The Handcuff Effect

10

It wasn't until Monday morning that a thought occurred to me. 'Hey,' I began, brushing my hair while Nathan scrubbed his teeth.

'Ungh?' Came his muffled reply. I caught his glance in the mirror and tried to suppress a laugh. Toothpaste was foaming around his mouth, but the blue froth in no way diminished the brightness of the pink in his toothbrush.

Giving in to a small chuckle, I continued. 'I can't play netball.'

He stared at me, like I was going insane. 'You play netball?' He managed to get out in a somewhat intelligible garble.

I slapped his arm. 'Exercise can be fun, you know.'

He spat and rinsed, and I threw my hair into a careless bun. He shook his head. 'Can't see it. Can't see you playing it.'

I shot his a dark glare. 'Because at the moment, I can't. Not with a human sized growth stuck to my wrist.'

He laughed good naturedly. 'What do you even play? You're so tiny.'

I levelled a stare at the back of his skull while I pushed him into the kitchen. 'I'm a shooter, thank you very much.' I snapped.

'Can't they just knock the ball out of your hands?'

I was tempted to stamp my foot. 'I played rep in the under fifteens. I'm a good shot.'

He looked a little startled. 'Rep? Why'd you stop?'

I shrugged, shoving my feet into my shoes, slinging my bag onto my back and chomping down a good portion of my toast as we headed to the front door. 'Girls are more bitchy. You don't really play for fun in rep games. You play to win.'

I checked the time on my phone and bit down of a curse. Slamming the door closed on Nathan's heels, I took off, running for school. 'Why the rush?' Nathan called from beside me. 'Didn't we get up earlier today?'

'Well, we managed to waste fifteen extra minutes, because the bell is going as we speak!' The ringing echoed back to us as we entered the school grounds.

I raced towards home room, skirting the bush that always got in the way, leaping onto the path that led us to home room.

We entered, to my surprise, alongside everyone else. I shot a glance at Stace. 'What's up with this?' I didn't have to explain the entirety that was 'this' to Stace. She simply shrugged and yanked hard on Jared's arm, presumably so she could talk to me without being hauled forward, but I got the distinct impression she would've done it were I not here also. I bit back a snicker as I watched Jared turn around, literally come nose to nose with Stace in a silent but aggravated bicker.

I glanced at Nathan, to see him wearing a similar expression. I felt my grin stretch wider, but had to suppress the urge to do something stupid, like kiss him. It was definitely very hard not to do when he was wearing a smile like that.

I halted in the threshold as a thought swept over me. I heard Nathan behind me ask, 'You okay?' But I didn't answer. Instead, I turned to the boy in question and stared up into his incredible blue eyes. 'Did we get lunch today?'

I watched his eyes narrow in concentration, then slide shut with frustration.

'I can't keep buying lunch,' he groaned, 'I'll be broke before the end of term.'

I would've suggested he get a job, but I'm pretty sure no employer wants a 'one for two' deal on staff. Especially if said two demanded separate payments.

'So don't buy it,' I replied, 'go back to the ancient tradition of grass eating. Herbivores are still a thing, you know.'

I felt rather than saw him slant a scowl in my direction, instead opting to slide into a seat near Stace.

Mrs Sanders waltzed into the room a moment later, arms full of books and papers. Her eyes were tired and there was a decent sized coffee cup balanced among all the paperwork. Her hair was tied back in a careless knot, her lips a worried slash in her face. I decided that she seemed a little frazzled.

I'd always thought that if Mrs Sanders was ever as exhausted as she seemed to be now, she would be an even more cranky version of herself. Apparently not; she seemed to almost forget we were present, not calling out the roll until home room was almost over.

As much as I felt that she was out to get me, I couldn't help the pang of sympathy towards her. In that moment, I decided to never ever be a teacher. Ever. In fact, I began to question more deeply the sanity of those holding a teaching position.

I nudged Nathan's arm, waiting until he lowered his head down to my level before I whispered into his ear, 'what did you do now?'

Nathan turned to me, eyes wide in innocence and mouth gaping a little in shock. 'Me?' He asked. 'How could I have done anything? I was with you the whole night!'

I slanted him a look. 'Knowing you,' I began, hauling my bag up onto the desk with a loud, slightly hollow sounding thunk, 'that hardly reassures me.'

Nathan snorted. 'Nothing reassures you,' he retorted smoothly, then dropped his voice to a mumble. 'I could dance naked on the tables and you still wouldn't be reassured that I was a man.'

I stared at him, my jaw slackening a little bit. 'What was that?'

He looked at me, eyes dancing like bottled sky. 'I said nothing reassures you. I could chance taking school tables and you wouldn't be reassured that I can.'

I gave him a disbelieving look, but let it drop. 'How is table theft in any way reassuring?'

He just grinned and stood as the bell went, making my heart thump in a way that was borderline painful, but made me so happy that I might have laughed in the face of first period maths.

Okay, maybe not that happy. But no one is ever happy to have Maths on a Monday morning. Well, except Nathan, but I think it's safe to say that the science geek doesn't count.

And then I realized that first period maths was no longer Stupid Maths, but Advanced, and any happiness Nathan may have granted me just before disappeared faster than a coffee stain in a litre of Vanish.

If he felt my skull disintegrating glare, he didnt mention it. In fact, the grin stealing over his face seemed to grow marginally bigger. He knew exactly why I was grumpy, and being who he was, was taking full advantage of the situation.

'So,' he began, sounding as innocent as a cat in a mousehole, 'Did you remember a calculator?'

I hated that boy.

Well, kinda.

______

So after suffering months of writers block, I finally smashed out something!! It's not that great, but after school ended, my brain shut down and hasn't functioned properly since :/

Never thought I'd say this, but I need to go back to school.

*shudders* Eugh.

Anyway, over and out for now!

Love always

Lani

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