Chapter 4

Kaden and Jemima held hands as they walked into the extra math class they took together, smiling at each other as they talked about random and silly things.

Kaden walked her to her seat at the very back of the class, where she preferred to seat so that she could fall asleep in peace. Kaden would sit with her but he was placed right at the front of the class by the professor herself due to his low scores, she believed that he would focus more if he was right at the front.

The boy pulled the chair out for his girl, then bent down to place a kiss on her lips, “I wish I could sit with you.”

Jemima placed a hand on his cheek, “me too but your grades are more important.”

“Nothing is more important than you.”

Jemima felt her face heat up at the intensity of his gaze. So many years together and he still gave her butterflies, if that wasn’t a sign that they were made for each other then she didn’t know what was.

“Okay, go sit down lover boy, Patterson will walk in here any minute now. You know how she is about human feelings in her class,” she joked, laughing halfheartedly to hide how flustered she was.

Kaden grinned, “see you.” He kissed her a last time before walking back to the front, and Jemima watched his retreating back with love struck eyes, a sigh leaving her lips.

Thinking of the plans that awaited them in the evening, she felt all giddy inside and could barely sit still in her seat. Just a couple more hours to go.

God, she felt like her teenage self again back when she was all excited for their first date after he had finally mustered up the courage to ask her out when they were sixteen.

Just like she had predicted, the strict math professor shortly walked into the small classroom with her resting mean scowl, her black pencil heels echoed through the class as she walked to her desk. After setting her black bag on the desk, she turned to the class, demanding attention with a single clap of her hands.

Her dark brown eyes stared at her students through the lenses of her thick rimmed eyeglasses, “good afternoon class, I know it’s the middle of the school term but we have a new student joining our class today.”

Jemima sat up, her ears perking up in sudden interest, was she finally going to see the new student everyone had been whispering about?

“I normally don’t do these silly introduction, but she’s a very special student and very bright…Miss Greene, come in please.” Mrs Patterson called whoever was standing outside the classroom, a rare smile on her strict face, making it look more like a grimace.

Jemima’s eyes cast to the door as it slowly opened, as if building anticipation, the class was silent as the new girl took her time in walking in.

Jemima felt it the moment she saw her.

An unsettling change, deep in her gut.

With slow shy steps, the five-foot-two or something girl walked in, the red high ankle converse shoes on her feet squeaked on the tiled floor with every step she took, she wore ripped boyfriend jeans that were rolled by the ankles, with an oversized black Panic! At The Disco T-shirt, on her wrists were some type of hipster looking bangles, and her brunette hair was tied up in a messy bun on top of her head, exposing her flushed rosy cheeks as she grew flustered under everyone’s gaze. She pushed her square rimmed eyeglasses further up her nose, her pink lips curling up in a nervous pout.

What in the just-walked-out-of-2014??

After what seemed like forever, the new girl finally reached where Mrs Patterson stood, she adjusted the black backpack hanging off her right shoulder as she nervously bounced on her feet.

Girl, get a grip.

Jemima could barely hold back her unimpressed eye roll. This was what everyone spent the last couple of days talking about?

Mrs Patterson gently squeezed the girl’s stiff shoulders, “class, meet Alexa Greene, she was top of her math class in her previous school and won the international math competition three years in a row!” Her eyes twinkled in excitement as she introduced the girl who could barely look up to meet the eyes of her peers, “you guys should be honoured to have her join the class- she doesn’t even need to be here like the rest of you, please take a seat Miss Greene.”

The girl with much faster steps, rushed to get to a nearby seat, and in her state of rushing to get out of the spotlight, she somehow tripped on her loose shoelaces and lost her balance, but before she could painfully crash down to the hard floor, Kaden whose seat was closest to her, was out of his seat in a flash and caught her in his arms before she could kiss the floor.

Jemima’s eyebrows dipped so low she could’ve competed with Mrs Patterson’s permanent scowl.

“Whoa!” Her boyfriend chuckled, helping the new girl stand back up to her feet, “you good?”

