Underclassman
I do not own the story "Lord of the Flies" that is owned by Sir William Golding.
EMILY'S POV
"Jack," I began, my voice filled with uncertainty. Gosh, why did I choose today to pop the question? I had been avoiding this all week, and now it was Friday and Jack was going away for the weekend, so I had to ask him now. It was either that, or send him a lame text he would probably not reply to. My heart picked up speed and I felt my face flush. I turned away from him for a second and leaned my cheek against the cool window beside me on the bus. I never got motion sickness, but at that point I felt like I was going to barf.
"What?" asked Jack in a bored voice, taking his earphones off and wrapping them around his iPod. He turned to look at me with undivided attention, making it all the more difficult to ask The Question.
"Do you," I paused, wondering if I should change it to a question about biology homework. I bit my lip.
"Do I…. what?" he asked, his red eyebrows bunching together a little in confusion. He knew I was up to something, I couldn't back out now.
"Do you… uh…. Like me?" I asked, cringing a little like he would hit me. I snuck a peek at his face, which only mirrored confusion.
"Like…. Like-like you?" he asked.
"Oh, this isn't middle school anymore. Do you have a crush on me or not?" I said. Well, at least I was beginning to sound like myself again.
"Oh, no Emily, not at all. Well, I like you as a friend. I'm sorry," Jack said. I blushed again.
"Jack! I don't like you like that! But, its just, you never talk about other girls and you are always so nice to me and compliment my outfits," I smiled.
"Even if I did like you it wouldn't matter because I know you and Ralph have been together since freshman year," Jack said, smiling proudly. We were high school seniors now and Jack was still proud from when he paired his best girl friend with his best guy friend.
"Well than, what girl do you like?" I asked happily. Jack shifted around in his seat for a second and looked at his hands with an embarrassed smile.
"What?" I asked.
"Em, I don't like girls," he chuckled. My eyes widened.
"You mean your-"
"Yeah," He looked at me expectantly. I took a deep breath.
"Omigoshjackwhydidn'tyoutellmethisissogreatIamso-" I giggled, squealed, and said, all at the same time.
"Emily!" Jack chuckled, shaking my arm to get me to shut up.
"I can't believe you never told me!" I fake-pouted.
"I didn't know until this year. I never had much of an interest in girls, and than this one guy…" Jack's face got dreamy, than snapped back to normal. I gasped.
"Oh no, I've said too much," he said.
"Oh my gosh, Jack please don't tell me you like Ralph! I'm sorry but he really likes me and-"
"Ew gross. No, you and Ralph are perfect together. Besides, he's not my type he's too much of a tool," Jack paused "No offense,"
"If I wasn't so happy right now, I would probably hit you. Anyway, tell me about this 'one guy'," I said, leaning against the window so I could face Jack. He sighed and flipped his shaggy red hair away from his face.
"Well…. His names Simon and-"
"I didn't know anyone named Simon went to our school," I said.
"Well, he's a freshman and-"
"I know him! He's one of the kids in my Senior Mentors homeroom. It's for all the nerdy, behaved freshman. Basically, the teachers like them so they get a social hour for homeroom. I'm one of the seniors who get to watch over them," I explained, since I had only started the program a week ago.
"Green eyes, black hair?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's him. I've never actually talked to him…." Jack blushed and looked down at the bus floor.
"How do you know you like him than?"
"It's just…. every time I see him. He's not like the other kids. He's so quiet and is always looking out the window like he's lost in his own world. He's smart too, I've seen him solve a calculus problem on the board during the class we have together," Jack looked at me.
"I'm a crazy stalker, aren't I?" he asked.
"No, your just in love," I said. We sat in silence for a minute and I looked out the window.
"I'm making you talk to him you know," I said matter of factly. I watched a shocked expression hit Jack's face.
"No way," he said.
"Yes,"
"No,"
"Yes,"
"No,"
"Yes. Now no further discussion,"
"But Emily, he's only a freshman and he's probably not-"
"I said no further discussion. Look, it's your stop. Go, enjoy your weekend," I said, shooing Jack off the bus with a wave of my hand. Jack stood up unwillingly.
