5. It's a first

ELIZABETH

Aunt Rose never told me that her son was good looking. Never . Ever. I was supposed to meet Michael Carter at 8:45 AM near the lockers to give him the usual drill, where's what, who's with who, blah blah , you get it .Then I was supposed make him feel less nervous since he was the "most shy boy I'm ever gonna meet" according to Aunt Rose and as we share the first class i.e English together we're gonna walk to our class and get settled. All of this was supposed to happen in a duration of 15 min as the class starts at 9 but it never happened because Michael Carter never showed up at the lockers. I came to school extra early today for this and waited for him for a whole of 10 min. When I decided to give up and go to my class, David showed up.

David John Roosevelt is the only other friend I have in this school.( Yes he's related to the Roosevelts. )His family is in politics , law and business and needless to say he's shit loaded. For someone with such huge influence and power, David's really cool. He's the most popular guy in our school and the captain of the football team. He's friends with almost everyone in the school and he stays on top of his class which has nothing to do with his last name. He's really smart and he plays ball very very well. To add to that, he's good looking like the typical sort of good looking, with the tall athletic physique and ash blonde hair, know what I mean. So he goes through girls faster than I go through boys. Not that I have a record but I've been involved with a handful of boys and I'm not proud of it. I'm not ashamed of it as well. Its my life and even though I didn't know what I was doing with any of them, I don't believe in regrets. I live too much in my head to care about people's opinions and since I live too much in my head , having regrets makes me more mental than I actually am. My mental chatter was interrupted by David's voice

"Hey Taylor, waiting for someone!?" David's one of those guys who's always gonna address you with your last name. Yeah we all have one person like that.

" I'm supposed to meet this guy-

" Who Michael?" What the

" You know Michael? Michael Carter?"

" Yeah we went to the same school before they relocated to Washington after his dad passed away"

"Really? I mean, who isn't your friend David? Seriously?"

" I don't know, principal James?"

That earned him a punch in the arm .

" So you were waiting for your other half? " He says laughing

" What do you mean?"

" Come-on he's the C in T&C, Taylor & Carter, You are Taylor and he's your other-

" I get it" I said rolling my eyes

" You stood him up or what? The poor guy looked lost"

" No! He stood ME up, he was supposed to meet me here"

" Oh, that's a first I guess" It is a first, of course! I'm the one who's ditching people all the time not the other way around. Of course if you exclude my mom.

" It is" I said a bit irritated

" You guys met each other before?"

" No never, " it is a bit surprising now that I think about it. Our families are business partners and actually close friends. Yet, I never met him in my life

"That's probably why. Come-on we're gonna be late for the class" he said casually draping his arm around my shoulder. The thing with David is I never know if he's being friendly or if he's hitting on me. Things like these , simple things, draping his arm, ruffling my hair , sitting with me at lunch they just confuse me. This guy is giving me mixed signals. Not that I'm gonna be involved with him in any sexual way but I just want to know what his intentions are because I know the intentions of almost all the other boys in my school. They just want to get into my panties given my history or sort of . So one day I casually asked him if he was hitting on me, to which he replied

" Nah Taylor, I'm just messing with you because you're my favorite" he said ruffling my hair.

I rolled my eyes and murmured whatever . What else could I possibly say to that. But David has been a great friend to me all these years. He never dwelled deep into my personal life, never ever made me uncomfortable and besides the guy is super funny, so I always laugh when I'm around him. He's also incredibly perceptive, I have no idea how. So he senses my moods and acts accordingly. Like I said, he's the only other friend i have here. I entered my class and took my usual seat , the one at the back, the last chair in the middle row completely forgetting about Michael now that my mind was occupied with decoding David's intentions. I was well aware of the fact that it was Mr. Blair's class and he always makes me sit in the front. I hate sitting in the front and I hate the way he treats me like I'm some dumb shit who's only passing because of her last name. Okay maybe that latter part of it is true and maybe I was in fact actually failing in English, but I'm not dumb. I just don't invest my time and energy into most subjects. It's pointless to me. I'm never gonna use all the complicated math I'm learning right now in my life ever! And I know enough biology to make babies or the lack of. And English, well this one I didn't work on it because I got bored and felt lazy. So when Professor Blair walked into the class I didn't even bother looking up and started doodling at the margins of my notebook. But my head jerked up when I heard him say

"You must be the new kid in town, I'm Stephen Blair , your English professor , please step over here so that I can introduce you to the rest of the class" Oh shit, we share this class together. I totally forgot about that!

