G's Patience

Chapter 3

Lauren shouted my name as she sprinted toward our lunch table.

"I found out who that guy is!" She slammed her tray next to mine and stood, as if preparing for a speech, and announced, "His name is Trevor."

"Trevor Banter." I interrupted. "He sits next to me in history, I never even noticed." I could tell I had dropped her spirits, her excitement of announcing her amazing finding in all its glory.

"Trevor Banter?" Dylan began, "I heard he's a fuckboy." He rolled his eyes. He could obviously see through the façade Trevor had shown. I could see through it too.

I laughed. But Lauren stared at me and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She just stood. She obviously didn't obtain the eyes to see what we could see in Trevor, all the more, she idolized his looks.

"What?" I obtained the feeling that I would be repulsed by the possible answer to my follow up question, "You didn't sleep with him, did you?"

She hesitated. "No." she finally answered. I raised my eyebrow. But she continued, "No! I did not sleep with him!"

"That's a double negative. And why did you hesitate?"

"I had to make sure it was an absolute no. Which it was. You know I would've told you the moment we saw him anyway."

This was true. And Lauren proceeded to tell me all she had heard about this boy. About how he gets into trouble, gets all the girls, raised by a single mom, plays guitar, and had a lip ring in middle school. Which would have been more interesting, had I wanted to know this information. For reasons unknown, Lauren thought it best that she told me. Realistically, reasons were not unknown. I had physical attractions toward him- I just didn't want anyone to know.

Interrupting my thoughts, Lauren had stuck her hand in the air and waved to someone- Trevor. Panicked, I reached for her arm in an attempt to put it down but she just stuck it back into the air again. And Trevor had already begun making his way toward us.

"Sit with us, Trevor!" she gleamed, as she patted the space she made between her and me. So he sat. He smiled at Lauren and looked at me.

"Jessalyn, right? Nice to see you again, beautiful." His face resembled that of a cocky son of a bitch. An attractive one, but still a son of a bitch regardless.

"Just call me G, actually." I grew annoyed by his presence already.

"Alright then. It's nice to see you, G. Have you thought about hanging out anytime soon?"

I looked at Lauren and Dylan from the corner of my eye. Dylan seemed just as annoyed with Trevor's mind games as I was. Lauren just gawked over his looks. So I played his game. "I'll only hang out if it's under my conditions. It has to be right after school, it has to be at the McDonald's across the street, and Lauren and Dylan have to be there. That way it's not a date." I smiled.

"It wasn't going to be a date anyway, but sure. How about tomorrow?"

"No, tomorrow I have to study for Friday's econ test. It has to be next week."

"Okay, Tuesday?"

"Tuesday."

Tuesday. I couldn't get that day out of my mind. I didn't understand why my physical attraction to him kept playing a part of how I felt. I knew I didn't obtain any actual feelings for him. I knew that I had certain priorities that had to be attended to. So as I studied at my desk in my room, I wiped him from my mind. And I listened to my music. The subtle noise coming from my headphones drained out all the problems I created for myself. I let it overpower my thoughts. I leaned back in my chair and rested my eyes for a moment.

I woke up in the middle of the night, still in my chair. My music had stopped, so I just took off my headphones and then reached for my phone in the darkness and checked it. I had a message from Lauren and a message from Dylan.

Lauren's read, "Trevor is bugging me for your number, can I give it to him??"

I replied, "No, he can ask me for it himself."

Dylan's read, "Are you sure about Tuesday? The guy seems like a waste of time to me."

I replied, "Me too. But that's all he's going to be. A waste of time and nothing more."

...

I woke up early in the morning to the sound of my mom calling my name. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before going to see what she wanted. I found her in the kitchen, leaning over the counter with my phone in her hand.

"What is this about a boy asking for your phone number?" She looked concerned, and I knew she would rather I have ignored Lauren's text altogether. "You don't have time for profane people."

As if I didn't already know.

"Look at my conversation with Dylan. I said right there, he is a waste of time and nothing more," I assured her. She didn't have to look through my conversations to know I had no interest in a foul person with a bad reputation.

"I already did. Get ready for school." She ordered. Her worrisome expression left me wishing I could do something to ensure my social intelligence. But all I could manage to prove myself was do as she told me. So, I got ready for school. When I arrived, Trevor stood, waiting for me outside our first-period class with his arms folded and legs crossed.

"You sure are a stubborn one, aren't you baby girl?" He said. I preferred the words, 'old-fashioned' or 'uninterested in pointless conversation', though stubborn was just as accurate. So rather than receive an answer from me, he watched me walk into the classroom and sit in my seat with my nose in the air.

"Okay fine, I'll ask. Can I have your phone number?" My eyes widened, the expression on my face reflected the idiocy of the presentation of his question. I didn't look at him, however, I could hear the arrogance in his voice. As if I had been desperately waiting for him to ask. So still, I remained silent, because the explanation should have been obvious.

Mr. Tanks began the class by numbering the students by row. Up and down the aisles, he counted by ten. Afterward, he directed us to gather our groups and informed us of our semester-long group project that would be worth twenty percent of our grade, which appeared to me like an unreasonable assignment. Not only because my final grade basically depended on two other students as well as myself- but because one of the two that I depended on, would be Trevor. The other I knew through Lauren- she was named Jaylin. Mr. Tanks suggested we shared with our partners our email addresses, phone numbers, and other ways of communication in order to stay in contact and maintain order.

"I guess you have to give me your phone number now, babe." Trevor cockily remarked. I rolled my eyes, looked at him, and then gave a tight-lipped smile. So I gave the idiotic boy my phone number.