"If this is another one of your 'plans' I swear-"
"Calm down, its not until Monday," I said. Jack turned and slouched off the bus, muttering to himself the whole way. I smiled- my question turned out way better than I expected.
"Hey Simon," I said, very chipper. I sat beside him at the art desk and he smiled kindly. Granted, the kid was shy, but for some reason I got the impression he was happy to have someone to talk to in homeroom. I had talked to Simon only a couple times before, the other kids in my homeroom were much more social than him, and all the times I had talked to him had been discussing school related subjects, since it was my job as a "Senior Mentor" to teach him about our high school.
"Hello Emily," he said softly, looking up at me with his bright green eyes. I could see why Jack found him hot.
"What are you working on kiddo?" I asked, looking down on the paper and colored pencils on the desk. Simon tipped his head modestly and flipped over the paper. On it was a frog, the exact shade of his eyes, which looked impressively real.
"It's for my art class," Simon explained.
"Wow, that's fantastic! Have you ever considered becoming an artist?" I asked. Simon looked surprised.
"Not really. I like art, but I've always just seen it as a hobby…" Simon smiled "Thank you,"
"No problem. Hey, I have to do something really quick. I'll be right back," Simon nodded and I walked towards the front of the room, ready for my evil plan to begin. I told the other mentors I was going to the bathroom, than ducked out into the hallway.
"Would it be okay if I took Jack to the mentor homeroom? I'm working on a project with him and we need to put the final touches on it," I explained to the teacher. I had to yell in order to be heard because the whole room was a mess of paper ball fights and loud conversations; nothing like my peaceful homeroom. The teacher nodded, which I took as a yes, as he tried to pick up the paper airplanes. I scurried to the far end of the room, were Jack was bent over a book, trying to ignore his loud classmates. I took the book right out of his hands.
"Hey!" he said looking up in anger. When he saw it was just me his anger… well it stayed on his face. Uh oh, he remembered.
"Come on!" I said, tugging Jack's hand.
"No," Jack replied surely. He calmly crossed his arms. I tucked my hair behind my ears and bit my lip.
"Jack," I said "What about the time I let you copy my biology homework last year? The paper that was worth fifty points. Remember when I risked my grade to help you?"
"This is different," Jack said.
"Okay, than what about the time I went on that date you set up with Ralph and I before we were a couple?" I replied.
"That was for your own good,"
"What about the time I took care of you when your whole family got chicken pox?"
"This is not like that at all!"
"What about the time I looked all over the neighborhood to help you find your dog?"
"What? I don't even own a dog!"
"Oh yeah, that was Ralph. Anyway, my point is I have done lots of things for you and now its time you pay me back! Besides, its for your own good, not mine," I said.
"Don't be so sure about that," Jack muttered, but I could tell his resistance was decreasing.
"Please," I begged as I gave my best puppy dog face. Jack rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but just this once," Jack replied.
"Hey again Simon," I said, sitting down beside him at the table. I turned to Jack, who was shooting lazars out of his eyes at me, and made a motion for him to sit down. Simon looked up from his frog picture, his eyes calm and cool.
"Hi. Who are you?" Simon asked Jack. Jack looked at the table and began to trace circles shyly.
"I'm Jack," he mumbled. Simon gave kind smile.
"Nice to meet you," he said genuinely.
"Jack's a senior like me. I thought you may like him," I said. Jack glared up at me and than shot his eyes back to the table to avoid being seen by Simon. Simon, on the other hand, was all smiles. Was it just me, or did he know what my true intentions were? I couldn't tell, so I stood up briskly and pushed in my chair.
"Where are you going?" Jack asked, a bit of threat in his voice. I shrugged.
"Anywhere but here," I said. I turned on my heels and walked away, ignoring Jack's shocked face, and heard Simon giggling behind me.
JACK'S POV
"Just ignore her," I said to Simon, a blush creeping up my neck. I, Jack Merridew, was blushing. Blushing.
"I like Emily. She's the nicest senior in the whole school," Simon said and I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at that statement.
"Yeah, Emily's nice but kind of…." I paused in search of the right word.
"Blonde?" Simon supplied.
"Yeah," I agreed.
"So, why are you here?" Simon said bluntly.
