whoever it was.

"Hi," Josh breathed a smile, releasing my wrist.

I chuckled a little. Of course it's him – who else did you really expect?

"Hi," I smiled too.

"I saw you leaving but I wanted to ask you something before it's too late," he spoke quickly.

"Okay," I nodded. "Don't be too long, I have to babysit."

"Yeah, I have practice so don't worry," he gestured to his duffle bag that's hanging from his shoulder. I nodded and shifted my weight to one leg, crossing my arms.

He seems really tired and out of it for some reason today. His eyes aren't in their normal, sparkling state. He's out of breath, and I can tell his mind is in a million different places.

I sort of want to give him a hug.

Shut up.

"Are you okay?" I asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"Y-yeah," he stuttered. He let out a deep breath and finally looked up at me. "It's weigh-in day and I'm really fucking stressed."