Boarding School Bliss

Chapter 10

"Dawson!" Samantha hissed, grabbing for his sleeve as he bolted from the classroom, but before she could chase him down, someone said her name.

She turned to see it was Jackson, a guy who now sat behind her in Lit. "Yes?" She asked politely, trying not to let her frustration show.

She'd wanted to talk to Dawson the entire class period, but they'd had a ton of work to get done and she hadn't had the chance. He'd given her a polite smile when he entered the room and then conveniently didn't hear her call his name when he'd left. He didn't look mad at her and that gave her hope.

"I was just wondering..." Jackson trailed off, fidgeting with his binder nervously.

"Mhmm?" Samantha hummed distractedly, glancing at the door, eager to see if she could chase down Dawson. Maybe if she hadn't been so distracted she would have picked up on the nervous thread in Jackson's voice and prepared herself for what he was about to say.

"Well, I was just wondering if you're dating someone." Jackson finished.

Samantha finally met his eyes, her eyebrows going up in surprise. "Oh, uh, no..."

"Oh, good!" Jackson said, eagerly. "Would you wanna go out with me sometime?"

Now Samantha was fidgeting uncomfortably. "That's really sweet, Jackson, but I kind of like someone else." Just admitting to her crush made her stomach flutter with nerves.

"Oh." There was no denying the disappointment in Jackson's voice, but he also looked confused. "I thought you weren't dating anyone?"

Samantha dropped her hands. This conversation was quickly getting away from her. "I'm not."

"You like someone, but you're not dating them?" Jackson looked more confused than ever. "You? Samantha Haynes?"

Samantha shook her head. She felt so lost in this stupid conversation. "I don't even know what that's supposed to mean." She was struggling to keep her annoyance at bay. It wasn't Jackson's fault he'd caught her at an extremely inconvenient time. Having Dawson avoiding her was not good for her normally sunny disposition. Though it was Jackson's fault that he was being annoyingly cryptic.

Jackson just shrugged and smirked. "I just thought you could get anyone you wanted." 

With that, he walked out the door leaving Samantha standing there, glaring after him, stunned and more than a little annoyed. She knew it wasn't really Jackson's fault that she was having a bad day, but she found it convenient to blame it on him anyways.

Samantha rolled her eyes and picked up her bag, stalking from the room. She saw Cara and Lyla wave at her from the other end of the hall. She was way too cranky to talk to them right now. She turned and walked in the other direction, intentionally taking the long way to her next class. Consequently, she walked into class late. Perfect.

When Samantha was released from her last class of the day, she gathered all her fiery anger from earlier in the day to bury her nerves and went looking for Dawson. She wasn't sure what she was going to say to him, but she had to find him before things got more out of hand.

She stopped by her room to change her clothes. As she was whirling around in a fussy huff, Jasmine entered the room and gave her a funny look.

"Where are you going?"

"Out." Samantha said. She registered Jasmine's eyebrows shoot up at her short tone and she stopped with her hand on the doorknob. She looked back at her friend and said, "I'm sorry. I love you. I have to go."

Jasmine snorted and said, "Love you too. Don't kill anyone."

Samantha stomped her way to Dawson's room, her frustration the only thing giving her the courage to seek him out. When she knocked on the door it was opened by someone who was not Dawson. The guy, who must have been his roommate, leaned against the door and gave her a slow smile.

"Hey." He said, not seeming to question why she was there.

Samantha looked around him and asked, "Is Dawson here?"

"No and I don't know where he is." The guy stepped back a little, his tone turning flirty. "But you can come in and wait for him if you want to."

Right. No way.

"Uh, no, thanks." Samantha said, turning to walk away.

Well, now, what was she supposed to do? She hadn't prepared for the possibility that he might not be in his room. As she walked aimlessly she tried to decide what to do next. Then, it hit her and it was so obvious that she actually facepalmed herself. Of course Dawson wasn't in his room. He was in the library.

When Samantha got to the library, her nerves doubled as she entered the silent room. She looked around, but she couldn't see anyone other than the librarian sitting at her desk, reading a book.

Samantha wandered through the stacks, half-looking for Dawson and half-disappointed that he wasn't there. If he wasn't there, she had no idea where she'd find him. She was about to turn around and leave when she heard the distant sound of keys clacking. She walked faster to the last row of books and peeked around the corner. 

There he was, nestled in between the stacks, laptop on his lap, headphones covering his ears. He moved his foot to whatever music he was listening to and after a moment, he noticed Samantha.

His eyes widened with surprise and his mouth dropped open a little. He uncovered one of his ears and said, "Hey." 

Author's note: I hope you guys liked this chapter even though there wasn't a whole lot happening. I was giggling the whole time I wrote it. I love a good show of temper! Anyway, let me know what you think and vote if you like it!

P.S. This quarantine is messing me up and I didn't even realize yesterday was Friday. Sorry bout that.