"I-uh, what do you-" I sputtered.
"I know you said something that made her find it necessary to introduce us," Simon giggled, his laugh sounding like a tinkering bell.
"Now spill,"
"Simon, that's a ludicrous idea. What could I have possibly said that would make Emily introduce us?" as soon as the words were out of my mouth I regretted them.
"Something along the lines of 'wow what a hot guy'?" Simon said, a bit flirty. I bit my lip and sweat began to form on my brow. Simon did another giggle and held up his a piece of paper.
"What do you think?" he asked. I coughed, unsure if he was asking if I found him attractive or if I liked his frog, but I supposed to go with the latter because it offered a change of subject.
"It's nice," I said weakly. Simon scoffed and rolled his eyes; those spectacular, capturing green eyes.
"Nice," he said "Now Jack, I suppose you could offer a better description than that," He said my name, gosh, why do I like it so much when he says me name? I thought crazily.
"Um, well it's….. a nice shade of green," I said.
"Like my eyes?" Simon said. I swallowed. Yes like your eyes stupid, the exact eyes that are making the ability to form a proper sentence so difficult for me!
"Sure, lets go with that," I mumbled.
"Jack, I've seen you noticing me in choir," Simon said. My eyes shot up from there spot on the ground and met Simon's in an instant, while my jaw dropped.
Before I could say another word, the bell rang and Simon skipped out the door.
"Am I amazing or what?" I heard Emily brag as I approached her at her locker. She was talking to Ralph, as usual, and I assumed it was about her little performance in homeroom that day.
"Or what," I said as I walked up behind her. She turned and smiled.
"Jackie!" she squealed, a high-pitch girlie squeak. She fluttered her hands and smiled broadly.
"Oh my goodness! How did it go!" she giggled. Ralph slid his arms around her waist and leaned his head on her shoulder as she faced me. Uh, I hated PDA.
"How about this: you have repaid your debt. You no longer have to play matchmaker," I said.
"Okay, yeah, whatever. Now tell me the dirty details!" she insisted. Ralph raised an eyebrow at me.
"Yeah dude, what are the 'dirty details'?" he asked, mocking both Emily and I. The nice thing about Ralph was that even after I paired him and Emily, he didn't treat me any differently from when we were all together; he was still the same Ralph since freshman year.
"There are no details," I said, hoping Emily would let the subject drop. She opened her mouth to say something, but Ralph cut her off.
"Simon's coming this way," Ralph said. Emily squealed again.
"Lets go!" she said to Ralph. They both shot me a mischievous look and went sprinting down the hallway, laughing. I rolled my eyes.
"Hey Jack," said a young voice. I turned around slowly and saw Simon staring up at me, green eyes sparkling with the same mischief that Emily and Ralph had portrayed.
"H-hi," I stuttered nervously.
"So, how about you walk me to choir?" Simon giggled.
"Sure," I said coolly. Remind me again why I let him have so much control over me.
I began to stride down the hallway quickly and Simon skipped to keep up.
"I heard our school's having some big trip overseas and I'm thinking about going. Only problem is it involves a plane ride across the ocean and I'm not so good on planes," Simon chatted.
"I heard about that and I am thinking about going to. I'm with you about being nervous," I paused and looked on Simon, who seemed to be suppressing a giggle.
"On planes!" I added quickly, but the damage was already done.
"Jack, I know that you have a crush on me," Simon said, straightforward as always. I stopped dead in my tracks and leaned my back against the lockers in defeat.
"Fine," I admitted. Simon giggled again.
"I think it's cute," he said.
"Cute?" I repeated. I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling, as to avoid his eyes.
"Yes, cute. Jack, please look at me," Simon said. I did as he said, because he just had that much control over me. I looked straight into his eyes and saw some smoky unreadable expression that made my heart skip a beat.
Suddenly, he rushed up ,stood on his tip-toes, and his face was only inches from mine. His lips made contact with mine, and a million sparks shot off in my body. From the crown of my head to the tips of my toes I felt alive, and I leaned into him with my whole body. We broke apart as the bell rang.
"Your only a freshman," I blurted out stupidly. Simon rolled his eyes.
"We will make it work," he said.
END