Dusting Off A Heart

Chapter 7

Tori

"So," I open the conversation as we were heading to our beloved school, "I heard you and Dane met yesterd-"

"Nothing interesting happened." Lauren cuts in and replied with a flat face, eyes focused on the road. "How did you know that?"

"Um... Cindy told me."

Lauren exhaled deeply, replying to my answer. "She probably knows that from Jaden" she replied, eyes still focusing on the road.

I furrowed my eyebrows since I don't have the fricking clue of what's going on.

What's with Lauren, and the duo blabber mouth, Jaden and Cindy?

Stuffs are getting weird.

"What exactly happened? Because if you said nothing interesting happened, it sure is a lie."

Lauren huffed, "Guess can't run away from you now."

"You sure can't, girlfriend" I said, as I press on the word 'girlfriend'

"Don't- don't call me that" She squinted her eyes.

"What? Why? That thing is trending now isn't it?"

"No- it's not- just forget it."

"Alright, now tell me what interesting thing has happened to you, my fair lady" I said as I switch on my british accent.

Lauren rolled her eyes but, she did told me anyway. And I was -not so shocked as it's been a few of other times, that Lauren by coincidence come across Dane.

By coincidence.

~'~

We are now sitting in the most boring class that's ever existed, let's see how the students are doing. Most of the students are zoning out, and Mr. Adam, the lean-tall and bald headed guy, is still blabbering about some human anatomy thing, I thought as I was pretending to be a news reporter.

And I fricking failed. I can't be a news reporter, even in my own imagination.

Dammit.

I was bored to heck and I was *this* close to falling asleep. I pulled a piece of paper and scribbled on it.

If you count the mash potatoes for lunch and minus this very interesting class, I think it would be a freaking great Friday.

I crumpled the paper into a ball then throw it to Lauren's desk in front of me.

She looked up from whatever she was doing (obviously not paying any attention to Mr. so-good-at-teaching) and turned to look at me.

'What the frick.' She mouthed at me.

'Read the thing.' I mouthed back to her.

'What?' she mouthed again.

I huffed. Sometimes the second smartest kid in class can suddenly lose her intelligence and be a retard.

I gestured her, with my hands, that signs 'unrumpled the paper' and then I expand my hands and pretending to read the (imaginary) paper.

She looked back at me with quizzical eyes and furrowed eyebrows. 'Knitting?' she mouthed.

Now, I just want to bang my head on the table.

'Read the thing!' I whispered.

Lauren pushed her chair with her back, making the chair over-balanced backward.

'Read the thing!' I whisper-shouted to her.

She pushed the chair backward again, making it even more over-balanced.

'What?' she said,

Suddenly, her hand who was pressing on the table for support, slipped and...

THUD!

The fallen chair hit my table and erupted a loud thud. I squinted my eyes, and when I fully opened it, Lauren has fallen off the chair. Her eyes were squinted and her lips were tightened, and her hair was a mess too.

Laughs erupted from the other kids. Mr. Adam was looking at our direction with his eyebrows furrowed and his lips puckered.

Gosh, he looks like a girl trying to take a selfie.

"What do you two think you're doing?" his voice boomed through the laughing kids.

"Shut up!" he shouted, and the kids were now silent, no one even bother to make a noise.

"As I was asking," he walked closer to our direction, "What were you doing, Ms. Snow?" he looked down to Lauren.

"I...I was...um" she stuttered while her thumb is pointing at my direction.

Huf. There's my cue.

No matter how smart Lauren is, she just can't lie.

"Um, sir...she was trying to tell me what page it is, sir" I lied smoothly. I looked down at Lauren who was now smiling at me.

"Oh, is that so, Ms. Rodriguez?" He looked at me suspiciously, then looked down again at Lauren. "So, tell me Ms. Snow...What page are we in?, if you were in fact, was trying to tell Ms. Rodriguez what page it is..." He said with a winning smile, as if to celebrate his 100th time of catching a student who doesn't pay any attention.

Surely, Lauren knows the answer, right?

But Lauren gulped at the question. And I know that we're screwed.

"It was...uh..."

Lauren's eyes darted everywhere but Mr. Adam's face. Her eyes were darting around the class, looking at the other kids who were watching the show intently.

And as I thought we were going to spend our time in detention, Dane brought a note-pad up in his hand, on it were written 3 numbers. And he was pointing to it.

Lauren flies her view to Dane's direction, and her -was tense shoulder, rapidly relaxed.

"Page 104, sir." She replied Mr. A+ at teaching and gave him a smile.

But she didn't gave Dane any.