Chapter 2 – Not A Good Day
As James walked to class, a bleach-blonde, life-size Barbie appeared on his arm.
"Jamie, you don't look yourself," the girl said in her best Paris Hilton impersonation upon seeing the pop star's face minus his winning smile. She leaned up to him and nibbled at his ear, whispering, "The supply closet by Roger's classroom is free…I bet I know how I can make you smile."
"Laura, today isn't really a good day for that."
"Well, aren't we getting adventurous? What did you have in mind?" Her question dripped with desire.
James sped up his pace, trying to escape the talon-like grip of his girlfriend's plastic nails "Not now, babe. Really, I'm not in the mood."
The bottle blonde reached up and touched James' forehead. "Alright, you're not sick. Something's really bothering you, isn't it?"
"Welcome to the conversation, Laura!" he snapped.
"Wow. What the hell crawled up your ass and died?"
James stopped dead in his tracks, looking Laura straight in the eye. "I just got some really shitty news, that's what! How insensitive can you be? And even if that weren't the case, what's so wrong about me not wanting to fuck you every five seconds? Can't we just talk every once in a while? Isn't that what people do?"
"That's what people do. That's not what James Diamond does."
"Is that all I am to you? 'Cause let me tell you, if you need to get your rocks off, you can take a nice little jaunt down to the nearest sex shop. I'm sure they'd be happy to sell you a vibrator. I hear they have a two for one special going on right now!"
The next thing James knew, his face burned and his now ex-girlfriend was disappearing before his eyes. As he heard the clickity-clack of her heels fade away, it dawned on him that today was shaping up to be a real mess.
Kendall slid into his seat right as the second hand inched its way past the 12, indicating that he was exactly one second late to his Interdisciplinary Media Studies class. He felt his stomach drop as he watched the clock, wishing he could turn it back just a bit. As he wiped a bit of sweat from his brow, he looked up and realized that his teacher was, in fact, absent from her usual place at the front of the classroom.
"Whoa, Kendall, you need to chill out," said his friend Addie from behind him.
A familiar but unwelcome voice came from his left. "Yeah, man. What's the big time rush?" The question was dripping with sarcasm.
"Real clever, Jett," Kendall retorted with a smirk. Jett Stetson, Kendall's biggest rival, also happened to be attending USC, although whether he was actually pursuing a degree or trying to perfect the art of ruining Kendall's life was yet to be determined. Jett, as a drama major, wouldn't normally be in Kendall's classes, but evidently, they both signed up for the same elective, a coincidence Kendall would never live down.
Kendall turned back towards the girl behind him. "I got off to a late start this morning, plus my roommate and I are having some issues, so overall, it's not looking like a great day for me."
"Well, I'm pretty sure class is gonna be cancelled, so that should make your day a little bit better," Addie replied with a smile. In all honesty, just seeing Addie's crimson pixie cut and beaming smile brightened Kendall's day, but that was another matter entirely. "Wanna get some coffee if Dr. Cohen is a no-show?"
THWACK! A stack of papers flew down onto Addie's desk, nearly crushing Kendall's fingers. "Sorry to interrupt your plans, Miss Parker, but your date with Mr. Knight is going to have to wait."
The two whipped their heads around, finding Dr. Cohen standing right above them. Kendall's eyes opened wide as he realized what his teacher had just implied. "Date? What date? TOTALLY not a date, am I right Addie? No? Okay…I'm just gonna shut up now."
As Dr. Cohen made her way to the front of the class, Kendall felt a cool hissing in his ear say, "Real smooth, hockey pucks." The blonde shoved the Pop Tiger has-been and looked down at his notebook.
Definitely not a good day.