The Dating Game

Chapter Eight

Juliet

Beth had her characteristic moment with her bacon bap and "Starbucks coffee".

She readjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose, depositing the bacon bap in her lap with her coffee in the middle of us. I had my notebook out because I had jotted some notes down haphazardly for the piano. I had just informed Beth of my early birthday present and she was aghast.

"You're rich," she said. "You got a piano."

I shook my head stubbornly as she unwrapped her bacon bap, holding it up to her nose and smelling it. "Not really," I protested. "Dad just has a good-paying job. Plus, he knows I want to be a music producer and a piano is a good starting point. It's the basis for all music producers." I opened my mouth to elaborate more but closed it slowly. I still wasn't just there to formulate the whole paragraph and began a sophisticated in-depth review of music producers. "How do you think you did on the piano test?"

Beth ripped a part of her bacon bap and held it in front of her mouth. She raised one light brown, filled-in eyebrow. "Piano test?"

Blood was surging up to my cheeks. "I meant Chemistry test. I got confused." My voice was quiet and soft.

Beth smiled as she chucked the piece of the bacon bap into her mouth. "I don't know. I hope I did alright. My mom would murder me if I get below a B."

Beth had somewhat strict parents. Her mom believes she should be getting good grades and outstanding grades in her favourite lessons/lessons that correspond to what she wants to do when she's older. She hasn't got much of a future planned, but she wants to go to college in San Diego because that's where everyone in her family has gone, including her brother who recently graduated from there this year. Now he's working in San Diego so he can be close to his new girlfriend who he began dating in college. His name was Samuel Linken, therefore it was Beth Linken.

"I just hope for a B, too. It's the equations that get me," I replied.

"Didn't Justin give you advice on how to ace those?"

Beth had finished her bacon bap fairly hastily and was already chugging down her coffee as we stood up and began to pace to the corridors. She discarded her rubbish in a nearby bin. We made it inside, some people bumping into our shoulders without a second's hesitation whilst others avoided hitting us. Michelle would already be at her locker by now and hopefully sat in homeroom so we just had to meet her there.

It took us longer than we hoped to get to homeroom so when we entered and sat down at our usual desks at the side, she was staring at us.

"What took you guys so long?"

"Corridors seemed so much busier than usual," Beth replied, pulling out her chair and scraping it along the linen floor. She winced as she sat down, flushing furiously with magenta-tinted cheeks to conceal herself in the multitude of students.

As we waited for our homeroom tutor, Miss Benson, I silently thanked that Justin wasn't in my homeroom. That would have been more aggravation than it's worth. It was indecipherable whether I was grateful that he followed me out of the lunch hall yesterday or whether I abhorred it knowing I was further mortifying myself and I had to stay with company that could only muse about what an idiot I am.

It was vexing me why he was ceaselessly coming up to me, too. He would try to say something to me at all costs and then I felt bad when I wouldn't reply properly because I can't. He's just another sporty, typically-hormonal teenage boy who would do wonders for his girlfriend... presumably.

"Miss Royal," articulated Miss Benson. "Are you still with us?"

I shook my head to snap me from my thoughts, fracturing the link between a daydream and reality. "Sorry, Miss. Here, Miss," I said sheepishly.