I hopped out of my dad's blue Ford Focus and slung my bag onto my back.
"Love you, Jess," came a happy voice behind me. I turned around, hitching
my backpack higher, and smiled.
"Love you too, dad," I said. I glanced up the steps of my museum-like high school and saw Gwen, looking very cold. "I gotta go. Gwen's waiting." I leaned in, gave him a peck on the cheek, and pulled back out, promptly smacking my head on the roof. I winced and said a few choice words unfit for any person's ears over the age of twenty. My dad looked at me, scandalized. I stood up straight, rubbing the back of my head tenderly. I laughed warily at my dad's stern expression.
"Ok, ok," I said, palms up. "Sorry, dad. No more profanities." I grinned down at him and slammed the door. I waved cheerily, then ran up the steps to meet Gwen.
She was glaring around at the students filing through the doors, but grinned when she saw me coming. As I got closer, I noticed she looked a bit wary, as though I were a bomb that could explode.
"What?" I said suspiciously. She shrugged.
"Nothing," she said, patting at her hair. "It's just, after yesterday..." She trailed off helplessly, staring at the ground. I groaned annoyedly.
"Ah, jeez," I said, glaring at the nearest person. He jumped and hurried through the enormous double doors, glancing nervously over his shoulder. "Just because I defended myself, doesn't mean I'm the Incredible Hulk, you know." She laughed, but I could tell she was more than slightly relieved. We laughed and chatted on the way to the locker. Almost immediately after we reached our destination, Gwen latched onto my left arm so hard it was almost painful. My jaw dropped, indignant at being smacked so condescendingly.
"What-" I started to ask, but she lifted the arm that wasn't attached to mine and pointed straight ahead. I looked down the hall and shivered. A group of preps were heading toward us, including Katelyn and Nick. I swallowed convulsively. I hadn't thought about what I would do after my encounter with Kate yesterday. She caught sight of me and hesitated slightly. Then, with a pretentious determination, she kept walking, swaying her hips a tiny bit more than usual. The group said their good byes and split up, leaving Kate and Nick standing together in the middle of the hall. With a haughty glance in my direction, she leaned up to the unsuspecting Nick, wrapping her arms around him, and planted her face on his. I tried not to look as they stayed that way for one, two, three minutes. Finally they stopped, but Kate kept her arms entwined in his. I shoved my books into my locker, replaced the twisted lock with a newly bought one, and slammed it shut. To my horror and disgust, my cheeks were burning fiercely. I glanced back at the two, and was welcomed by gloating looks from Kate. Nick looked down, caught sight of her looking at something, and followed her gaze to meet mine. I quickly averted it, color rising, and closed my lock with a snap. I muttered something unimportant to Gwen and we turned to leave. I glanced once more down the hall, and, if possible, turned even redder. Nick politely detached Katelyn from his neck and started walking toward me, leaving her standing there, mouth open in rage. I turned back to Gwen, intending to ignore him.
"Jessica? Jessi, wait," came a deep voice behind me. I almost stopped, but grit my teeth and kept going. He was on her side, not mine, I told myself stonily. And if he was on mine, then he shouldn't be her boyfriend. I felt a hand tugging at my shoulder, and I whirled around. He stepped back, surprised at my sudden movement.
"Yes?" I said politely, hiding any emotion. My color was receding to normal. He hesitated, then spoke boldly.
"I'm sorry. For Kate," he said quickly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "She can be a little high maintenance sometimes." I snorted.
"Thanks for the apology, but I wasn't looking for one from you," I said shortly, and turned around to continue walking. He trotted up beside me and stepped in my way, so that I had to stop again.
"I really don't think you had to go that far though," he said, frowning at my rudeness. "Calling her dumb, and all that stuff?" I set my jaw and shifted my weight.
