Chapter 4

"Are you dating Nic?" Her question caught me off guard and dropping the glasses on the desk.

Staring back at her, shaking my head, I said, "Nooo we are just friends" trying to fix my glasses. Seeing that they were badly damaged, I fixed my bare gaze and focused on the board blurry words while squinting my hardest. Hesitating, I finally raised my hand, and asked if I could sit closer.

"I can't see the board from here. Can I sit in the front?" Suddenly all eyes were on me.

"Ms. Lee, are you going to allow me to teach today. First, you come in late. Secondly, interrupt the class with absurd questions. Now, you can't see the board. So get a pair of glasses, that is not my problem. Let us resume today's lesson." The Oldman was the worst teacher I've encountered. Well, you messed with the wrong student. I raised my hand again speaking out without being called on.

"Mister, how can I learn if I can't see? And I do own glasses however, this morning a very rude person knocked me down resulting in them getting scratched." This seemed to grab the rude boy's attention because he looked straight at me.

"Fine. Carvell and Lee switch seats." I collected my stuff and a pretty blond girl complained of the switch.

"This is not fair. Why do I have to move?" She whined while picking up her designer bag.

Upon reaching the front seat, she purposely bumped into me. I saw it coming so I held a strong stance. Bitch. I murmur under my breath. I sat on the middle row first seat, next to a girl with long dark brown locks. Turning to me, she checked me up and down like an item at the mall. This girl had a beautiful face, oval shaped and thin nose with deep emerald eyes and long lashes that accentuate her white pearl skin. I was mesmerized by her elegance from the way she sat back straight, feet planted to the way she confidently answered. She tugged some of her long hair behind the ear, and crossing her legs turned to me.

"Can I help you?" Her voice was colder than I expected and suddenly cold sweat crept around my face.

The entire time she was aware that I was staring at her. Pretending like I didn't hear her, I busied myself looking around the room, my eyes landing on Nic who sat next to Geralt. Geralt was partially facing the window looking outside, his natural wavy hair fell down covering half of his face, in that I couldn't tell what he was staring so intensely. Directly in front of them, sat the prick who knocked me down and unlike Geralt - he was diligently paying attention and taking notes. Rye's black hair was neatly parted and combed to the side, he jerked his head up causing some strand to fall and quickly ran his hand over it. Rye had straight thick brows and long lashes when suddenly, his brows furrowed and clenched his sharp jaw. He turned his burning glare meeting my eyes and for the second time today, I got caught checking out someone. Our desks are about a foot away from each other, and this time I got a full glance of his handsome face. I felt my face flustered and eyes widen, then, I quickly turned away looking down on my book. I still feel those cool grey eyes on me. I thought this class was never going to end when I heard the bell finally dismissed us. Rapidly I gather my stuff determined to run for the door.

"Ms. Lee, please see me after class" Fuck. I sank back into my seat waiting for everyone to exit and dreading this conversation with the teacher.

"Ms.Lee, today you sure put on a show for the class. During the short time you've attended class, I barely heard a word out of you, however, this morning you behave as a different person. Mind explaining yourself." arms crossed he demanded.

"I'm sorry for all the commotion I caused this morning. Recently I've experienced temporary amnesia. I have a doctor's note to prove it." I handed him a piece of paper and without further questioning he dismissed me.

The rest of the day was going normal until lunch time. I was already scared of bringing anymore attention by seating with the wrong crowd, so when I received a text from Camila to come sit with her during lunch, I gratefully accepted. My stomach growled loudly, only focusing on getting food. I followed the delicious smell of meat and fries finally reaching the cafeteria. As soon as I walked in, I got a lot of stares and whispers across the room, I heard someone say something about my hair laughing while others talked about when I fell on my ass this morning. Ignoring their hurtful words, I started heading over to the food station when Camila caught my arm dragging me to her table.

"Oh my god Jaye. Everyone's talking about you. Is it true that you and Rye argued and since when you're dating Nic?!" she was jumping up and down like a puppy. My stomach growled loudly again and without answering her questions, I stood up to fetch some food. What is wrong with people making up those false rumors. Camila followed behind, I grabbed a cheese burger and fries while Camila got a salad with no dressing.

"Don’t believe those rumors. Nic just helped me find the classroom because I can't remember and I accidentally bumped into that Rye jerk." I took a big bite from my burger ignoring how sloppy I looked.

