THE PERIODIC TABLE OF LOVE

ELA Drama with the basketball team

How does it feel when your least favorite subject is interrupted? Great, right? Yes.

   Mrs. Eithne still beaming from the little convo she had with Deb announced to the class that our class- the least eventful class would be visited by the basketball teams.

   The girls burst out in joy, including me who went crazy in sheer happiness. This means I was gonna see Marcus for the first time in the school year face to face! I was so happy, my heart could explode.

   "Marcus is gonna come!" Cartina gushed, causing heads to turn, "this is gonna be the best time of my liiiife!" she sang.

  The boys ATE it up. They had a curve plastered on their lips like they could feel Cartina's happiness but we, the other girls shot her death glares. In our mind, the thought ran over and over again, 'we're all fan girls, no one should try to take him away from us'

     Mrs. Eithne's eyes sparkled with excitement, was she also a fan girl? Um... I'd rather not.

She stared eagerly at the door, awaiting it to be kicked open. We also followed her gaze and locked in on the door.

 Then, they came in.

The first person to come in was Alan, Deb's crush. He came in with Marcus' and Pete's hand around his arm. They dropped it as soon as he made his way to Mrs. Eithne. Everyone was confused and lost but the team knew what was gonna happen.

   Alan walked to Mrs. Eithne and opened his arm, a tear rolling down his cheek as he said, "Mom..."

     She beamed even brighter at him and bagged him in her hands as he continued, "... we brought the trophy."

   The whole class was dumbfounded, wondering what to do. We threw glances at each other to see if there was anyone with an idea. There was someone... Cartina.

   She stood up and clapped like never before and for the first time, she did something that looked reasonable because everyone joined in, including the basketball player.

   Alan and Mrs. Eithne broke the embrace with Mrs. Eithne ending personal matters at school with a kiss to Alan's forehead. 

  Alan waved his mom good bye like how I did when I waved my mom off for the first day of school. He rushed back to his teammates standing in a square and he signaled with his head for Marcus to continue from where he stopped.

   Marcus walked to the center of the class, his NIKE squeaking as he dragged his feet on the concrete floor,

  "Please," the first word his angelic voice said to my ear, the tingling undeniable. I watched intently as his adam apple bobbed and popped as he spoke. My mind was focused on him so intently that I didn't hear when he asked for us to sit.

     "Elly," the calling of my nickname snapped me back to my ELA class and my eyes blurred back to the person that called me by my nickname and it was Marcus. He knew my nickname!

  I reflexively stuck my butt on my chair, apologizing profusely for not hearing him.

He gave an awkward laugh, while saying, "it's fine," then he continued with his speech.

   "As you know, Alan Lorcan Walsh here," he gave Alan a fast smirk that you would miss if you weren't paying attention.

  Alan gave a pouting face, "You didn't have to say my full name Mar-mar." 

Marcus cheeks turned red, he clearly didn't like the nickname or found it embarrassing but I found it ADORABLE.

   "Shut up!" Marcus mumbled, hissing before turning his attention back to the class, "Ahem, let's continue. As we know, Alan won the man of the match in the finals and he got to pick how we celebrated our victory and that's why we're here." he offered a warm smile which I was sure was directed towards me.

     "Yes." A  deep voice caught our attention. Pete ambled his way to Marcus, "to make it quick, each player is gonna come by your desks to give a high five or fist bump, starting with Alan."

  Alan tiptoed gleefully, pleased he got to go first.

We were even in our class with a total of 31 but 28 present, so we were arranged in a row of 4 and a column of seven and yes, the gap between each student was massive. 

  Alan decided to start with the first student in the first row, he flashed a flirtatious smile before bringing out his hand for a shake. She clasped it tightly like she was holding on to dear life before letting go when threatened with a glare from Pete.

   Alan moved to the second student on the first row and Pete jumped in to the first student on the first row and so the handshakes went on.

  When Alan reached me, he knelt down which was odd, and definitely obtaining me some disdainful gaze from the girls.

  I looked at him and he brought my head closer with his hand which I was uncomfortable with, specifically because Deb liked him, he held my head tightly as he whispered,

  "Tell Deb I like her." I level my eyes with his, dazed at his words. His eyes wielded glints of serious genuineness that I couldn't help but smile. It didn't last though because the glint faded to reveal his previously playful self, "Thanks," he pulled away, then brought me back in, as if suddenly remembering something, "look at Marcus," he commanded and I did.

  I was able to catch a glimpse of Marcus' annoyed gaze on Alan and as soon as he noticed me, he changed his gaze to Cartina.

   I looked back down at Alan who was smirking, "sense something?" he grinned. I shook my head, wondering what he was trying to get at.

   "Anyways," he stood up, "fist bump?" he asked, raising his fist like nothing had happened.

I raised mine and we shared a fist bump.

  As Alan left, my thoughts was on Marcus' expression, why was he annoyed? Does he perhaps likes me?

 'Get over yourself, Eleane! That's Marcus, the leader of the team and who are you? You're just a hyena in human form.'

  I slam my head on the desk, sulking at the bitter truth. 

As I raise my head to someone's gentle tap, I saw Marcus staring into my eyes.

  He knelt down the same way Alan had and brought his lips to my ears, "Elly... what did Alan say to you?"

   His voice so close to my ear made my whole body quiver. His voice was so hot and enchanting and he was so close, so close that if I decide to look at him, our lips would nearly be touching.

  I held my breath as I came clean about EVERY single thing Alan said