...how to be really embarassed

"Really, Mr. Smith, the first day of school and you're already in my office!"

You're most likely a bit confused about how I got myself into that situation, so I'll do a brief recap.

Due to my anger at Miss Delane, I stormed out of her class in order to get some fresh air. Of course, she tried to stop me by shouting after me several times, but I simply ignored her and left anyways.

I headed out to the lush green field in the school compound. When I got there I just sat on the grass for about an hour, enjoying nature with the birds and the bees.

Unfortunately, Miss Delane had taken it upon herself to inform Mr. Prickleberry, the principal, about what I had done, so he took it upon himself to bring me back into the building. However he was considerate of my feelings, so he asked me to follow him to his office and tell him my side of the story-

Ok, I can't keep this going for much longer, it's becoming a bit far-fetched.

Just in case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm lying.

I mean, sitting on the grass? The only reason I'll ever sit on the school field is if I want to become a home for the various insects that hide between blades of grass. Also if I see bees coming from one direction, I'm going the other!

Here's what really happened.

Remember that crash you saw at the end of the last chapter? Well, my school, like a good number of others, had brown classroom doors which each had a rectangular glass set in the middle of it. Due to the fact that I wasn't able to keep my anger on a leash, I ended up smashing my fist through the glass after I had slammed the classroom door behind me.

.

.

.

Okay, even that isn't completely true! See, the truth is I had been well over my anger by the time I reached the door. The reason why I left was mainly to let Miss Delane know that I wouldn't be walked over by her. The other reason was to give the other students something to think about while they endured her journey to the land of blah, blah, blah.

To further bolster both aims, I decided to slam the door as I was leaving, just to put the cherry on my large, drama-filled cake.

I don't know whether it's because the school officials hadn't bothered to change the door in years, or because someone else had nearly broken the glass and just decided to set it back on the door. Either way, the bottom fact is that the glass ended up crashing to the floor and smashing into a million pieces.

After that, I froze. Literally, for about two seconds, I didn't do anything. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, but the most prominent resonating one was:

Oh shit!

Obviously, I hadn't been expecting the glass to break, so I wasn't quite sure what to do. It wasn't like I could just open the door to the classroom, grinning at Miss Delane as I said:

Whoops! Hehe, guess I really put the drama in dramatic, am I right?

Therefore I did the most practical thing I could think of doing at the time.

I transformed into the Hulk.

My breathing increased as I puffed out my chest, scrunching my face into the deepest scowl I could muster as I roared and walked away from the scene of the crime.

Meanwhile, smelling (or rather, hearing) the first sign of gossip, the other classroom doors opened and teachers' heads popped out. Since their eyes had flickered from the glass shards to me as I was storming away, it didn't take long for them to put two and two together.

Also, I guess they were helped by the fact Miss Delane had screamed, "Stop, thief!"

Honestly, I'm not even joking. You know a true literature teacher when she starts seeing a glass-breaking rebel as Oliver Twist!

Meanwhile, the other teachers stirred, then as if hit by the same trigger, they all reacted.

"Stop!"

"Young man, listen to her!"

"Do you have no respect?"

"My lord, teenagers of nowadays!"

"Stop him!"

I almost scoffed at the fact that as all of them were shouting my name, none of them actually bothered to try to stop me themselves.

So there I was, relishing in their calls and the way I was ignoring them, practically bouncing on my feet (I probably would have been, if not for the fact I was meant to be pissed).

Nevertheless, I felt like a million, no, a billion, still too small, a zillion dollars!

That is, until-

"Mr. Smith! My office, now!"

That happened.

 .       .       .

So yeah, that's how I got into Mr. Prickleberry's office.

For someone who looked so much like Lex Luthor- due to his bald head, bulky frame, and tan skin- he sure didn't act like him! Well, that was probably because he was more lacking in the intelligence department.

After his statement, neither of us said a word. We just both stared at each other.

Eventually, he growled, "Well?"

"Well what, sir?"

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

I furrowed my brow. "No, why would I?"

"Because I was addressing you!"

"With a statement, not a question."

"You know that I meant for you to -you know what, nevermind! Just...tell me why you decided to break that glass."

I shrugged. "Because I was angry."

"Because you were- Mr. Smith, I don't think you appreciate the situation you are in! That glass was very expensive-"

"When bought in bulk maybe, but singularly it's not exactly going to run the school broke. I should know, after all, didn't my family provide the doors in this school when they refurbished it?"

Smirking, I ran my finger across the mahogany desk I was sitting in front of, making sure to do the same to the wheeled chair I sat on. "Also this beautiful desk, chair, and-" I nodded towards the bookcase and cupboard that sat at the side of the room, "-the other beautiful pieces of furniture in this room."

