Unlucky Me
Stepping into the room, Rodney held Nathan by the shoulder, and asked if he had made the call.
"What's taking long dude. Have you called her back"?.
"Not yet, this room is already occupied, I'm about to leave".
Lesley and Julia were already using that chance to escape out of the room, when Rodney turned to their direction. The light of the room was dim, so he couldn't see their faces clearly.
"Why are you trying to sneak out like a thief? You could just excuse yourself and walk out".
'He hasn't changed. He's still a rude jerk' Lesley thought.
"We didn't want to disturb your conversation" Julia responded.
She then faced Nathan.
"Don't worry, we're gonna vacate this room for you, so you can stay".
"Are you sure"? He asked.
"Yes, we are already done with what we came to do, so it's best to let you take it".
"Thank you"..
Rodney took a glance at Lesley who immediately turned her face to a corner. He looked at her side profile and thought she looked familiar.
"Sorry, but have we met before"? He asked .
"I don't think so" She said with her face still at a corner.
"Is that so? You look familiar though".
"You're probably mistaking me for another person".
"Maybe".
"We'll get going now" Julia interrupted.
She grabbed Lesley by the hand and they both bolted out of the party.
They stood at the entrance of the house panting, due to the speed they ran.
"That was a close call" Julia said.
"Thank God the lights of the room was dim, if not he would have recognized me".
"I know right. Like out of all the rooms available in that house, why did Nathan have to pick that particular one"?.
"It seems like luck is not on side. They must really want me and him to collide again".
"Let's go home. Today was tiring" Julia said while halting a taxi in which they boarded.
Getting to school on Monday, Lesley arrived before Julia. She went to her locker to pick some of her books and overhead some girls talking about George's birthday party.
"Did you attend George's birthday party"?. The first girl asked.
"No I didn't, I wasn't invited". The second girl responded.
"Me neither. I heard it was lit".
"Of course it would be lit. We're talking about George's here. He never disappoints".
"I'm gonna make sure I get invited next year".
"That's if he's still gonna be here".
"Why do you say so"?.
"I heard he's gonna transfer to another school in Asia. What's the name of the country again...... Ummmm.... Japan, yes Japan. He's gonna transfer there. It's just a rumor so I don't know how authentic the information is".
"I hope it's some baseless rumor, I don't want him to go".
"Nobody does, you know he's a senior that almost everybody likes".
"Yeah".
Lesley shut her locker door and looked at the two girls walking away.
She stepped into her classroom and saw Julia already seated. She immediately sat down too.
"The whole school is literally talking about George's birthday party". She told Julia.
"Yeah it always happen. It's nothing new. He's also quite popular and there's nobody that doesn't want to attend the popular kids party".
"It's a good thing you're acquainted to him. I got a free pass to his party".
"I guess so".
"I overheard two girls at the hallway saying how they aren't sure that George might be in the school next year, based on what they heard".
She was about to go more into details when the same girls came to meet them interrupting them.
"I heard you guys attended George's party" The second girl asked.
She was a little bit chubby with cute cheeks. She had very bright reddish hair.
"Yes we did".
"We're really envious of you guys, considering how only top notch students were able to attend".
"Well, he's someone I know" Julia responded
"Wow, that's awesome, you guys are lucky, he doesn't really pay that much attention to us".
"Why would he"? Julia muttered.
They eventually left.
"I guess his birthday party is quite a big deal. Where you invited every year"?. Lesley asked.
"Yes i was".
"Oh wow, you guys must be close for you to be invited Everytime".
"You could say that".
"Everytime you were invited, did you attend"?.
"Not always, I only attended his birthday party twice, this will be the third time".
"Why"?.
"Most of the times I attend, I always feel like I do not fit it, and at that time I had no close friends so instead of enjoying myself I usually just spend the rest of the time sitting in a corner, which is pathetic".
"That's sad". said Lesley pouting her lips.
"That's why when I got invited again, I made it a goal to bring you along with me and this time I really enjoyed it, well apart from the time we encountered Rodney".
"C'mon, don't spoil the mood by bringing up his name. But I'm really glad I got to accompany you". She said hugging Julia.
"But how did you get to know George"?.
"Through my mom. His mom is acquainted with my mom, so we got to know each other".
"That explains why he told you to send his greetings to your mom".
"The funny thing is that we weren't friends at first. I thought he was rude, actually he is, but he isn't that way with me. On a day when my mom needed someone to look after me, he volunteered. That day was really fun, he's actually an interesting person".
"Seems like you guys go a long way back".
"Yes, kinda".
"Ok, we need to discuss what we are gonna do if we come across Rodney, which I believe we will. Well, it's more like what you will do".
"I'm not gonna avoid him again. It's tiring. I shouldn't be avoiding him like this when I did nothing wrong in the first place".
"We shouldn't forget that he can be a bully sometimes".
"I don't care, whatever comes I'll face it. I've been acting like a criminal this past few days in the name of avoiding him and It's exhausting".
"Whatever, when the time comes we'll know what to do".
"Look" said Julia extending her phone towards Lesley, "I posted a picture of us together at the birthday party yesterday and I got lots of likes and comments".
"Wow, 9,000 likes and 500 comments, are we that pretty"?.
"Of course we are especially you. Look, most of the comments are praising your beauty".
"Eh, I don't think so".
"I'm serious, let me read some of the comments out for you " Wow, who's the pretty girl at the left"? "The girl with the black hair is so dashing" "Can I get her number, she's totally my type" "I wish I could be pretty like her" "The girl at left is extremely gorgeous, what's her skincare"?.
"That's just a few, there's a saying that goes like we don't realize how pretty or attractive we are until someone tells us".
"I'm sure there are comments complimenting you too".
"Of course, there are but most is all directed to you, so girl have some confidence in your beauty".
"I don't know, it just feels weird receiving those compliments".
"You were about to tell me something about George before".
"Yes, but I want to pee first" Lesley told Julia standing up...
"All of a sudden"?.
"Yea, all of a sudden".
"Be quick about it, our class starts soon".
Dashing to the restroom, she went to ease herself.
Washing her hands at the tap and drying it off, she came about to go back to class when Mr Baker called.
"Lesley, over here".
"Good morning Sir, you called me".
"You're going to class right"?.
"Yes I am".
"Could you deliver some of this books to some class on my behalf"?.
"Sure totally".
"I'm going to write the classes you will give on a piece of paper so you don't forget".
He tore a piece of paper and scribbled some things for about five minutes before handing it to Lesley.
On the paper was written, Class 3, 5, 8, 13, 14, 18 and which books she would hand over to each class.
"Please deliver them ok"?.
"I will sir".
He gave her up to 10 books which she carried on her hands.
Staggering through the hallway because of the weight of the books, Lesley bumped into someone due to the fact that she couldn't see the paths well cause of the height of the books blocking her eyesight.
She apologized to whoever she bumped and bent down to pick up the books.
The person bent down too, looked at her and said "You, what are you doing here"?.
Lesley looked up and realized her worst nightmare had happened. She had bumped into Rodney.