"Oh, sorry. I thought I ended the conversation," I snapped, trying to move around him. He stepped in my way. "What?" I said, irritated. "Look, I don't know how you see her, or me for that matter, but she had it coming. That's what she got, for walking all over people. She's done it since forever, and she has absolutely no right to treat people that way. If you don't realize that, then you're nothing of what people think of you," I said, glaring at him. At any other time in my life, I would have loved for Nick MacKenzie to even look at me. But now, I just wanted to get away from him. I had chosen sides when I went off on Katelyn. And my side was the opposite of his. He stood there, just looking at me, mouth slightly open in surprise. I raised an eyebrow. To my immediate relief, the bell rang, and Gwen stepped in.
"Oh! would you look at that," she said, laughing pompously. "The bell! We've got to get to class. Let's go, Jess," and with that, I was whisked away faster than Nick could step in front of me. I followed Gwen to our seats at the back of the classroom, avoiding Ms. Stanford's suspicious glare. As soon as we were seated, Gwen glared at me.
"What the hell are you doing?" she inquired, putting her hands delicately in her lap. I gaped at her. As cynical and clever as she was, never had a profane word escaped from the lips of Gwen Fortunato. She arched an eyebrow at me.
"What, um, what do you mean-," I spluttered, but she cut me off impatiently.
"Don't give me that crap, Jess," she said seriously. "Why do you do that?" she asked angrily. "You have the hugest crush on someone, and yet you totally push them away. Nick was interested. He's right in front of your nose. If you had a little confidence, and let him get to know you, and showed a little interest, and didn't act like a pretentious bitch," she paused here to take a breath. I was speechless, jaw dropped to the floor. She took up her ranting again. "You would have him. Can't you see? He is not happy with Katelyn. Then again, no one within fifteen feet of her is precisely happy," she said, mouth quirking at the corner, "but he is just waiting for an excuse to break up with her. And move on to better things," she ended, giving me a pleading look. "Jessi, you've gotta have some courage. Don't be afraid of expressing yourself, of letting people know, that you've got a personality. And quite a feisty one at that," she added, winking at me. She was quiet for a moment. "Jess? Did you hear me?" She shook my arm slightly, and I pulled it out of her grip.
"Yes, I heard you," I said quietly, and turned around to face Ms. Stanford at the head of the class. There were a variety of emotions surging through my body, and I didn't trust myself to say any more than that. I heard Gwen sigh, and her shifting into her seat. This was the first time I ever remembered fighting with my best friend. The fact that she was right didn't help the situation. Nick MacKenzie caught my eye walking in. He glanced at me, held my gaze for a few moments, then looked away contemptuously. I slumped in my chair, lying my head on my folded arms. I had also had a fight with a guy I wasn't even going out with. All due to this spider thing. Maybe it wasn't so great after all.
The day went much like the last two, though more boring since no one was talking to me. I sat with my face in my hands for first and second period. When the bell rang to go to third, though, I was struck with an idea. I became more and more excited as I thought about it. I remembered running away from the mugger, not having an attack, not even being breathless. I made a decision. I would do PE today. I walked awkwardly into the locker room and to the teacher's office.
"Yes, Miss Parker?" inquired Mrs. Lin from behind a Vogue magazine. Quite the untraditional PE teacher, she wore a three-piece woman's suit and pumps every day to class. She peered at me curiously. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Ah, yes," I replied slowly. "I need some PE clothes." Her slanted eyes flew open in surprise.
"But, I thought-" she sputtered, putting down the magazine, careful to keep its place. I put a hand up to stop her, and smiled as charmingly as I could.
"I know, but don't worry," I said reassuringly. "I can do PE, no problem." She gave me a skeptical look, but complied.