His mouth dropped agape for a few seconds before he spluttered, "Mr. Smith, h-how dare you try to threaten this school! Your parents were the ones who donated these, not you!"

The mention of my parents lit up a spark of annoyance in me, burning away any shred of mercy I might have had on him. "You're right, of course. However, between you and me, it's from my account that you've been getting the generous donation of 25,000 dollars during the annual fundraiser-"

His eyeballs bulged. "Wh-what-"

"-the 25,000 which I've noticed that you only seem to remember 5000 of when you're announcing to the school. This is just between the two of us for now, but that might just change if, for some reason, I have to pay for glass my family donated in the first place."

I kept quiet and let the news sink into him for a few seconds. During that period of time, his mouth repeatedly opened and shut like that of a fish out of water, then he stuttered, "A-are you threatening me, Mr. Smith?"

A chuckle left my lips as I leaned closer towards him. "Oh Mr. Prickleberry, since you're asking me that question I assume I'm not doing it right! Now, are you going to let me go back to class with no retribution, or are you going to sell your secret to the rest of the school for the price of one measly glass?"

At that point, his body was vibrating as he clenched his jaw so tightly that I wondered if he was trying to crush his own teeth.

Finally, between gritted teeth, he growled, "I see you've resumed with that infamous tongue of yours. Watch yourself. One of these days, your mouth is going to put you into serious trouble."

I met his glare evenly as I replied, "Good to hear, Mr. Prickleberry. Until then, I'm just going to keep on wagging this tongue, if that's alright with you. Not that your opinion matters, of course. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to class. Have a nice day, Mr. Prickleberry."

He didn't reply. Not even as I swiveled my chair around and got up. It was only when I got to the door that I heard him murmur, "Brickleberry."

I glanced at him. "What?"

"My name is Mr. Brickleberry!"

 .        .        .

"Miss Delane spent the majority of the lesson bitching about how ill-mannered you are! It was epic! I mean, smashing the window? Sick, dude!"

I didn't bother to correct Hans as I nodded at his praise. After all, believing I intentionally broke a window seemed to bring me more respect from my fellow inmates.

Again, don't ask me to interpret the way they think.

I was sitting at the field with Hans and Andy (on the stands, obviously not on the actual grass), listening to them recount the story of my little spat with Miss Delane. Of course, there were a few details tweaked here and there, but hey, who was I to stop them from exaggerating a bit?

"And the part where he told her to shut up? That was-damn!"

"Who told who to shut up? What are you guys talking about?"

Hans grinned at the guy walking towards us. "You, Mitch! We're talking about Angelo and Miss Delane's epic fight!"

Mitch's chocolate-brown eyes diverted to me, widening. "Really? Damn, I wish I could have been there! Sadly, the stories of literature don't call to me as much as the perils of physics do."

Mitch is probably the only person I knew then who actually enjoyed studying. Although I read ahead so I didn't have to pay attention in class, it wasn't something I found pleasure in doing. Mitch did, which is the reason why he had always been at the top, or near the top, of every class he took.

However, that had not been the only shocking thing about Mitch. Wanna hear the other one?

Are you ready for it?

Here it comes...

3...

2...

1...

Mitch was a jock!

It's true, he really had been! Nobody really understood how he had the time to read so much, what with football practices and whatnot, but somehow he did. Combine those with the fact that his ginger hair, muscled body, and large grin made him desirable to girls, and you had one of the most popular bachelors in my school.

He grinned. "So, what really-"

"You arse!"

I winced as the high-pitched scream pierced the atmosphere. "I sure pity the fool she's going to me- what's wrong?"

Wide-eyed, Andy gestured in the direction of the bottom of the stands. "Dude, look!"

"What on earth are you talking-"

And then I saw her. The mistress of the savages. Queen of the wildlings. She who shall not be bound.

The terror, Aimee Jacques.

. . .

Her waist-length dark brown hair flew back in the wind as she prowled towards me. Her dark eyes were shards of ice as they observed me,  figuring out the quickest way to catch her prey if he tried to run.

However, I had no intention of running. After all, there's no reason for a predator to run from another predator, right?

Forcing down my momentary surprise, I drawled, "Fellas, please stop the female that's trying to approach me right now."

Andy scratched the back of his neck and gave a sheepish grin. "Hehe, no can do, dude!"

"Really?" I shot him a disbelieving look before turning to Hans. "What about you?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm scared that if I do it I might end up forever in the friend zone."

