drew barrymore. | a short story

0.4 | 1:17 PM

solana:

i was about to dose off because of how boring my current class was when mr. mcallen called my name. "yes, mr. mcallen," i said.

"i need to talk to you after class." he said.

i sighed. "okay," i said, annoyed at the fact that he drew so much attention to me instead of just pulling me after class. i was in my 5th period class. i had one more class left and then i'd be done for the day. my last class was with isaiah. this one was with tahliah.

"i suppose he wanted everybody to know," tahliah whispered sarcastically.

"right?" i whispered, flipping a page in my notebook. mcallen had us watching a video on the snail life cycle and anatomy, which i saw no purpose in, but i assumed he just needed a reason to waste a class period without getting in trouble.

i pulled out my phone and shot a text to megan.

what time r we meeting @ ur place?

megan responded almost immediately.

like 7? ish? it starts at 9.

"megan said we meeting at her house at 7," i said, putting my phone back in my bag.

just as i had put my phone back in my bag, it vibrated again. jacques.

Lemme walk u home

i had no idea why he was asking me, he usually tagged along with me on my way home anyway.

why are u asking me?

Consent

wow. i appreciate it. i'll be out in the courtyard @ 3.

Ight

i guess i forgot to mention that i take this class with one other person: ivy. we usually traded notes when tahliah missed school, which was pretty often. otherwise, we never really talked.

somehow, her presence felt like a fat ass elephant that had squeezed itself into the room and tried to be discreet as possible. in other words, it was harder ignoring her than it usually was. i'd been brushing off the feeling since i got to class.

i couldn't help it. i tried. the intrusive thoughts kept coming.

i excused myself and grabbed my stuff, walking out of the classroom. i went to the bathroom and straight into a stall. i couldn't keep walking away from my issues like this.

i texted megan, asking her to meet me in the bathroom, and she showed up shortly after i'd texted her. "is it him this time?" she said.

"not really. more, his acquaintance." i said, throwing some cold water on my face. megan opened her purse and gave me a bottle of water and an advil for a headache i didn't even realize i had.

"did the lil table of bitches say something to you?" megan asked, as i took the advil.

"nah. it's ivy. she didn't say anything. but just having her behind me. it-it's bothering me. the thoughts are bothering me." i said.

"if you hate the thought of jacques with other people, why don't you just tell him? clearly you starting to regret breaking him off." megan said.

"i can't... i don't... i don't want to," i said, leaning back against the sinks.

"why?" megan said.

"i just... don't think it would work out,"

"how do you know that?" megan said.

i didn't. "i don't,"

"exactly," megan said.

"but, meg, i don't know if we're ready for-"

"sol, y'all fully committed to each other the entire summer 'as friends,' the only thing that split y'all up was you saying you needed to focus on your grades. and even still, it didn't mean anything because y'all still messing around. what makes you think y'all ain't ready?"

"i don't know," i admitted.

"i'm not saying you absolutely have to commit to him, but it's a suggestion," meg said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"no, i know what you mean. we was better off in that... whatever it was. but it's just... a lot," i said.

"i get it. but the only way to find out is to try." megan said.

"yeah, yeah." i said, sighing.

"now, ivy? don't let her get to you. you a real bad bitch and as long as you know, you'll be okay," megan said.

i nodded and smiled. i really wish i could match her mindset, but i couldn't. i always unintentionally wore my insecurities on my sleeve. i couldn't help feeling like i could easily be replaced. and it wasn't jacques making me feel insecure. i couldn't blame my insecurities on him, nor could i take them out on ivy either.

i hugged megan, sighing again, heavily this time.

i came back to class, still as stressed as before, but at least my headache was gone and ivy had left the classroom.

"you missed it. ivy and sequoia were about to put paws on each other," tahliah said.

i nearly rolled my eyes at the fact that i was hearing her name and i hadn't even been in the classroom a full minute. "what was it over?" i asked. i was praying it wasn't jacques.

"sequoia apparently did the do with ishmael, and now ishmael is turning on ivy and sequoia is instigating it." ishmael was ivy's twin brother and one of jacques's friends.

"oh no," i said, letting out a breath.

"yeah, it got intense." tahliah said.

the bell rang and me and tahliah got up to exit the classroom. isaiah was waiting outside of the classroom. megan took dual enrollment so she was on the community college campus from 2 until 4, meaning she had to leave the building before class was over.

i walked with tahliah and isaiah, shoving my previous mental breakdown to the back of my mind.

"s, you alright? you barely talking and you look out of it," isaiah said.

"yeah, yeah, i'm fine, just stuck in my head is all." i said.

"well, you know if you need to talk to us, we'll listen." tahliah said.

"thank you," i said, smiling.

tahliah was recounting what happened in mcallen's class when i was pulled to the side. i turned around to see the last person i wanted to see at that moment. "jacques," i said frailly, my breath caught in my throat.

"anybody been fucking with you today? be honest," he said.

"what?" i said.

"did anybody fuck with you? at all?" jacques asked. i studied his facial expression. he looked peeved, the facial expression he usually wore when there was something going on that he didn't understand.

"n-no? jacques what is this about?" i said, looking back to see tahliah and isaiah waiting for me. i waved for them to just go, and they turned and walked down the hallway.

"i'll explain it to you later, just... if anything happens or if anybody bothers you between now and 3, let me know." jacques said.

"you're bothering me," i said, sarcastically.

his facial expression softened and he chuckled.

"girl, i'm not bothering you," he said. little did he know.

"yeah, because you didn't just damn near manhandle me in the middle of the hallway," i said.

"for a good reason," he said.

"a good reason, huh?" i said.

"go to class, sunny," he said, wrapping his arms around me and sending me on my way.