"Boo you're not fun. You're the talk of the school, people think you're the new girl who caught the heart of the infamous golden boy in school." She exclaimed while munching on her leaves. We chatted some more about my apparent fame, well Camila did most of the talking while I devoured my food. I felt someone tap my shoulder lightly and in front of me stood three pretty girls. The brunette girl from the first period with two other girls that I didn't recognize came to our table.

"Hi, we have class together. I'm Carlotta Gomez. You used to sit next to me." Spoke Carlotta.

"Hi. Yeah I remember, I'm Jaye. Nice to meet you guys" I said waving at them hoping they would leave soon. But no, instead Carlotta sat down next to me and the other two puppets followed.

"Gosh you're so cute with your bow and yellow backpack. I must say, it's bizarre for a 17 year old to umm dress like you." She cleared her throat and I knew she wanted to say that I looked ridiculous and childish.

"My mom styles my hair and I happen to love it. Oh, this bag is great because it is so comfortable compared to those small purses you guys carry." Looking at her with a straight face I told her off. An awkward silence filled the table until Carlotta spoke first.

"Anyways, we wanted to invite you to sit at our table. What'd you say?" Carlotta said, forcing a smile.

"Yes" said Camila

"No," I said at the same time.

"C'mon Jaye, let's sit with them for today" She whined like a baby. I gave her one of those telepathy looks that friends share in uncomfortable situations. Those girls are pure drama, it's best to keep our distance. To which Camila pouted and made puppy eyes.

"Fine. Just for today." I finally caved and all of us made our way to their table. The girls converse about the latest celebrities gossip and trends while I busied myself eating my food. I refrained from joining in their conversation because I wanted to avoid any further gossip from these girls, I really wanted to focus on learning.

"So Jaye, are you and Nic close?" I nearly choked on my food. I thought this rumor was going to be forgotten by the afternoon.

"Nope. I just met the dude." I said annoyed. From the corner of my eye I saw the beautiful girl who sat next to me chatting with some girls and to the next table were Nic and Geralt with some friends. The table beside them, sat Rye and one guy with books spread out.

"Oh. Okay. I thought you were since you guys walked in arms linked." This time it was Camila who almost choked.

"You, arms linked with Nic and didn't tell me about it" Camila exclaimed as she gulped down water. I rolled my eyes at the attention these girls were giving to this morning.

"My bad. I forgot about that minor detail. He was guiding me to find the classroom. Y'all better stay away from that boy is touchy." I pointed my index finger at them.

"That's not a minor detail Jaye, no wonder people think you guys are dating." She whispered the last word.

"WHAT. Are people here so invested in baseless gossip." I was annoyed at myself for letting that happen, I must keep my distance from him. I peaked to Nic's table and accidentally made eye contact with him. He smiled and waved at me, I returned a small smile. I had to stop being friends with him if I wanted to survive this place. I'll ignore him and eventually he will stop being friendly with me, yep that's a plan.

"that's a relief, you're not dating Nic which means our girl Tiff right here still has a chance with him." She pointed to the dark haired slim girl sitting beside Camila who blushed at the mention of Nic. I felt horrible thinking how she sat there quietly believing those rumors.

"And since Rebecca hasn't dated either Geralt or Rye, the two most popular and good looking boys in school - then that leaves Geralt for Sasha and my dear Rye with me". Wow she really had everything planned out.

"Do you three plan to date the most eligible bachelors in school? That won't happen if Rebecca decides to otherwise, so, if I were you, I will not keep my hopes up" Camila told them off. I figured I had enough of hearing their bullshit, so I decided to leave.

"Okayyy. Good luck with that girls. I have to go." Without letting them respond I exited the cafeteria. I took out my planner and headed to my next class ahead of time.

"wait up Jaye. Are you upset or something?" Camila jogged towards me short of breath.

"I don't like those girls that's all. They spread rumors which then turn to gossip. I have no interest in being involved in pointless drama." I said honestly.

"Look, you can hang out with them if you like, I won't have a problem with that." I finished adding a small smile.

"No. You're right, those girls spread all kinds of lies all the time. I'll walk you to your next class."

We walked slowly together comparing our classes and catching up on our favorite subjects. Since I was placed in a different class from Camila, I barely got to see her only during lunch hour. After a moment of hesitation, I told her what actually happened this morning from the bumping incident with Rye to getting scolded by the teacher.