"Hello professor Blair, I'm Michael Carter"

"Everyone this is Michael , the new kid in town from Washington.Be nice and help him transition easily" he said patting on the new kid's back. Except the new kid was Michael, Michael Carter, the one I was supposed to meet at the lockers, Aunt Rose's son. When I looked at him I was not prepared for his looks at all. He was tall, much much more taller than Professor Blair, lean, with golden brown hair, jet black eyes against his pale skin which was currently flushed with I guess embarrassment? Nervousness? Not even a single freckle was on his face.He looked everywhere except at us, chewed on his bottom lip and scratched his jaw, his jaw that looked so sharp , it could cut something. And was that stubble on his face? How old is he 20? None of the guys in our school had good facial hair,like good facial hair not the late teen sort of facial hair. God he looked like that and Aunt Rose didn't bother to warn me beforehand. Jesus what would've happened if I did meet him at the lockers. I would've made a fool out of myself for sure. Geez. Good thing I didn't. But it seemed like Professor Blair did plan to make a fool out of me by yelling at me to sit in the front, about my assignment blah blah blah. Usually our banter didn't make me feel embarrassed but with Michael in the room I felt extra cranky and submitted the assignment that I've been carrying with me since Friday without any second thought. I never planned to submit the assignment. It had too much of myself in that, too many feelings I was not comfortable sharing with anyone let alone Professor Blair. That's the main reason I never had good grades in English to begin with. The assignments involved too many feelings. So I never submitted my original works instead I would always submit superficial half assed works to get away from expressing myself using words I've never uttered from my mouth. So when I produced my paper Professor Blair seemed shocked. He immediately shut his mouth , read the first few paragraphs.

" How did you- Did you write it yourself?"

Was he questioning my authenticity? The fuck? I tried to snatch the paper from his hands

" Not so easy miss, take your seat"

I mumbled enough profanities under my breath to ease myself of the tension that was rolling out of me. I was caught off the guard with first Michael's good looks and then the assignment. What a great way to begin the day and it only got worse .

After English I tried my best to remember what I've written in that absurd assignment, how much of myself I've put out there infront of Professor Blair but could not recollect anything. I just wrote what I felt in that moment which was mostly shite. I didn't write anything about my mom did I? She's been at home the entire week and I couldn't bring myself to talk to her. So I poured my feelings into the damn assignment which I did not plan to submit. I hope doesn't call me to his room later in the evening and talk about this . I also did not want to think about certain someone and miraculously failed. The mental image of him chewing his bottom lip, his flushed face, him scratching his jaw played over and over in my head and it didnot make my mind a better place. It only made it worse. He was Aunt Rose's son for christ's sake. I'm not gonna mess around with him. Funny how I thought he would be more of a brother figure to me since I always considered Aunt Rose more of a mother and less of an aunt. She was the mother I always wanted but never had. I will not jeopardize the only sane stable relationship I have in my life over a boy. Much less her son. I will not do that. I will steer clear of that boy. Even when he looks like young Leonardo di caprio, much taller and much much more handsome. Go figure ladies. I didn't realise I went through two other periods until it was time for lunch. Thank God I did not share any more classes with you know who otherwise I would've gone completely crazy by now. Isabel and I got our lunch and sat at our usual table.

" I'm so scared of that new guy, he has better grades than me! Than me! The reigning queen of this school since that past I don't know 10 years , ever since I remember! I having a feeling that I'm gonna be overthrown, soon. Excuse me ,are you even listening to me?"

"Of course hon"

"Then why in the world are you smiling like that"

Oh shit, I was smiling?

"Like what?" I tried putting on my best poker face. Funny because I don't have to try, I always have my poker face on, aka my infamous resting bitch face.

" I don't know, like you've eaten your favorite icecream, I've never seen you smile like that before and I can count the no of times I've seen you smile on my fingers. What's going on? Are you doing drugs??"

Geez I was smiling and Isabel thought something was wrong with me? What have I become.

" Christ no! You of all people know that I would never do drugs, ever!"

After the horrible way I was feeling after I've finished my goddamn assignment the first time in my life I felt the need to talk, to vent. So I crashed at Isabel's and gave her a little insight into my messed up life. She was very patient , listened to very thing I had to say , I even told her that I've not talked to my mom the entire week she was there simply because I didn't know what to say. She didn't say anything wrong because she didn't even say anything. She just listened and that was exactly what I wanted. For someone to listen to what I say ,for me to feel comfortable enough to talk to someone. I did not feel relieved after my talk with Isabel. I actually felt anxious afterward. Talking about things made them seem real and it changed nothing. If not it only solidified the facts. So I vowed to myself to never say anything out loud ever again.

