The Bad Boy's Charm

2

By the time lunch rolled around I couldn't be more relieved to see my friends, Spencer and Kristen. The three of us had been friends since primary school, and had always been inseparable. No one understood me like those two.

"Hey, what's up?" Spencer greeted when I sat down at the table.

"I have had the worst morning," I told them with a scowl.

"Oh no, what happened?" Kristen asked, concern showing on her face.

"Well this morning I ran into Jesse Matthews, was late to class because of him and then I got a detention because he wouldn't stop talking to me," I ranted.

"Ugh, Jesse is the worst," Spenser said.

"Yeah but he's hot," Kristen said with a dreamy look in her eye.

Spencer had always disliked Jesse for just as long as I had. Kristen had always thought he was attractive. I had to admit he was hot, but he was so annoying. Maybe if he were more like Spencer I'd like him a lot more.

Spencer was the opposite of Jesse. He had soft, brown eyes, neat hair, dressed nicely, was polite and kind and while he wasn't hot, Spencer was cute. I'm surprised more girls don't go for him instead of Jesse. I'm also surprised he didn't already have a girlfriend, he's a real catch.

"That doesn't excuse his behaviour," I replied.

"Yeah, but who doesn't love a bad boy," Kristen twirled a lock of her blonde hair and smiled.

Unlike Spencer, Kristen had dated people before. She was a very extroverted type of person, and while we were her best friends, she did have other friends outside of us. Some of which invited her to parties and other social events that allowed her to meet cute boys and date them. She never really got too attached, and most of the time they were the bad boy type. I guess it worked because they weren't too committed either. I loved her, but I always worried about her habit of going all the way with some of them after the first date.

"Lot's of people, Kristen," Spencer raised his eyebrows.

"You couldn't pay me to date a bad boy," I said. "I'd rather date a guy like Spencer."

I smiled over at Spencer, who chuckled and nodded his head. He didn't meet my eye and looked a bit red. I guessed it was because he felt flattered. He was always awkward whenever someone complimented him.

"I'll date a guy like Spencer when I'm ready to settle down and have some kids," Kristen shrugged with a smirk as she looked at Spencer. "I just want to have fun."

"I'll only date a guy to settle down and have kids," I said. "I couldn't bear to be another notch on someone's belt."

"That's fair," Kristen shrugged. "But you should see my belt, it's got a pretty good score."

At that we all laughed. I was glad she was able to have fun about it, but I still worried that one day she'd regret all of it. I only hoped she hurried up and found someone to settle down with. I didn't want her to end up like Monica would. At least Kristen was nice, and she was smart.

Soon enough, the bell rang and I had to head to English. I loved English, it was my favourite subject. Reading and writing were my comfort, and because I was good at both, I excelled in the subject. My English teacher, Mrs Smith, loved me and was always praising my work. Something that Jesse Matthews would never experience with a teacher.

When I walked in, I was the first student there. I took my usual place at the front of the room and smiled at Mrs Smith as I greeted her. Other students began to file in and take their spots. Soon enough everyone had arrived and Mrs Smith began the lesson by talking about William Shakespeare and the importance of his works.

"This term we shall be studying the play Romeo and Juliet, which I'm sure you've all heard of," Mrs Smith told the class. "Now, the task is an assignment which I will be handing out today. This particular assignment is a paired one."

This news caused some excitement in the room and some people even reached over to their friend to secure having a project partner. I wasn't too sure about the project as group work wasn't my thing.

"I shall be choosing the pairs," Mrs Smith said, causing the class to groan a little. "The point of this project is to read the play, choose a scene you think holds importance and write a presentation about it. You will also need to figure out what Shakespeare's overall message of the play is. Now for the pairs..."

She pulled out a list of her pre-prepared pairs and began to read out the names of the pairs. It wasn't too long until she read out my own name.

"Anna Sharp and Jesse Matthews," She read, and then continued to pair the rest of the class. 

I sat there in shock. I already had to spend an afternoon detention with Jesse, but spending time doing a whole English project? No way. I'd rather fail this assignment than work with the devil himself. He'd already gotten me into enough trouble, I didn't need more.

When she had finished reading out the names and set some work for the class, I went up to Mrs Smith's desk.

"Uh, Mrs Smith, did you mean to put me with Jesse Matthews?" I asked her, hoping it was a mistake.

"Yes, I did," she smiled. "Why? Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, I don't really think me working with him is a good idea," I said. "His work ethic isn't that great."

"That's why I put him with you," Mrs Smith explained. "I was hoping that you would rub off on him and he'd at least try and pay attention in class and put more effort into work."

"Oh okay," I said, not sure how to dispute that. I didn't want Mrs Smith to think I didn't trust her judgement so I didn't argue any further.

With a sigh I sat back down at my desk and was met with Jesse Matthews now sitting at the desk next to mine. It seemed that the class had re-located to be with their partners.

"Hey, Princess," he smirked.