"Hi!" Julia greeted me happily.
I winced, knowing I'd have to tell her at some point. I didn't have the heart to tell her when she was so happy.
"Hi..." I said in a less happy and sing-song voice.
Jules looked concerned, I was usually so happy at school. She sort-of ignored it as she continued smiling like a lunatic.
"Guess what?" she blurted out. "I'M GOING TO ROME OVER VACATION!"
She pranced around. All I could think was Oh, that's great. How long are you staying? I'll be living in Ireland next year!
"Cool," I muttered instead.
She looked at me with big eyes, like I should be more excited then what I was.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
I shrugged, looking down guiltily. I didn't want to tell her I would be living in Ireland for the next year by myself. Sure, she'd be happy for me if I went to Rome. I tried to look upbeat and excited, but didn't succeed to make her look any happier about my expression.
"No, seriously, what's wrong?" she whined.
"I'm sorry, I have to tell you some time in these next three days. I don't want to make you sad, though," I said quietly.
She looked at me, concerned.
"Why would I be sad?"
"My mom's gonna be in Jamaica for the Summer and the rest of the year 'till next Summer," I gulped. "So I'm gonna be in Ireland for the whole entire next school year and Summer. I'm leaving in three days."
I looked at her. She seemed to not know what expression to hold. She went from bummed to excited to disappointed.
"Oh, really?" she asked quietly.
I nodded sadly. I knew this would happen, Julia would be excited for me, but super determined to spend every last second with me.
"Well, we will just have to deal with it. We'll text eachother, right? You can skype through your iphone, right?"
I nodded. It wouldn't be the same though.
"We will spend every minute until you leave together," she said, exactly as I knew she would.
"Right...." I said. "Starting with homeroom."
She pulled me along the hallway to our homeroom, entered, and flung me into the seat next to her.
"Class, we will be learning about..." my teacher started to say.
Right away I knew to just ignore. I took out some paper, and doodled on it. Suddenly the teacher stood above me.
"Alexandra Malik, put that away NOW. Wouldn't you rather learn?" she looked at me with a sneer.
The first thing that came into my head was Why would I want to LEARN? But, like usual, I was thinking about how I wouldn't be here next year anyways.
"Of course, Mrs. J. I wouldn't want to disrupt my favorite class," I said kindly, pretending to like her, although I hated her guts.
She smiled, but I knew it was not in a kind way, "Well, you should turn your attention to the board if you like this class so much."
She smirked and walked back to the board to continue the lesson. I looked at Julia, who just shrugged.
"Okay class. Because school is almost over, we will be doing trust exersises with people who AREN'T your best friend. And, sorry, they are chosen."
Everyone groaned as she began listing off names. Finally, she got to my name.
"AND.... Alexandra Malik and Jake Hawkins."
I got out of my chair, going over to Jake, who was with his friends.
"LET'S GO, BUDDY!" I said, attracting his attention.
He grinned at me, a smile that would make most girls blush. I just scowled.
"Get up, hot shot."
His smile turned down, and he turned to his croonies.
"Go with your partners," he commanded them.
"So," he flashed another smile.
I rolled my eyes and waited for further instructions.
"Okay, we'll start with the trust fall," the teacher says.
I look at Jake and he grins. Rolling my eyes, I show him my version of what is normally called the "trust fall".
"Boy catch girl, girl catches boy once- just because your fatter than me," I added an extra insult.
He plainly scowled.
"Fine, but take back the fat comment. My face SOO doesn't go with fat," he rolled his eyes.
"Pretty boy," I muttered. "Fine, your not fat."
He grinned like he won a battle, slid behind me, and I fell neatly. He caught me and grinned as I stood up.
"You CATCH ME!" he said, like he knew he couldn't trust me already.
I didn't laugh, just caught him sort of roughly, sticking my tongue out.
"Next, the talk-trust."
Confusing much? No anything, just talk-trust. Everyone looked at her, confused. I looked over at Julia, who had Sam. She was looking at the teacher like Mrs. J was a major threat to her self-esteem.
"Trust talk. Talk about anything you feel comfortable about."
I wanted to punch her SO bad. It wasn't even funny.
"So. Alexandra," Jake turned to me.
"Don't call me that. Call me ALEX."
"Fine," he replied. "So, ALEX."
He paused, unsure if he should go on. I beckoned him to be sharing.
"I like you," he said quietly.
I knew that. I wasn't exactly what you called stupid. I overheard him in the hall, talking to his friends about me like I was the best thing in the world.
"Yeah, I know," I said heartilly.
"Oh," he said. "Will you go out with me?"
Exactly what I was afraid of, having to tell the most popular boy "no".
"Eh... if your okay with a long distance relationship?" I said.
He frowned. I'd have to explain everything to him. EVERYTHING. Smart school, eh?
"Why?" he asked finally. "Why long distance?"
I sighed, "I have to live in Ireland for the Summer and next school year."
I didn't LIKE spilling it to him that, no, I wouldn't be at school next year.
"Oh, well in that case I guess I'm, er... okay with long distance."
"Well, then I'm your girlfriend," I said, half-cheerful, half-scared.
He didn't notice, and we continued speaking our trust-talk.
It's funny how you like someone, but you hate them at the same time. That's what it was like before I started talking to Jake.