" I'm sorry Liz , I'm just stressed about being dethroned"

" Come-on Isabel, I know the guy, I don't think that's gonna happen"

" What do you mean you know the guy"

" He's Aunt Rose's son , Michael Carter"

" Oh my god, he's the C in the T&C?! So he's also a millionaire!? Just how many entitled assholes is this place boarding?" she groaned.

Belly doesn't come from a place of money or power or influence like the rest of us in school, she comes from a place of education and discipline and hardwork. She's here because she's the principal's daughter and that to me is the highest power in this school.

Our banter was interrupted by a familiar voice,

" We're gonna sit with my favorites today since it's your first day and all of that"

"Michael meet my favorite friends Elizabeth and Isabel"

Not him again. I let out a deep sigh and belly looked like she was gonna stab him. We're gonna do this I guess, I mean I can't avoid him, he is Aunt Rose's son. I might as well make myself comfortable around him and draw a boundary you know, act like adults!? Here we go. I tried to analyze him like I do everytime I meet a new person .It involves me staring at that person with my resting bitch face. Shit, he's even more beautiful up close and I was wrong about him not having freckles.He had them, scattered on his nose , a few on his cheeks, tiny tiny freckles. His skin's turning pink again, like it did in the morning .So he IS shy, Aunt Rose was not kidding about this. I decided to go all out and apparently belly did too.

"So you're the guy that was supposed to meet me "

" So you're the guy I'm supposed to watch out for"

To the outsiders the scene might look like we're bullying the poor kid. With both belly and I having our game faces on, with him still standing and clutching onto his food tray. And speaking of his food tray, is he gonna eat all of that! But David knows better,

"Come-on guys leave him alone" he said plopping down on the chair in the way David usually does.

" Hi to you too" Michael murmured.

" Are you gonna eat all of that" belly vocalised my thoughts

"Umm, i just picked one of everything that was there.... Hm, I wasn't really paying attention "

" Yeah the guy's preoccupied, he even tuned me out"

"You know that's not true" Michael tried to defend himself but trust me when I say , David's instincts about people are spot on. He knows people. Like knows them . He can read them like a book, we're all transparent when it comes to him. So he knows when someone is paying attention to his words or not in this case and you can never win an argument with David John Roosevelt, you might as well forfeit in the beginning or best, don't start one at all.

" You don't wanna do that" belly once again spoke my mind

" Do what?" He's got a lot of learning to do

" Get into an argument with David and much less lie" I spoke while sipping on my milkshake.

" David can spot lies even before you tell them, don't underestimate the guy, he has evil powers " I continued.

" Perceptive aren't you Taylor" David smiled at me appreciatively. See, David never smiles at anyoneee like that. This guy IS giving me mixed signals

" Okay I want the competition between us to be fair and square, tell me all about your grades-

"Ughhhh, can you please shut your mouth belly, we're trying to eat here"

As I said earlier,David is one of those guys who can do everything.All the good genes in his family cesspooled and manifested in David.

" You shut your mouth David, you can party all the night and still ace the exam next morning, some of us are not like that, we have actual revision to do the night before"

Did she use the word revision, hell I study everything for the first time the night before the exam. I focussed on Michael with all the banter going on. He looks very very nervous. He was not eating anything and he kept his eyes down the whole time.

" You gonna eat anything from that pile of food you stacked?" My question seemed to catch him off guard.

" I, umm, " is he having trouble figuring out which one is good? Our cafeteria is the best to be honest. We have full course meals from different cuisines. I think it's not a surprise with all the money we are paying.

" The burger's great " I tried to help him choose

" Okay" he said and reached out for the burger. He was well aware of the fact that I was staring at him and I think that only made him more nervous I guess. I'm gonna leave the poor guy alone. But the more I looked at him, the more I wanted to. This guy was beautiful. Good Lord. It's gonna take all of my self control to keep my eyes and hands to myself. What do I do now?

*****

Hey guys!! How is everyone? This is my first story and I'm really nervous about it. Do let me know if you like the story and if you have any suggestions for me! This story is really close to my heart and trust me when I say it only gets better!! Until next time

- SA