Clementine

ii

I turned around in my seat to quickly glance at Adrian, as Mrs. Young continued to list names. I didn't know much about him, but I knew he was apart of Beau's friend group and that he was extremely attractive. He had a haughty expression painted on his face and his facial features were strong and sharp. Adrian had unsettlingly deep chocolatey brown eyes and dark hair to match, that any girl would die to run their hands through. 

"Um, excuse me, Mrs. Young? Is it okay if I switch partners with Clementine? I'm not comfortable working with mine and me and Adrian would work better together anyways," a girl named Amber said in a sickeningly sweet tone. Amber was every movie's cliche 'queen bee' and she was obsessive over Adrian. They've been dating since the eighth grade and I honestly don't know how he handled her for five years. My eyes met hers as we stared each other down.

Mrs. Young laughed, "Amber I just said I wanted to have you work with someone new. You work with Adrian all the time. So no, I'm sorry."

 Amber twirled a strand of her shiny almond-colored hair around her finger. "Well fine, but at least put him with a boy and not Clementine. She's just going to distract him from his work and they'll both end up getting bad grades."

I heard a groan from behind me, "Amber seriously, it's fine." I turned back around in my seat and saw Adrian running his fingers through his hair. He leaned further into his desk and gave me a quick smirk before turning back to his girlfriend. "Me and Clementine work well together, right Clem?" 

I raised my eyebrow at him and replied, "Actually, it's Mina." He chuckled at my statement and flashed a smile. 

"Guys, I'm starting the lesson. Please turn around and pay attention," Mrs. Young said.

•••••

As the bell rang for lunch, I headed towards the cafeteria to find Emilia and Isla. I found that they were sitting outside, so I walked towards them and placed the lunch my mom packed for me this morning on the table. "So," I said, "for my English project I got paired up with Adrian Cruz, and Amber seriously asked if we could switch partners because apparently, I'm only going to distract him."

Isla laughed as she put a grape in her mouth. "God, Amber is such a total bitch."

"Mega Bitch," Emilia chimed in. I smiled, grabbing my ham sandwich and taking a bite out of it. 

"I'm not going to lie, I was kind of excited when my teacher said I was paired with Adrian. He's kinda cute," I mentioned. 

Emilia vigorously nodded her head in agreement. "He is so cute, but I'm being honest when I say I think that there are better-looking people." Isla glared at Emilia before shoving another grape into her mouth. 

"You mean Alec? You're not fooling anyone Em." The blonde blushed, as per usual, and chugged the rest of her bottle of water. The rest of our conversations were filled with banter and jokes. I realized that I desperately missed my friends and was happy that I was back in school, excluding the work. Looking at my friends, I giggled at Isla making a funny face at Emilia until suddenly, she turned to look at something behind me and her smile dropped. 

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused. Both of my friends had stopped talking, continuously staring at whatever was behind. "What? What are you guys looking at? Is there something in my hair?" Unexpectedly, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I titled my head slowly and saw a mop of brown hair sliding into the seat beside me. "Clem!" Adrian had one hand in his hair and another had been occupied by a half-eaten apple. I noticed he had his hands in his hair often. "Give me your number," he said, as he reached into his pocket to grab his phone.