Chapter Three
The Ex
We're in the hallway and I'm standing in front of my locker, trying to put the code in. It's not working. Some stupid kid must have figured out how to reset it. Jessie's next to me. Her locker isn't far from mine. It's part of the reason why I met her. We also have Biology together, last class on Wednesday's and Monday's. Or should I say Monday's and Wednesday's? Oh, well.
Jessie had already gotten her books. She stood impatiently tapping her toes and biting her lip unconsciously. I don't know why she was so anxious. We had ten minutes before class.
"Hurry up, Tonia," Jessie urged.
"Why?" I asked. It was my fifth word of the day. Yes. I counted.
"Justin's coming. Remember, he passes through here! I can't let him see me." She covered her face with her hand and turned her back on the river of students in the middle of the hall.
Right. Justin. They'd broken up a week ago after he'd lost his temporary popular status. He'd been on the news for saving some kid from being hit by a car. A reporter had been on the scene to capture him on tape. It was a lucky break, for Justin and the reporter. He got to give a little testimony of his act of bravery, and enjoyed his two weeks of being the most popular kid in school. But he was flaky so it didn't last.
If you skip school on occasion, you're cool. If you dropout, and join a band or something artsy, you're cool. If you pop in and out of school every other week, you're a loser, probably a stoner. People don't know enough about you to talk, so you end up losing popularity.
That's what happened to Justin. He skipped school too much. I'm not sure why he even bothers still coming or why he's not in trouble. Well, he might be for all I know. I never talked to the guy, not that I really talk to anybody.
I finally got my locker open. I set my backpack on the ground so I could take out the books I wouldn't need for Biology.
"Jessie."
Jessie groaned. I looked at her through my bangs to see her grimace. But the damage was done, Justin had seen her. She put on a scowl and turned to face him.
"Hello," she said and after a cool pause. "Justin."
"Can we talk?" He asked, reaching for her shoulder.
She pushed his hands away. "No we cannot talk! I have to go to class, and I don't want to talk to you."
"Jessie, this is important." He lowered his voice, but I could still hear him. I did my best to become invisible, busying myself with my books. I hated break up fights. It was just sad how some people grovel to keep a bad relationship going. Jessie was already talking about how hot Steven Edwards was. Not a good sign for Justin. Besides, he'd lost his popularity. Without that, he really didn't have much of a chance with Jessie. 'She don't want no scrub.'
"More important than my education? I don't think so. I'm not going to sink to your level. It's over. I broke up with you, Justin!" She didn't exactly yell, but her words did carry across the thinning hallway. She wanted to make it clear to anyone who cared that she was no longer involved with Justin, The Wanna Be dropout.
"Listen," Justin tried again.
"No," Jessie said. "I won't listen. I have to go to biology." She actually managed quite a good stuck up girl impression. "Come on, Tonia."
I had just finished closing up my locker. I slipped my backpack over my shoulder and followed Jessie.
"I'll call you after class!" Justin yelled after us.
"I won't pick up!" Jessie retorted. It seemed like she was really enjoying this. Denying guys that wanted you must make you feel really good. I wouldn't know, and I'm not sure if I want to.
We made it to class with five minute to spare.
"That loser," Jessie said, throwing her backpack unnecessarily hard onto the ground and spoke in tones that would carry to every ear in the room. "I told him it was over. But he keeps trying to talk to me."
I sat down and pulled out my own books. I started looking through my notes. There might be a quiz today. Mr. Pilsburg had hinted at one last Monday.
"If he calls me, I'm not going to pick up. I won't. I'll just ignore him." Jessie didn't need much response or any prompt to continue talking. I just had to dart her looks every now and then to show that I was listening. Had Mr. Pilsburg not shown up and told her to settle down, she probably would have continued on the entire class period.
"Alright, now that Mrs. Loran has finally graced us with her silence," he pulled a stack of papers from his desk and began handing them out, "we can take our quiz."
I'd like to say there were groans, and the eager kids looked expectantly up at the teacher, ready for the challenge, but there weren't. Those who were caught off guard didn't care enough about the class to groan, and the 'eager' kids had been paying attention last class, so Mr. Pilsburg, quite boringly, passed out the papers and the quiz began.