Swear To Me

That's High School For You

..."We'll always be best friends right?"...

The young black-haired girl flashed her half-toothless grin and nodded. "Of course," she giggled and held out her pinkie for him.

"Pinky swear to me," he urged her, hesitantly glancing at her finger before raising his own to hook around hers.

She looked down at his finger. The dirt stuck around and underneath his fingernails from when they were searching for different kinds of insects in the ground. They never did find anything too interesting.

"I pinky swear."

"...LAURA!"

Both heads shot up in a flash, following the source of the piercing voice. The boy's messy black hair hooded his eyes so badly that he had to push it out of the way to see who was coming. Beside him, the girl stood up frantically, gathering her new Amazing Spider-Man comic book he had just given her. She hurriedly looked ahead, getting ready to run off. He stood up and grabbed her arm, begging her to stay.

"...LAURA, SWEETHEART!"

She looked back, frowning at him, asking him to let her go. "I have to go, Wade, please," she urged him, almost panicking. "I'm not allowed to play with you."

He shook his head. "Please, Laura, don't go," he pleaded, almost going down on his knees. She looked at him. Her mother called again. Both knew that soon, her mother would have to go looking for her and she'd find her with him. The girl shook him off.

"No," she snapped, pushing him back, "I have to go."

And so she left him there in the forest, alone, to follow her mother's call.

The Present Day

Being late for school due to oversleeping isn't a problem. Being late because your shitty car broke down for just about the hundredth time is a completely different story. Every day, I spend at least an hour begging my parents for a new car–anything. Hell, I'd even take a golf cart. The tip of the iceberg is having to use the same excuse when asked by the same teachers. You'd think they'd know the drill.

But apparently not. After I basically rammed the door open, a class of thirty-odd seventeen year olds all stopped and directed their attention to the girl who was standing in the doorway. The girl who was an hour late for school again. Unfortunately, that girl was me.

"I'm sorry I'm late," I huffed, trying to catch my breath from all the running around I was forced to do, walked further into the classroom and irritably threw the door shut. I handed the bald man at the front of the classroom a note from the office with a brief explanation. "My car's battery just –"

"Sit down."

The bald man has spoken. He tossed the note onto his desk. Slowly, I stepped back, eventually turning around to find my place. Once everything settled down, the class went back to their business, which mainly consists of either paying attention to the class, sleeping or just daydreaming. Some kids at the back even bring iPods. I don't sit close enough to the back to be afforded that luxury.

Ten years spent with the same people. I already know everybody and everything about everybody. In front of me is Elle, a typical hipster. If she wasn't my best friend, she would've been punched by me at some point already. On the left is Cody, the smartest guy in the class. He's my Geography tutor.

On the right is Wade, Cody's best friend. The reason I sit in between them was because on the first day of school, I got to the seat before Wade did and instead of asking me to move like a normal person would, he chose the next seat. Of course that did mean that I had to deal with paper jets flying over me during class, but I refuse to move and he refuses to ask me. Behind her is Joe, the fat guy who constantly gets caught having wet dreams in class. Sadly for him, he's a big talker in his sleep.

Suddenly, something hit my back. I snap awake instantly and look back at Joe, who's laughing quietly and holding up a box of silver packets. On his desk, I see that he had taken at least a handful. Gross.

"Take one," he whispers, chuckling stupidly, "you never know when you might get lucky."

I don't laugh at him. I easily could and if the entire class wasn't staring at me, I probably would've slapped him across his enormous face. Instead, being the civil person I am, I take the box and take out a single condom before passing it on.

Joe doesn't stop there, though and I try my hardest to ignore him. "Got any plans tonight?" he asks me, obnoxiously loud to get a reaction from the class. Just as expected, he triggers laughs, whispers and sniggers from around the class and all attention is put back onto me. Even Elle turns around to look him, thankfully she's not too happy either. Beside me, Cody pushes his glasses back and clears his throat. For a moment, I almost expect him to say something, but I'm on my own this time. I look back. The fat boy licks his lips teasingly and I just stare at him, blankly.

"I'd tap that," he giggles like a child playing. That's the line.

I turn around again and my fingers quickly tear open the packet and without a second thought, I pinch my fingers over the sticky latex before throwing it at him. It even makes a sound. That gets an even better reaction from the class. Even the bald guy stops his lesson to see what's going on. Joe's face expands into something I've never seen before –something filled with horror, disgust, and the sticky stuff on condoms. Elle covers her mouth as she laughs at him and snaps a picture. I look at Wade next. His lips are pursed and curved as his fist covers his mouth. He's laughing too.

"Laura Rogers," the stupidly clueless bald guy calls my name. It draws a painful silence. Before I even look at him, I know what he's holding in his hand. A hall pass. A hall pass to safely get me to the principal's office.

And that's how you get into trouble for throwing a condom at somebody's face.