"All right," she said reluctantly, opening a file cabinet. She pulled out a red shirt and blue shorts, our school colors. I took them, thanked her, and was out the door before she could utter a protest. With little trouble, I found Gwen's PE locker and opened it. Relieved, I found her sneakers at the bottom. One good thing about our relationship, we wore the same shoe size, I thought pleasantly as I changed into the incredibly stupid looking clothes. I tied the sneakers and stood up. What now? I thought. I shoved my stuff into the locker and shut it. I crossed my arms self-consciously and walked into the gym. There were already a few people in the gym, chatting and laughing with people they knew, but they went silent when I entered. Everyone was staring at me, and I felt my face redden. As I looked around, I saw Nick MacKenzie and his crowd in their usual corner. He looked at me for a few moments, then started conversation with his friends again. This seemed to be the cue for everyone else, and the gym exploded with teenage voices. I felt my face going back to its normal shade of peachy cream, and I sat on the bench to wait for Mrs. Lin to get here. I watched the double doors, whistling to myself. I saw Katelyn come in, her mouth drop in angry surprise as she caught sight of me in PE clothes. She looked away, pretending to ignore me, and walked over to Nick. I braced myself for a wave of nausea at the scene about to happen, but when she tried to drape her arms around his neck, he pulled away and took a step back. I smirked to myself.
"All right, class," came the echoing voice of Mrs. Lin. I stood up to join the students crowding around her. "We will be doing the physical testing today, starting with the rope climb. Line up," she barked abruptly, clapping her hands. I took a place near the front of the line, but behind Nick, Kate, and their friends. I saw Nick glimpse back curiously, but ignored it. I watched as most of the kids got a few feet up, then came back down. There were six people in front of me. First, Kate, then Nick, his friend Jay, and two people I didn't recognize. Kate climbed two hands up, then dropped quaintly on the mat, smiling prettily at Mrs. Lin, who made a note on her clipboard. Nick climbed three-quarters of the way up, then climbed back down. He flashed a grin at Mrs. Lin, who hid a smile, and made a note on the clipboard. Jay, Nick's best friend, was a big guy, and very good-looking. He had sandy blonde hair and greyish-blue eyes, and was around six feet tall. He was a football player, and had muscles and a six- pack showing even through the PE shirt. He climbed all the way to the top, within thirty seconds, rang the little bell at the top, and climbed back down. He flexed his biceps at Mrs. Lin, who made yet another mark on her mysterious clipboard. It seemed like the other two people took an eternity. They took almost minutes getting only half way up the rope, then climbing slowly down so as to not get any rope burns. Finally, it was my turn.
"Love you too, dad," I said. I glanced up the steps of my museum-like high school and saw Gwen, looking very cold. "I gotta go. Gwen's waiting." I leaned in, gave him a peck on the cheek, and pulled back out, promptly smacking my head on the roof. I winced and said a few choice words unfit for any person's ears over the age of twenty. My dad looked at me, scandalized. I stood up straight, rubbing the back of my head tenderly. I laughed warily at my dad's stern expression.
"Ok, ok," I said, palms up. "Sorry, dad. No more profanities." I grinned down at him and slammed the door. I waved cheerily, then ran up the steps to meet Gwen.
She was glaring around at the students filing through the doors, but grinned when she saw me coming. As I got closer, I noticed she looked a bit wary, as though I were a bomb that could explode.
"What?" I said suspiciously. She shrugged.
"Nothing," she said, patting at her hair. "It's just, after yesterday..." She trailed off helplessly, staring at the ground. I groaned annoyedly.
"Ah, jeez," I said, glaring at the nearest person. He jumped and hurried through the enormous double doors, glancing nervously over his shoulder. "Just because I defended myself, doesn't mean I'm the Incredible Hulk, you know." She laughed, but I could tell she was more than slightly relieved. We laughed and chatted on the way to the locker. Almost immediately after we reached our destination, Gwen latched onto my left arm so hard it was almost painful. My jaw dropped, indignant at being smacked so condescendingly.
