lockets (a thatsojack fanfic)

part five

The grey morning dragged on and on as I headed from one boring class to the next. My classes consisted of me sitting in a desk, either playing with my hair, biting my nails, or drawing on the desk. I had no ambition to be here, except for it was better than home.

The last few minutes of third period seemed pain-stakingly longer. Lunch was next.

The bell finally rang at 12:36 pm and students filled the hall ways. Groups of freshman sang down the hall like they owned the place and I rolled my eyes, pushing through the people. This place was a literal dump.

By the time I got to the commons, tables were filled with stuck-up sophomores and horny juniors. I scanned the room looking for Jack, and finally spotted him standing by a table of eager-looking girls. Figures. I felt my face start to turn red and I went to find a spot in the corner. I didn't know what to think. Maybe we were just friends in his eyes; I'm just here to show him around town.

I saw my old friends sitting at a table across the lunch room and half-wished I could sit with them again. As soon as they found out that I was some depressed "loser with no social life", they cut me out of the group. And here I am sitting on the floor, three months later with no one.

I must have been staring off in space for a while because suddenly someone was sitting down next to me.

"God damn you for always sneaking up on me, Jack!" I yelled, through a smile.

We ended up spending lunch on the floor talking about our days so far. He talked about how much he was enjoying his first day and I talked about how great mine was too, even though it all sucked except for lunch. When the block ended, we got up off the floor for the last class of the day. I actually had an "okay" class, Creative Writing, and Jack had Media Production.

"Where is Media Production?" Jack asked. His helplessness was amusing, and sweet in a way.

Smiling, I said, "It's right down the next hall. I'll walk you there just like I have been all day."

"Shut up, I haven't been here for three years like Miss Know It All." He exclaimed, nudging me with his elbow. I bit my lip to keep from smiling so much. Stop smiling so much, Rylee.

We continued down the hall towards Media Production, which was directly above my class. I looked at the clock and realized I had two minutes to get upstairs to my class.

"Well, this is your class. I've got to go, but do you want to meet afterwards?" I asked, nervously.

"Sure Rylee." He said, and walked into his room.

I have a minute; Praxton's going to kill me for being late a fourth time. I raced down the hall, up the stairs and started down another hall. Halfway down, the bell rang. What else is there to ruin my life? I walked the rest of the way to my classroom and reached out my hand for the door handle, rattling it. I really didn't care what Mr. Praxton had in store for me anymore. Footsteps came to the door and the door opened. Thank God. It was just Collin, my classmate.

"Don't worry, he didn't notice." Collin told me.

"Thank you." I said awkwardly; I had had a crush on him all sophomore year. Mr. Praxton was at his desk writing something down when I walked to my seat.

He stood up after a minute or two of writing and walked to the front of the class. "Afternoon guys. How are your Mondays been?" His voice crawled up the walls and through the cracks in the ceiling. All but two students stared at their desks in silence, ignoring Mr. Praxton entirely. I pulled out a notebook and started to draw on the corner of a page of notes. "Great to hear." Praxton mumbled, clearly uninterested. "We're going to start off today digging into the mind of William Shakespeare. I've got a quick presentation for you guys, and then a video to follow that." The room still held a grey silence in the air, besides the clicking of Mr. Praxton's shoes. I took this as a perfect opportunity to shut my eyes and forget about everything.