"You've dated her before! Both of you!"

"Yeah, but it was only for a short period of time before she broke up with us! We didn't get to do much, not to mention sleep with her!"

I furrowed my brow. "You haven't? I thought the majority of the guys in the school have."

He shook his head. "Nope. Apparently, there's only one guy in this school that she's slept with and that's Dylan."

That surprised me. Though I suppose it shouldn't have been, considering the rate at which rumors spread in the school.

I sighed. "Very well then. Mitch-"

I didn't bother to finish my sentence once I saw the lovestruck, puppy dog look on his face.

So, thanks to my broken line of defense, she managed to get to me.

However, before she said anything, she batted her long eyelashes at the other guys. "Hello, boys."

As if taking a leaf out of Mitch's book, a lovestruck expression flew onto Andy and Han's faces.

Andy stuttered, "H-Hi!"

Hans winked. "What's up, babe?'

Mitch replied, "Uhh..."

I smirked at her. "Hello, goodbye!"

In a flash, her attention was stripped off from the others and pinned onto me. Her olive skin tone seemed to darken as she hissed, "It's your literature grade you're saying goodbye to, not me!'

"Actually I'm referring to the latter rather than the former, but the former can go as well if I have to do that stupid play in order to keep it."

She crossed her slender arms. "You do realize it's worth half of your grade?"

I rose an eyebrow at her. "Really? I thought it was everything!"

"And you don't care?"

"I think that was clearly implied by my last statement."

"You-" She groaned. "Look, I don't even care about your grades, you can fail if you want."

"Oh? Then considering we're on the same page...why are you here?"

She huffed. "Because Miss Delane had this terrible idea to make Romeo and Juliet's grades depend on each other."

I shrugged. "Sucks to be Juliet I guess, but that still doesn't explain what you're doing here."

Her eyes widened. "Sucks to be-" A low animalistic sound ripped out from her throat, building up to a scream which was released within seconds. "Y-you nincompoop, I'm Juliet!"

Just like that, the world froze.

Everything stopped. The wind stopped blowing the grass, the birds stopped tweeting, people stop chatting. Everything froze, except from my mind and the one word ricocheting throughout it:

What?

Too soon, the world started up again, so I was greeted by the sight of her glaring face.

I stuttered, "W-what? She made you Juliet?"

"Yes!"

"For real?"

"Yes!"

"Are you sure she said, Aimee? Maybe she meant Sadie."

"Considering the fact that there's no Sadie in our class yes, I'm pretty sure! Why are you asking me all these stupid questions?"

Looking down at my hand, I slowly mumbled, "Sorry, I just can't believe this."

I could feel her eyes on me as she observed me for a few seconds before sighing. "I don't blame you. I mean, I wouldn't believe it either if I got someone so beautiful, talented and amazing to play my love interest!"

Looking up at her, I scoffed. "I should be so lucky. Instead, I'm stuck with you!"

"What?"

"You heard me! You really should have let me finish, because what I meant to say was that I can't believe Miss Delane would go so far to ensure that I don't do this play!"

Her mouth dropped open as the guys around us sniggered. It didn't remain in that state for long though before she began grinding her teeth together. Due to the years I had spent living with a crazy female (a.k.a. Annie), I was completely prepared for what was coming next.

"You arse!"

She attempted to follow those words with a stomp aimed at one of my feet, but I quickly grabbed her leg and held it in place.

Looking down at her tiny foot, I smirked. "You're not too bright, are y-"

Slap!

My jaw dropped in complete and utter synchronization with the jaws of the other guys-not just those of Hans, Andy, and Mitch, but also those of the other guys who had crowded nearby in order to watch Aimee and me.

Automatically, my hand flew to my burning cheek. "Y-you just slapped me."

Her strawberry-red lips curled up into a sickeningly sweet smile. "That's how we roll in our relationship, Romeo darling! You make insulting, senseless comments and I slap a smidgen of sense back into your head!"

I growled, "We have no sort of relationship! Also, don't call me that-"

"What's that, Romeo? We should meet here same time tomorrow with our scripts? I should hunt you down and murder you if you don't? With pleasure, sweetie! I'll count the seconds until our meeting!"

For some seconds my brain refused to connect with my mouth, overcome by the ludicrousness of what had transpired. Alas, when my brain finally did connect she had already gone.

Slowly, one of the newcomers, Seth, asked, "Uh...why is one of the hottest girls in our school forcefully calling Angelo her romantic partner?"

Before anyone else had the chance to speak, I snarled,  "Join Miss Delane on her accursed journey to the land of blah-blah-blah and you'll know!"