The girl’s face turned beet red and Jemima would’ve felt sorry for her if she wasn’t busy burning a glare through Kaden’s hands which still rested around the girl.

A couple students turned their heads to watch for Jemima’s reaction at the interaction, already knowing about Jemima’s unspoken rule when it came to her boyfriend.

Never touch Kaden Solomon if you wanted to have a peaceful life at BPU.

But, in the girls defence, she nearly lost her teeth by almost kissing the floor, and he was the one who touched her first and not the other way around.

Taking a deep breath, Jemima flashed a fake tight lipped smile at the few students who sat in front of her and were watching her with widened eyes, as if expecting her to explode at any second.

“Careful dear,” Mrs Patterson pushed her glasses up with her middle finger, then as if a thought just popped up in her head, her eyebrows raised as she clapped her hands once again, “oh this is just perfect! Miss Greene, why don’t you take a seat next to Mr Solomon over there, I’m sure he could use your genius!”

Jemima’s smile slightly faltered and her right eye twitched. Again, the students in front of her turned to see her reaction, and her lips spread into another painfully fake smile.

Her eyes then narrowed on Kaden and the new girl as they took their seats next to each other, she could feel her heart thumping loudly in her chest as she watched them share polite smiles.

“Okay, let’s begin todays class,” the professor announced, and the sound of students shuffling around to get their learning materials out of their bags filled the entire classroom.

Jemima could barely focus during the entire class, her brown eyes were cold as they stayed on the two figures at the front of the room.

She watched them exchange polite introductions from afar, Kaden watching the girl in amusement as she stuttered over her words and avoided his gaze.

She watched her boyfriend lean over from his seat and whisper a question to the girl as he pointed at his notebook, and the girl going all tutor mode as she began explaining something to him.

She watched them pull their chairs even closer to each other as they huddled up to discuss whatever was on the board and in front of them in their notebooks.

She watched Kaden’s long arm rest on the the backrest of the girl’s chair as he nodded along to what she was saying.

By the time the class was over and Mrs Patterson shooed them out, Jemima was fuming and she could barely hide it as she stared daggers at her boyfriend who picked up a fallen pencil, handing it to the new girl who was packing away her stuff.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she stared down at the blank page in front of her, a clear sign that she did not participate in the lesson at all and instead was too busy staring daggers at the back of her boyfriend and the new girl’s heads.

She closed the note book and shoved it into her bag, silently trying to talk to herself into calming down.

She got up from her seat and slung her bag over her shoulder, then trying to appear as relaxed as possible, she strolled up to the two unsuspecting people. With an air of confidence, she grabbed her boyfriend by the shoulders and pulled him down to her, smashing her lips against his.

“Hey you,” he grinned after they pulled away from each other.

“Hi,” she couldn’t help but match his contagious smile.

“Babe, meet Alexa, she helped me a lot during the class and I actually learned something today,” he said, instantly causing the smile on her face to drop.

Jemima’s eyes looked at the girl in boredom, she had her bag clutched to her chest as she looked at the couple as if they would attack her.

Jemima exhaled deeply through her nose as she felt her irritation spike, “hm,” was the only acknowledgment she gave the girl, then turned back to her boyfriend, who was still oblivious to the tension in the air.

“Are you ready for dinner tonight?” She asked as she removed a random lint from his shoulder.

Kaden’s eyes widened as if realisation just dawned on him, his lips curled up into a slight frown as his eyes turned apologetic.

“Mima…”

Her hands left his shoulders as she took a small step back, “don’t tell me you forgot already? You just asked me.”

Kaden quickly grabbed her hands, “no, of course not, I’m excited for tonight,” he pecked her cheek, then turned to the new girl with another apologetic look. “Alexa, can we rain check on tonight’s study session?”

“Uh I-”

Jemima snatched her hands from his, “unbelievable!” She ignored his calls as she stomped out of the class, her ears practically steaming with anger.

So much for keeping it together.

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