The Odds of You and Me

06 | jejune

                                                                                   J E J U N E

                                                     "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

                                                                                 -Oscar Wilde

                                                                                            ⌛

I'd barely scanned the faces of my classmates in study hall, mainly looking for Easton, when that girl Kaitlin from yesterday jumped in front of me and squealed. "You're in my study hall!" She exclaimed excitedly, stating the obvious.

"Uh, yeah," I chuckled awkwardly, spotting the teacher sitting at her desk in the corner of the room. I made my way over, with Kaitlin trailing behind me. "Hello, Mrs. Roth. I'm a new student."

"Oh, hey!" Mrs. Roth said and turned around from her computer, smiling. "Welcome to St. Louis Prep. May I have your sheet...Alexis?" Her eyes briefed over my name on the piece of paper I had to have every teacher sign. In my peripheral vision, I saw Kaitlin tossing her hair and typing something rapidly into her phone.

After I got settled in my hard metal seat, which Kaitlin dragged me into, Easton stepped into the room which a group of his friends. The bell rang seconds after and Mrs. Roth gave them a disapproving look. "Again, boys? The school year has barely started and you guys are already on teetering on the edge."

"We're sorry, Mrs. Roth," one of the boys said, giving her a joking salute. He was shorter than Easton, with dirty blonde hair, and a mischievous look about his face.

"Alright, alright, Weston," Mrs. Roth sighed in exasperation, albeit smiling slightly. "You and Easton, head to your seats. The rest of you boys who aren't in study hall, shoo fly."

"We're having lunch, ma'am," another boy replied, lifting up his Styrofoam tray piled high with fries and a pizza slice. This boy had on black Adidas pants, and soccer cleats hanging from his bag.

"Well then, don't get too noisy because we want to make a good impression on Alexis. But it seems like you haven't so far," Mrs. Roth tsked, gesturing to me. My face burned when all four boys shifted their gazes on me. I probably hadn't made a good impression on them, either. My short hair was let loose in messy waves, almost to my shoulder. I was so used to it being dark and touching the top of butt. I never bothered to put on makeup anymore, so my bare, acne-scarred face could scare off most boys.

"Ooh, new girl. Where are you from?" The soccer boy asked, smirking. He stuffed another big bite of pizza in his mouth. Weston, the blonde guy, snatched a piece quickly, and that was how quick the war started. They chased each other around the classroom for a good couple of seconds before Mrs. Roth yelled at both of them to stop.

"Uh, California," I replied awkwardly, after the soccer guy had stopped glaring at Weston.

"Why'd you move here? Missouri's got to be the most boring state ever," he groaned. "Cali's got it all."

"Phillipp! Stop!" Kaitlin chastised, still not glancing up from her phone. A second later, she held it up to take a selfie of both of us, for Snapchat. "What's your user?"

"Uh, don't have one," I responded quickly, because my Snapchat was deleted along with all my other forms of social media.

"Girl! You don't want to get left out of the loop," Kaitlin exclaimed, extending her hand so I could give my phone. She took it quickly, downloading the app and creating an account for me. Kaitlin also added a bunch of her friends, some whose names I didn't recognize at all. I did spot Charlotte and Easton's names among the massive list.