The Z's of High School

Chapter 1

Jonah. Jonah. Jonah. He was all I could think about in class as I gazed out the window.

"Ms. Callifern, what is the answer?" Mrs. Lorin asked me. My head flipped around quickly to face her, as if to cover up that I had been looking out the window, but I knew Mrs. Lorin could tell. She gave me a stern look as I gazed at her, mouth slightly dropped open. What had been her question?

"Could you repeat the question, please, Mrs. Lorin?" I asked her kindly.

"Next time, pay attention in my class, Ms. Callifern, or you'll be spending the majority of the month's lunches with me as your company," Mrs. Lorin spat before she turned back to the chalkboard.

As hard as I tried, I couldn't resist going back to my daydreaming about Jonah. I stared at the chalkboard, pretending to pay attention, while my mind was really elsewhere. On Jonah.

Movement caught the edge of my eye, and I turned. There she was, staring at me with a smug smile on her face. Hate bubbled up inside of me. Gianna Brown. The most popular girl in school.

Who also had a major crush on Jonah.

When I locked eyes with her and held her gaze, she smirked, and turned back to the chalkboard.

"Is there something you would like to share with the class, Ms. Brown?" Mrs. Lorin said, venom in her voice, as she tapped on Gianna's desk with a pen, standing over her menacingly.

"No, Mrs. Lorin," Gianna mumbled, hanging her head.

"That's what I thought," Mrs. Lorin concluded, the bell ringing just as she finished her sentence. She strutted back to her desk, and called over her shoulder, "Have a good day, class."

I raced out of the classroom, catching up to Gianna.

"What is your problem?" I asked her in disgust. "Why were you looking at me like that in class?"

"You know exactly what my problem is," she spat, spinning on her heel to face me.

"Jonah is mine, not yours. Why would he ever want to date someone like you, when he could have me?"

"He's not yours! You're not even dating, and he's never even taken interest in you!"  I argued.

"Maybe he hasn't, but we're perfect for each other," she huffed, cheeks turning furious red. "You just don't know because you're too caught up in your desperate daydreams that could never happen."

My mouth popped open in disbelief. Did she really just say that? I tried quickly to recover and shot back, "Perfect, huh? I doubt that Jonah likes people who pretend to be what they're not."

"What are you talking about?" Gianna said, her eyes turning to menacing slits to look tough, as she really became flustered.

"I know how you play your little mind games with him," I retorted, "Being all sweet and innocent when he's around, but then turning to the opposite, your true self when he's not there."

"T-that's not true!" Gianna insisted. She frowned as she stared me in the eye. "Who do you think you are insulting me?"

"Insulting you! I'm telling nothing but the truth," I said.

She huffed and spun on her heel again, this time walking away from me. I watched her stalk away, and continued on to my next class.

It seemed to me as if from the second I placed my books on my desk at my next class, time sped forward until the class that I had with Jonah. I took my seat in a daze and blinked my eyes, as if I was just waking up.