"What-" I started to ask, but she lifted the arm that wasn't attached to mine and pointed straight ahead. I looked down the hall and shivered. A group of preps were heading toward us, including Katelyn and Nick. I swallowed convulsively. I hadn't thought about what I would do after my encounter with Kate yesterday. She caught sight of me and hesitated slightly. Then, with a pretentious determination, she kept walking, swaying her hips a tiny bit more than usual. The group said their good byes and split up, leaving Kate and Nick standing together in the middle of the hall. With a haughty glance in my direction, she leaned up to the unsuspecting Nick, wrapping her arms around him, and planted her face on his. I tried not to look as they stayed that way for one, two, three minutes. Finally they stopped, but Kate kept her arms entwined in his. I shoved my books into my locker, replaced the twisted lock with a newly bought one, and slammed it shut. To my horror and disgust, my cheeks were burning fiercely. I glanced back at the two, and was welcomed by gloating looks from Kate. Nick looked down, caught sight of her looking at something, and followed her gaze to meet mine. I quickly averted it, color rising, and closed my lock with a snap. I muttered something unimportant to Gwen and we turned to leave. I glanced once more down the hall, and, if possible, turned even redder. Nick politely detached Katelyn from his neck and started walking toward me, leaving her standing there, mouth open in rage. I turned back to Gwen, intending to ignore him.
"Jessica? Jessi, wait," came a deep voice behind me. I almost stopped, but grit my teeth and kept going. He was on her side, not mine, I told myself stonily. And if he was on mine, then he shouldn't be her boyfriend. I felt a hand tugging at my shoulder, and I whirled around. He stepped back, surprised at my sudden movement.
"Yes?" I said politely, hiding any emotion. My color was receding to normal. He hesitated, then spoke boldly.
"I'm sorry. For Kate," he said quickly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "She can be a little high maintenance sometimes." I snorted.
"Thanks for the apology, but I wasn't looking for one from you," I said shortly, and turned around to continue walking. He trotted up beside me and stepped in my way, so that I had to stop again.
"I really don't think you had to go that far though," he said, frowning at my rudeness. "Calling her dumb, and all that stuff?" I set my jaw and shifted my weight.
"Oh, sorry. I thought I ended the conversation," I snapped, trying to move around him. He stepped in my way. "What?" I said, irritated. "Look, I don't know how you see her, or me for that matter, but she had it coming. That's what she got, for walking all over people. She's done it since forever, and she has absolutely no right to treat people that way. If you don't realize that, then you're nothing of what people think of you," I said, glaring at him. At any other time in my life, I would have loved for Nick MacKenzie to even look at me. But now, I just wanted to get away from him. I had chosen sides when I went off on Katelyn. And my side was the opposite of his. He stood there, just looking at me, mouth slightly open in surprise. I raised an eyebrow. To my immediate relief, the bell rang, and Gwen stepped in.
"Oh! would you look at that," she said, laughing pompously. "The bell! We've got to get to class. Let's go, Jess," and with that, I was whisked away faster than Nick could step in front of me. I followed Gwen to our seats at the back of the classroom, avoiding Ms. Stanford's suspicious glare. As soon as we were seated, Gwen glared at me.
"What the hell are you doing?" she inquired, putting her hands delicately in her lap. I gaped at her. As cynical and clever as she was, never had a profane word escaped from the lips of Gwen Fortunato. She arched an eyebrow at me.
"What, um, what do you mean-," I spluttered, but she cut me off impatiently.
"Don't give me that crap, Jess," she said seriously. "Why do you do that?" she asked angrily. "You have the hugest crush on someone, and yet you totally push them away. Nick was interested. He's right in front of your nose. If you had a little confidence, and let him get to know you, and showed a little interest, and didn't act like a pretentious bitch," she paused here to take a breath. I was speechless, jaw dropped to the floor. She took up her ranting again. "You would have him. Can't you see? He is not happy with Katelyn. Then again, no one within fifteen feet of her is precisely happy," she said, mouth quirking at the corner, "but he is just waiting for an excuse to break up with her. And move on to better things," she ended, giving me a pleading look. "Jessi, you've gotta have some courage. Don't be afraid of expressing yourself, of letting people know, that you've got a personality. And quite a feisty one at that," she added, winking at me. She was quiet for a moment. "Jess? Did you hear me?" She shook my arm slightly, and I pulled it out of her grip.
