Chapter Three

Instead of going to the cafeteria for lunch, I went straight to the office. The last thing I wanted to do was be late to detention and get into even more trouble than I already was. Who else gets detention on their first day of school? How crowded would it be?

Ms. Patterson was scribbling down notes from a phone call as I waited patiently in front of her desk. Sports sign-up forms and tardy slips cluttered her desk, along with a calendar full of scheduled time slots. She nodded while tossing me a quick smile.

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” she mouthed and I smiled in return. All the office people knew me well, but it wasn’t for detention purposes. The only time I normally get called to the office is for awards, never any disciplinary issues.

I decided to take a seat next to the windows when Sean blew through the doors of the office. He didn’t even bat an eye as he walked right past Ms. Patterson and down the hall behind the desk area. I remembered what he said earlier — at least what I thought he said earlier — “guess I’ll see you in detention, then.” If I did hear him right, then he must be on his way to detention as well.

While Ms. Patterson continued to chat with an agitated parent, I wondered behind the desk to follow Sean. Ms. Patterson gave me a sideways glance, but she couldn’t tear her focus away for very long.

I never knew the office went back so far. The hallway continued for quite sometime before Sean turned left. I stayed far enough away that he wouldn’t notice me following him, but close enough to not lose him.

I came to the room that Sean turned into and stopped in my tracks. The room was empty. The lights were all off, the chairs were stacked, and most importantly, there was no sign of Sean anywhere. My eyes glanced up and down the hallway again, making sure I didn’t miscalculate what room he may have gone in, but I was right. This was the room.

Curiosity got the better of me as I squeezed the handle and pushed the door slowly. It creaked open, to my dismay, and I cringed at every little noise it made. I felt like I was going to get into more trouble from snooping than what I was already in with my phone. Detention again tomorrow, maybe? What was overcoming me?

The room was an average classroom; whiteboard at the front, projector next to a computerless desk. It was obvious that this room wasn’t of any use at the moment.

“You’re following me,” Sean’s voice erupted through the silent room, causing me to jump.

“What is wrong with you!” I screamed, grasping at my heart, and breathing heavily. “Where did you even come from anyway?”

“Why are you following me?” he asked again, ignoring my every response. His honey eyes from earlier were a darker, chestnut brown now. They were more…intense. Intimidating.

“I—“ I said, my words caught in my mouth. What was I going to say? I was following him, but not for any particular reason other than to find out where detention was. Why was it that I felt like I had walked in on something I wasn’t supposed to?

He waited, studying my eyes as they searched desperately for an answer to give him. He stayed cool and collected, but the directness of his tone made me anxious.

“I—I was trying to find the detention room,” I breathed. Was I holding my breath?

Sean looked me up and down skeptically but then allowed his shoulders to relax. The smallest smirk spread across his features, making his eyes softer once again.

“You’ve never been in detention before, have you?” he asked. My fingers fidgeted as I shook my head.

“Figures,” he chuckled. “Well, this isn’t the place, but I’m heading there too. You can come with me.”

“No, it’s okay,” I insisted, a sudden rush of embarrassment coming over me, and maybe a little bit of pride.

“We’re going to the same place, you might as well just tag along—“

“It’s okay, really,” I said, backing my way out into the hallway again. “I think I can figure it out.” Without waiting for another word, I exited the abandoned classroom and went speed walking straight towards the office doors. Ms. Patterson, who was now well off the phone, called my name behind me, but I didn’t turn around.

I didn’t need Sean to show me where the detention room was. Our school was not that big. I can find it myself. Honestly, I’ve gone here my entire life. I should be able to figure out where they hold detention at.

I wandered around the halls for about ten minutes before finally coming across the library, where detention was being held. Just my stubborn luck, I showed up five minutes late.