"wow what a day you had!" She tried hiding her excitement from me. In the short time, I've become used to Camila's noisy character but unlike those girls, I felt inside of me that she means no harm.Shrugging I gave her a defeated look of my recap.

"Class is about to start. See you later Cam" waving goodbye, I made my way to my desk finding it occupied by nonetheless, Mr. Jerkface Rye. Rebecca and him were sharing a math book going over a problem together and scribbling unfamiliar numbers. Still unaware of my presence, I walked in front of them to catch Rye's attention to move from my seat.

"Do you know the answer to this question?" Rye asked Rebecca and she carefully went over the problem with him.

"... and you forgot to minus right here and that's how you get the answer" Rebecca explained what looked like math questions to Rye. Not only is Rebecca stunning, but also smart which made her the ideal combination of beauty and brain. These two looked like couple goals cutout from Instagram doing cute stuff together while wearing matching outfits. I rolled my eyes thinking back of what Carlotta said about dating Rye as if she could ever compete with Rebecca. I coughed getting their attention and Rye started putting his book away. He got on his feet and this time I had to angle my neck to look up at him. Jesus, how is tall is this guy?

"Thank you Rebecca for clarifying that question" disregarding my presence he went to his seat. I don't know what people saw in him, yes he's attractive and built like a greek god but his attitude is trash. I sank into my seat going through my notes to cool me down, great he even left my seat warm I just hope he didn't fart in it. I giggled at that thought.

"What's so funny?" An angelic yet cold voice asked that could only belong to my seat mate.

"huh" I sent her a confused look hoping she would let it go.

"You laughed. I'm asking what's funny." She said coldly expecting an answer from me.

" I, I was just thinking of something funny. He left my seat warm. I hope he didn't fart in it." I let out another low giggled covering my mouth with one hand. I half expected her to at least smile instead I got scolded.

"You are very immature for a senior. This explains your Jojo Siwa hair bow and cartoon network book bag."

Ouch those words hurt more than Carlottas'. However, I liked her straight forwardness because all those things were true. We sat there in awkward silence for a moment until the teacher began teaching. I wanted the day to be over already, no, I wanted to disappear. Right now, I could do neither of those things just sit through this boring math lesson. Suddenly I felt my sight go blurry and my eyelid felt heavy, I couldn't fall asleep mid lesson I thought as I rubbed them to awake. I guess, I ate too much food during lunch which made me sleepy, cursing this insatiable appetite of mine. After some work, time did speed faster and at last I was free to go home! Well first day down, but it felt like a whole school year. I rushed out of the building waiting for mom to pick me up. I was about to dial her before I saw her chatting with a middle age woman with dark long straight hair and slim figure. The woman sported black slacks and heels making her already long legs look even longer and slimmer.

"Ah Jayelina. Say hi to Mrs. Harrison. She's one of your classmate's mothers and also our neighbor." Mom gave her best polite tone and I greeted the beautiful lady.

"Nice to meet you Jayelina. You're such a cute young lady. I believe you know my daughter, Rebecca." I shivered at the mention of that name.

"Yes, we're in the same class - mom I'm a bit tired and I have a ton of work to catch up."

"Of course, a girl with such a high GPA shouldn't be wasting her time. I hope we can soon catch up Giselle and feel free to come over Jayelina." She fake a smile and walked over to greet another parent.

Both mother and daughter were very alike from the way of walking to their similar faces. Except for Ms. Harrison's eyes were brown compared to Rebecca's emerald green.

"You said we're neighbors, I thought everyone in this school lived in a lavish condominium or mansion." I sense mom getting weary where the conversation was going, so she motioned for us to get in the car first.

"Well the Harrisons used to be very wealthy but ever since Mrs. Harrison quit acting to become a full time housewife and mother, a huge part of their income was reduced leaving her husband bank salary to sustain the entire family. This school is not cheap and they have two kids to pay tuition for."

Mom went on about Mrs. Harrison fame and wealth before she had children and that her wedding was even televised. No wonder Rebecca looked like a movie star just as her mother. We finally reached our apartment and I couldn't be happier to finally see my bed. Everything felt surreal ever since I woke up from that heart surgery. Today has been such a long day, I'm beyond exhausted. Before starting on my homework, I decided to rest my eyes for a bit.