"Yes, I heard you," I said quietly, and turned around to face Ms. Stanford at the head of the class. There were a variety of emotions surging through my body, and I didn't trust myself to say any more than that. I heard Gwen sigh, and her shifting into her seat. This was the first time I ever remembered fighting with my best friend. The fact that she was right didn't help the situation. Nick MacKenzie caught my eye walking in. He glanced at me, held my gaze for a few moments, then looked away contemptuously. I slumped in my chair, lying my head on my folded arms. I had also had a fight with a guy I wasn't even going out with. All due to this spider thing. Maybe it wasn't so great after all.
The day went much like the last two, though more boring since no one was talking to me. I sat with my face in my hands for first and second period. When the bell rang to go to third, though, I was struck with an idea. I became more and more excited as I thought about it. I remembered running away from the mugger, not having an attack, not even being breathless. I made a decision. I would do PE today. I walked awkwardly into the locker room and to the teacher's office.
"Yes, Miss Parker?" inquired Mrs. Lin from behind a Vogue magazine. Quite the untraditional PE teacher, she wore a three-piece woman's suit and pumps every day to class. She peered at me curiously. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Ah, yes," I replied slowly. "I need some PE clothes." Her slanted eyes flew open in surprise.
"But, I thought-" she sputtered, putting down the magazine, careful to keep its place. I put a hand up to stop her, and smiled as charmingly as I could.
"I know, but don't worry," I said reassuringly. "I can do PE, no problem." She gave me a skeptical look, but complied.
"All right," she said reluctantly, opening a file cabinet. She pulled out a red shirt and blue shorts, our school colors. I took them, thanked her, and was out the door before she could utter a protest. With little trouble, I found Gwen's PE locker and opened it. Relieved, I found her sneakers at the bottom. One good thing about our relationship, we wore the same shoe size, I thought pleasantly as I changed into the incredibly stupid looking clothes. I tied the sneakers and stood up. What now? I thought. I shoved my stuff into the locker and shut it. I crossed my arms self-consciously and walked into the gym. There were already a few people in the gym, chatting and laughing with people they knew, but they went silent when I entered. Everyone was staring at me, and I felt my face redden. As I looked around, I saw Nick MacKenzie and his crowd in their usual corner. He looked at me for a few moments, then started conversation with his friends again. This seemed to be the cue for everyone else, and the gym exploded with teenage voices. I felt my face going back to its normal shade of peachy cream, and I sat on the bench to wait for Mrs. Lin to get here. I watched the double doors, whistling to myself. I saw Katelyn come in, her mouth drop in angry surprise as she caught sight of me in PE clothes. She looked away, pretending to ignore me, and walked over to Nick. I braced myself for a wave of nausea at the scene about to happen, but when she tried to drape her arms around his neck, he pulled away and took a step back. I smirked to myself.
"All right, class," came the echoing voice of Mrs. Lin. I stood up to join the students crowding around her. "We will be doing the physical testing today, starting with the rope climb. Line up," she barked abruptly, clapping her hands. I took a place near the front of the line, but behind Nick, Kate, and their friends. I saw Nick glimpse back curiously, but ignored it. I watched as most of the kids got a few feet up, then came back down. There were six people in front of me. First, Kate, then Nick, his friend Jay, and two people I didn't recognize. Kate climbed two hands up, then dropped quaintly on the mat, smiling prettily at Mrs. Lin, who made a note on her clipboard. Nick climbed three-quarters of the way up, then climbed back down. He flashed a grin at Mrs. Lin, who hid a smile, and made a note on the clipboard. Jay, Nick's best friend, was a big guy, and very good-looking. He had sandy blonde hair and greyish-blue eyes, and was around six feet tall. He was a football player, and had muscles and a six- pack showing even through the PE shirt. He climbed all the way to the top, within thirty seconds, rang the little bell at the top, and climbed back down. He flexed his biceps at Mrs. Lin, who made yet another mark on her mysterious clipboard. It seemed like the other two people took an eternity. They took almost minutes getting only half way up the rope, then climbing slowly down so as to not get any rope burns. Finally, it was my turn.