“Ms. Perez, what are you doing here?” Ms. Cameron rose an eyebrow as I entered the library. I gave her a crooked smile and kept my eyes low as I approached her desk. I didn’t even want to know who all was in this room. And I especially didn’t want to see Sean. My cheeks flushed at the thought of him ridiculing me for denying him help earlier.

“Hi, Ms. Cameron. I’m supposed to be here for detention.” I said in a hushed tone.

The shock on Ms. Cameron’s face was inevitable, but she didn’t question me as she looked through a large list. Her expression softened once she found my name.

“Mr. Keizer,” she muttered. I swear she even rolled her eyes.

“Alright, Brooke, you may take a seat. This is a quiet, working environment so please, no talking unless you have a question for me.” Ms. Cameron’s eyes looked sympathetic as she sent me on my way. I nodded and turned around to face the rest of the detention room.

If I thought my cheeks were hot before, they’re probably on fire at this point. The room, to my mortification, was almost empty. The only people here were me, Sean, and some gangly, art kid who appeared to be much younger than us.

I took a seat at the front of the classroom, well away from the other two, and as close to Ms. Cameron as I could be without sitting at her desk. I heard a chuckle from behind me, but I refused to turn around.

The room was so quiet I didn’t even want to open my lunch. If I had to chew something, everyone would probably hear my every bite, so I decided against crackers or carrots and stuck to my yogurt.

As the minutes passed by, I got straight to work, completing my homework assignment for Physics and even doing some research for my upcoming English essay. Honestly, this detention thing wasn’t half bad. I always felt more motivated when I could eat and the stillness of the room made me want to do nothing but work.

There were only fifteen minutes left of lunch when one of the secretaries from the office came into the library and hustled to Ms. Cameron’s side, whispering something to her that I could not decipher. Ms. Cameron’s eyes grew big for a moment and then collected herself once again.

She cleared her throat and rose to her feet.

“Everyone, I will be back momentarily. There is something that needs my assistance, but the rules remain the same. Keep this a quiet, working environment please,” and with that, she followed the secretaries lead and flew out the door.

When Ms. Cameron left, I felt the atmosphere shift. Suddenly, my defenses were up and I couldn’t focus on my work. What is it about a teacher leaving that instantly relieves all forms of rules?

Sean was next to me in a matter of minutes, his presence making my heart jump.

I didn’t want to look at him. If I didn’t acknowledge him, maybe he would go away. I couldn’t even process why he was next to me in the first place, but after the embarrassment of accidentally following him earlier, I didn’t want to know what he had to say. Probably something else to make me embarrassed.

“J.D.’s going away party, right?” he asked after a long moment of staring at me. His voice pulled me out of my avoidance, startling me into meeting his eyes. His expression was soft and curious, not as condescending as I was expecting.

“Huh?”

“That’s where we’ve met.” He said with a smile. Was this man deaf? Or maybe he just suffered from a severe case of stupid.

“No,” I scoffed. “I told you, I don’t party.” I don’t easily get offended, but the fact that he is insistent on us meeting at a party has me second-guessing every other person’s opinion of me at this school. Do people who not know me think I’m a partier? And most importantly, if people do see me that way, is that a one-way ticket to being labeled as “easy”?

“That’s right, that’s right. I forgot,” Sean nodded his head, looking off into the distance, deep in thought. “You told me that this morning. I suppose our conversation was a bit of a blur. I was too focused on the fact that you blatantly called me a douche.”

I froze. My cheeks warmed.

There was silence between the two of us. Sean was awaiting a response and to be frank, I didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t wrong, but there was a part of me that was hoping he forgot that little statement. He was going to wonder where the accusation came from and I don’t want to rat Amy out. This is between the two of them. I can’t get involved.

“We’re not supposed to be talking,” I said, returning to my schoolwork and once again trying to ignore him. I decided the best route was to avoid it.

“If it wasn’t a party, then where have I met you before?” he wondered aloud, ignoring my statement. “You look so familiar, aside from school. I’ve met you somewhere specific, I know that.”

