Trust Me

Chapter 3

8:45 am

...And then it was their turn to present.

The class—at least the ones who were engaged—unenthusiastically clapped for the previous presenters as they walked back to their seats. As Mrs. Cole shifted her attention from her computer screen to the shared desk where he sat with Cassie, his hands began to tremble.

Mrs. Cole smiled warmly and her lips moved but he heard nothing, except the sound of his pounding heart. His tongue peaked out of his mouth to dab his suddenly dehydrated lips as he stuffed his shaking hands in his pockets, only to feel his vape that he couldn't use—even though he desperately needed them.

What was wrong with him? Why was he being a coward at a time like this? To make a fool out of himself? To humiliate himself? Over a few minutes in front of the class?

Pathetic.

Yet he still didn't move from his chair. He didn't move a single muscle. Instead he clenched his jaw like his life depended on it, held his breath to calm its racing rate, and clutched tightly onto his pocketed vape like it was his life-line.

What about if he just stormed out of the class?

Pathetic!

Started an argument?

Pathetic!

Ignore the teacher and get detention?

Pathetic!

Disrupt the class?

Path-

"Xander?"

Her voice was faint. Almost like she was cracking the door open just enough for her head to peak inside.

"You ready?"

As he slowly glanced upwards to see her already standing, he released his tight grip on his vape. With the sunlight brightly beaming behind her through the wide windows, a halo formed around her tight coily hair styled in an afro, making her appear ethereal. Her brown eyes appeared softer than usual, almost the color of a warm coffee with just the right amount of milk and cream that didn't take away its richness. The angelic sight took Xander's shallow breath away and he couldn't help but marvel at the sight.

He slowly rose to his feet as she turned to walk to the front of the class. He didn't know when he responded, but he must've because she confidently walked to stand in front of the white-board. Perhaps she was already used to his silence and took his acknowledgement of her as a response. It didn't matter because he trailed after her like clingy puppy.

Shockingly, the presentation went smooth. Cassie took lead of speaking for the most part, and Xander participated with a few added mumbles for his credit. The slide-show was neat and appealing to the eye. There wasn't any awkward grammar mistakes or typos, and Mrs. Coles actually appeared to be engaged by the introduction on the slide.

And thankfully they were the last pair to present, so by the time he went back to his seat, the bell rang.

His luck was short-lived though because as he swung his backpack over his shoulder, someone he desperately didn't  want to hear called his name.

"Xander," Mrs. Coles said as he began to enter the swarm of angsty teenagers. "I need to speak with you."

The last student to leave the class was Cassie, who took responsibility of removing the presentation from the display and picking up crumbled up notes from the ground to throw in the trash. As she dropped the last crumbled note in the trash can next to Mrs. Coles' desk—where Xander was waiting—, she met his hollow stare and smiled.