The Loner Girl

Part 14

Tristan and I decided to stay after school, now that the days are getting longer, and warmer. Both of us were on a roll as we knocked out all our assignments right there on the commons table, that was eerily quiet, except for the sound of the janitor's bucket squealing and echoing down the hall. We helped each other on some of the more difficult assignments, and despite having different class periods, Tristan had the same classes, and teachers, as I did, like English, History, Biology, and Automotive Technology. The differences were he had Art, Algebra, and Korean Language.

He has Art for 5th period, while I had History, and second lunch period together. After lunch, he has Korean Language, while I have calculus.

For next year we planned on having Woodshop, Auto Shop, English and Programming together, and if goes as planned by the school, Drafting/CAD, and if my math goes well this year, I'll take Welding. Especially for seniors, they get to have one or two classes off for the remainder of the year, until graduation, and that's what we were planning on doing next year.

For some reason, algebra was a breeze for me, and so I tutored Tristan with that, despite not knowing calculus, which some say is algebra II, geometry and trigonometry, but on steroids.

Lucky for him, Tristan was done with his homework, and decided he was done for the day. He gave me the biggest hug a skinniest kid could give, and while it hurt because of his muscular physique, it was a nice one, then threw his bag over his shoulders, and he left for home. I sat there, watching him as he made his way across the marble floors, to the glass doors, and I sat there for some time watching him until he left the school grounds on that highway.

And just like that Sequoia emerged from the hall to my right, where the janitor's bucket was squealing from. I didn't care if she reported me to the office, but I couldn't take my eyes off her. Long black hair, tall, slender, almost model-like in every way. Long legs in skinny jeans, and Dr. Martens boots. 

And that shirt. 

That strap hanging next to her skinny long bicep on her left arm. And where her shirt strap would normally be is where her messenger bag's strap is resting directly on her exposed shoulder. And her arms were crossed, holding her books in front of her chest as she's walking into the empty commons area.

Somehow, she was able to get away with a style like that. Not even a word from the principal, vice principal, or the counselors.

And yet, she's the only one at this school that's dressed like that...

Whoa! Is there a movie being shot? I thought, just mesmerized, as she held her books close to her chest, her nearly flat chest. 

And then it hit me...

Does she ever have any friends?

Now that I think about it, there were all kinds of rumors about her. There were some tiny ones, like she was a stuck-up, cold to anyone who wanted to strike a conversation with her, and didn't want to meet anyone, and that's why she mostly kept to herself most of the time. The biggest one that went around is that she is some sort of a rebel, that she broke school rules, bullied kids who got in her way, almost like a tomboy, and that's why she got expelled from her last school. Makes perfect sense considering her sexy outfit, especially her shirt, but in most schools, she would've been sent home to change, but not this school.

She saw me, finally, and just gave a tiny smile. With her free hand, she pointed, that she was going to the library again. I quickly gather all my stuff, and went to the library as well.

I finally caught up with Sequoia, who was checking out some books from a bored student worker before she made her way to a table that had her stuff piled on. I just wanted to watch her study from afar, so I picked a table I knew she wouldn't look, and no, I didn't want to look at her just because of that shirt she's wearing... 

Hardly anyone went here, except a few goth kids who hung out here during the third lunch period (first lunch period belongs to the "popular kids" and jocks. Rae, Dylan and Ash are in that period (they always eat off campus anyway to avoid the "popular cliques" and "queen bees", as Dylan called them, and Ash always complains about them, wishing he'd rather eat with us in second lunch period; he's already ate with us a couple of times, until he got busted for being truant), and also has the best cafeteria food, second period is the so-so kids; Tristan and I eat there, and the third, well, I'll leave that to your imagination what kinds of kids have that, and someone told me Sequoia has that period). Even with that shirt she's wearing she's already delving into her books, like she's a true 'school girl' even in that outfit she's wearing.

I sat at this one table that had all kinds of Satan insignias etched into it, including this all-too-famous "S" symbol that had been carved deep into the fake wood, and had been retraced over the years with pen ink, but I didn't care for any of all that. I put my bag over this giant Pantera, Megadeth and Slayer that were written in bold across the table in permanent marker, and took out my stuff, pretending I was working on my homework, even though that corner of the library is almost dark.

Wow! She is ever studying. I thought, as she was clearly interested into a book she was reading, while at the same time, she was appearing to take some notes of her book she was reading. I couldn't help myself staring at her shirt strap as it continually slides lower and lower down her skinny bicep, and closer, to the crook of her elbow, and at the same time, it avoid the situation. But as she wrote into her notebook some more, the strap fell even lower, and this time it got caught in the crook of her elbow, while somehow, her shirt didn't fall down.

She got up once more, then made her way to the reference section of the library, all the while leaving her shirt strap hanging next to her bicep. I felt weird just sitting here, in the near darkness, as if spying on a girl I just barely met, while pretending to do some homework over this cruddy table with various bands I've hardly heard of. Another person walked in, and its that kid from the math class.

Oh, hell no! Maybe he likes her! Oh well. I have no luck with her, anyway. I thought. She finally arrived, and met the kid over to where she was sitting. He got out his stuff, and laid them on the same table Sequoia has her stuff laid out. He fluffed his hair over his eyes, and they seemed to engage in some sort of conversation, and they laughed, though silently, or they might get kicked out of the library for being too loud. 

Or not, since the kid was just too bored to care, and it was just the four of us in that room. 

The boy took out his Surface Pro, removed the keyboard, and began scribbling on the screen, though I couldn't see since I sat too far away to be noticed. All the while Sequoia began adjusting her shirt strap back over her shoulder while the boy wasn't looking, then fixed her hair to cover some part of her shoulders, as if trying to hide her long neck from the kid. She copied what the boy had written from the tablet screen into her own paper. She was doing thing the old-school way, paper-and-pencil, while the boy was using 'technology'.

They're exchanging notes. That was something different. Soon they were done. He flipped his hair, and smiled, before he left the library. Soon, I was back to watching her study once more, as she pushed her hair back, and wrote into her papers. After what seemed like eternity watching her study, she sat back up, and looked around the library. She fixed her hair again, revealing her long neck and shoulders, before pushing the left thin black strap back down next to her skinny bicep. Not even the student worker seemed interested in what Sequoia was doing, as she continually looked around the room, and put her chin on her hand that rested on the table.

It's as if she's expecting me to come out of my hiding place, and her way of showing off her neck and shoulders was kind of like a lure...

She pushed back her hair, and began to dig out her cards. She shuffled them in front of her, and began playing, by herself.

No sooner than that another boy came into the library, which I quickly recognized as the boy from the gas station a few days back. Sequoia looked up, then gathered all her papers, cards, and putting them in her bag as neatly as possible, before leaving the library. 

I took a look at the clock over at the computer lab.

5:40

Well, it was time for me to go home as well. I packed up my belongings, and got away from that mess in the corner.