My curiosity peaked. I thought he assumed he knew me because of my snarky remark about talking to multiple girls. I didn’t realize that he genuinely thought he has met somewhere other than at school.

“Yes, I remember talking to you before. I just can’t put my finger on it. What do you do outside of school?” He asked, but right as I was about to respond, Ms. Cameron walked into the library. Sean gracefully shifted away from me and went back to his seat. Ms. Cameron gave him a stern look but didn’t bother to say anything.

“Alright, detention is dismissed,” she said and then turned around abruptly to go back to whatever it was that she got pulled out for.

I fumbled with my stuff and shoved it into my backpack as quickly as possible, but of course, it didn’t matter. Sean was, once again, right by my side in a matter of seconds.

I swung my backpack over my shoulder and darted for the door, but Sean was at my heels.

“You know, don’t you,” he questioned as I approached my locker.

“What?”

“You know what I’m talking about, you just won’t tell me.” His eyes glistened a warm chestnut as he continued to pry. My cheeks heated up again.

In the distance, I saw Amy approaching. My stomach felt as a million different assumptions filled my head. What was Amy going to think when she saw Sean and I talk? She knows I hate him. She knows who he is. I would never want her to think….

“You need to go,” I said, staring blankly past him at my rapidly-approaching best friend. “Now.”

“What? Why?” He turned around, bewildered by my sudden aggression. I slammed my locker door shut, panic setting in, and began to walk down the hallway in the opposite direction of everything; Amy, my next class, and Sean.

“What’s your next class?” Sean asked, once again catching up to my disappearance.

“You really don’t take a hint, do you?” a laugh escaped my mouth.

“No, not really,” he smirked. “What’s your next class?”

Once we passed the corner and officially fell out of Amy’s upcoming vision, I slowed and turned back to look at him. Several people around us looked at us with questioning glances and a few girls pouted. This might be becoming a bigger issue than I thought.

“Look, Sean, forget it. Okay? So what if we met each other before? It doesn’t matter now.”

“Maybe to you,” he scoffed. “It matters to me.”

“Not to be rude, but that’s low on my priority list right now,” I cringed at my own words, so I wasn’t surprised when Sean took a step back.

“For not meaning to be rude, that was pretty rude. Where did this hostility come from?” At that moment, the miserable, jerk of a boy could have even fooled me. He kept complete eye contact with me as he asked this and appeared to be…genuine. Could someone be so completely oblivious to the disgusting way they treat females? Did they expect no one to retaliate?

Why was I even getting roped into this? This was Amy’s problem and now it’s felt like I’ve spent over half the day with this boy whom I want nothing to do with. This all started with a mistake. This all started with me trying to look out for my best friend. Maybe I just need to take this back to the root of the problem.

“I don’t want Amy getting hurt. That’s my only issue.” I shrugged. Simple, direct, and effective. Hopefully.

“Amy?” Sean questioned. A ball of fury built up in my stomach at his dubious response before he nodded his head.

“Amy, right! She’s cute.” Sean smiled, reminiscing on something, then his eyebrows raised again and confusion took over his expression. “Wait, what does this have to do with Amy?”

“I’m her best friend, idiot. I’m looking out for her.” For the first time through our conversation, my lips curled into the smallest smile. Sean didn’t seem like too bad of a guy. Maybe a little dense, but maybe his manipulation of girls was more of an unconscious thing than conscious. Maybe, just maybe, he needs someone to set the record straight with him.

The bell rang, interrupting our conversation and tearing my attention from Sean back to Amy.

“Shoot, I’ve already screwed up enough today. I can’t be late,” I said, scurrying back the way I just came from. I was going to hear it from Amy. We always meet up to walk to sociology together, but today was different. I’m sure I was going to get interrogated about detention and why I didn’t meet up with her before class.

I vaguely heard Sean holler something after me, but I was too far away and too busy thinking about my impending doom to pay attention. Amy was going to want answers. I had to be ready to give them to her.