Walking Away

Perfect?

Raven

Johnathan - or I guess now I can call him Jonah - wasn't in first period when I got there. When I mentioned it to Mark, he just shrugged.

"He'll be here. Don't worry."

And I took my normal seat, drumming my fingers against the desk. And I waited. I was actually doubting Marks' prediction when he walked in, greeting the teacher and sliding into his desk right before the bell.

I thought about what Mark had told me as class started. About how he went by a different name to make a little girl feel better. I'd never met someone who would do that. Not by a long shot.

The worksheet was too easy, giving me about half of the class time to just sit in silence. Except silence doesn't work for me, so I brought out my earbuds and turned on my playlist. And then had nothing to do except think.

I didn't really want to think, though, so I directed my thoughts to the boy sitting across the room. He was working on something - not the ridiculous worksheet, but something. He looked so determined, like whatever he wrote on that paper was imperative to his future. And so quiet, I noticed. Everyone else in the room was quietly talking, passing notes or on their phones. But he just sat there in his own world, focused. I could never be that focused.

I ran out of character traits to list, so I listed off physical traits. Dark brown hair, where Marks was light blond. I couldn't see his eyes right now, but I remember them being some shade of brown. A light shade, though. His skin isn't super light, but it isn't as dark as mine, either. I wonder what his sister looks like, if she has the same features as him or if she looks completely different. 

He finally, finally, lays down the pencil and looks up. Which makes me realize that this whole time, he's been sitting up straight. Unlike the rest of us, who can almost make a compete 'c' leaning over the paper, he has terrific posture. It makes me self-conscious of my slouching, and I straighten up a little bit.

"It's a lost cause." The voice is so unexpected that I flinch before looking at the girl in the desk in front of me.

"What?"

"Johnathan Lynd? Lost cause. I mean, the guy's perfect, but he never really talks to you." She looks a little sad at the end of her declaration.

"Oh." I answer. "How do you mean?"

The girl shrugs, her hair falling over my desk. It's got red in it, and orange. It looks really cool.

"I mean most people in this room have been in school with him since middle, if not elementary school, and not a single one knows more than his name." She makes a face. "Even if you try, he'll just brush you off and you'll be left knowing nothing more but feeling appreciated anyway."

That was confusing. "Appreciated?"

"Yup. Always. He'll say something about how nice you look, mention something you did in class. The conversation will last two minutes at most and then you realize all he did was tell you what you already knew." She glanced at me. Or my outfit, I think. "If you walked over there, you would probably get a 'hello' and a 'goodbye'. Honestly, you shouldn't even try."

Shouldn't even try? Well, ouch. But also, not cool. I reached up and brushed her hair off of my desk. "Of course. I would hate to give him someone interesting to talk to for once. Might ruin your chances."

I didn't look at her as I got up and walked across the room, sliding into the desk next to his.

"Hey." I said, feeling a little awkward once I actually sat down.

He smiled at me, but most of his attention was on his phone. "Hi. What's up?"

"Uh." I don't know how to answer that. Up to this point, I was driven by irritation and a need to prove the other girl wrong. "Who is the girl with the colored hair?"

Johnathan - Jonah - looked over to where I had been sitting. "That's Becca." He glanced back at me. "Why, did something happen?"

"No." I answered. "I don't know. I mean, just typical 'let's put down the new girl' stuff, I guess."

"What did she say?" I just shrugged again, tapping my foot on the ground. No way was I telling him about that conversation.

"Raven? Why are you over here?" Mr. Green was walking over. I panicked a little. No way this was ending well.

"Mr. Green?" Jonathan broke in, sounding utterly apologetic.

The teacher turned. "Yes?"

Johnathan didn't look at me at all. "I'm sorry, it's my fault. I asked Raven to help me with one of the questions on the worksheet. I was confused, but I've got it now."

The teacher looked less detention-y now. I stayed quiet, not wanting to mess up Johnathan's story. We hadn't even been here a month and I'd seen Mr. Green send six people to detention. "That was kind of her. And she'll be returning to her seat now?"

I made a face at that. Behind the teacher, of course, so he couldn't see me. But Johnathan could, apparently, because he almost laughed before continuing in the most sincere voice in the world.

"Actually, sir, I wanted to ask you if she could move over here." I can't imagine what the teacher's expression looked like. "You see, Raven is new to our school, and Mrs. Brown asked me to make sure she settled in alright. I just think that includes keeping her away from people who are bothering her." He cast a sad look towards Becca. "I understand if you can't allow that, though. I know there are rules."

But Mr. Green was already shaking his head. "No, no, if there's a problem she should move seats. Of course. Thank you for letting me know about this, Johnathan."

"Of course, sir." And then Mr. Green walked away.

I think I'm in shock. "How?" I asked.

He was on his phone again. "How what?"

I gestured towards the teacher. "That. That was not normal."

"With Mr. Green?" he asked. "That was nothing." For a minute he had a strange look, but it disappeared. "I mean, you wanted to move. Now you've moved."

I nodded, like that made any more sense. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." he answered. He looked past me and laughed before catching himself.

I turned to see what was so funny, and caught Becca staring at us with the most wonderful look of disbelief. And unlike Johnathan, I didn't try to stop laughing.

Perfect? Nobody's perfect. But anyone who could do that was definitely in the running.