The very next morning before the bell rang I immediately go looking for Mr, because this is all his fault. If only he had a mute button Sl wouldn't have followed me yesterday.
"Mr!!!" I say, speed-walking toward him.
He looks back—and runs.
I was too exhausted from yesterday, so I didn't even try to run after him.
"That's fine! You can run, but I'll be seeing you in first period anyway!"
When I get to class, I spot Mr right away. I sit down and immediately start lecturing him about minding his own business and not telling people mine.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I say, pointing my finger at him aggressively.
"What are you talking about?" Mr replies, trying to look innocent. He knows what he did.
"Oh, don't start acting all innocent like you didn't do anything wrong."
Then the teacher walks in, demanding everyone quiet down and take their seats. I lean in and whisper, "We're not done," glaring at him. He laughs.
After her lecture, the teacher hands out an assignment and lets us work for the rest of the class.
"You really need to stop telling people my business," I say, still glaring at him.
"Well, we were eating lunch. There was nothing else to talk about," he says, shrugging it off like it's no big deal.
"Because of you and your mouth, I have to go on five dates with that asshole," I say as I write my name on the worksheet.
"Huh?" Mr blinks.
So I tell him everything that happened yesterday—and of course, he starts laughing.
"HAHAHAHAH!" Mr bursts out, laughing uncontrollably. He finally calms down and says, "I didn't know this would happen! Hahaha—"
Then the girl sitting in front of us Az, starts chuckling too.
"You find this funny?" I say, frustrated, pointing at both of them. "This isn't a joke—this is my life."
Az keeps laughing, then says, "I'm sorry for being nosy and everything, but this is too good not to say something."
Mr wipes his face with his shirt—he laughed so hard he's got tears in his eyes.
"She's right. It is funny," he says. "You can't possibly think this is my fault."
"Oh, but it is," I say sharply.
Then Az interrupts, "Well, from what I heard, it technically is your fault. If only you had kept your mouth shut." She smiles.
"Thank you," I say, nodding at her.
"So what are you gonna do?" Mr asks.
"Well, I already agreed to go out with him. I can't do much about it," I sigh, burying my face in my hands. "How else am I gonna get that date with Lu ?"
"Are you just saying that because you secretly do wanna go out with Sl?" Az says.
And to think—for a minute, I thought she was on my side.
I look up at her, disturbed. "Don't hit me with that bullshit."
"Fine, fine," she says, holding her hands up.
Then Mr adds, "I agree with her."
I give him the exact same look I gave her.
"Okay, okay! You're obviously doing all this just to get an opportunity to go out with Lu," he says finally.
At least someone here is listening to me.
"Yes, that is exactly it. Thank you," I say with a sigh of relief.
Mr adds, "But still—"
"Shut it. I don't wanna hear anything from you anymore," I say, pushing his face away.
We all start packing up for second period. Unfortunately, Mr has Math with Lu and Sl Hopefully, he keeps his mouth shut.
"Not a word to them, got that?" I say, staring him down.
"Yeah, I got it," he says, heading toward the door.
"See you in third," I call after him—then I turn and see Az still standing there.
"Why are you just standing there?" I ask.
"We have second period together. I assumed we were walking there together."
"You have English with me second period?" I say, confused.
"Yeah, idiot. I sit in the corner next to the teacher's mini-fridge," she says with a sassy tone.
Honestly, I didn't even know she was in my English class.
"Alright, fine. Let's go," I say.
I have Mr in all my classes except second period, so I meet up with him again in third.
"You didn't say anything, did you?" I ask, concerned.
"As a matter of fact, I didn't," Mr says proudly.
"Thanks. I know that must've been hard for you," I tease.
"It was," he says, pretending to wipe away fake tears.
It's lunchtime, and I'm being super observant because I really don't want to accidentally bump into Sl . Mr notices—and starts teasing me.
"Oh, is that Sl ?" he says.
"Where?!" I snap, alarmed.
Mr starts laughing. I give him a side-eye and punch him on the shoulder, then walk toward our usual spot—but he stops me.
"Come with me," he says.
We walk to the back of the cafeteria building. I give him a confused look as he sets his backpack on the bench. There's a single sidewalk, and we're surrounded by trees.
"Why do you wanna sit here?" I ask, sitting down.
"This is where I usually sit when you're not at school," he says, pulling a bag of strawberries out of his backpack. "It's quieter here."
He takes a bite and offers me one. I take it and say, "Yeah. It is."
Looking around, there's a patch between the trees where you can see the sky almost perfectly. The air is fresh, and the wind brushes against your face softly.
Then—I hear the crunch of leaves being stepped on, so I turn around, and see Someone's coming.