The Bad Boy's Secret

-three-

The seat next to me was empty and as the last bell rang for school to begin I felt my cheeks begin to burn. It was only the second day of school and Gabe decided to skip out already? 

My plan of being nicer to Gabe and asking about his summer break flew out the window and now all I wanted to do was beg Mrs. Walker to let me work alone all year long rather than be partnered with him. 

"Alright class, I figured today would be the perfect time for a pop quiz!" Groans and gasps echoed through the students while Mrs. Walker grabbed a stack of papers from her desk. I grabbed my phone and quickly posted on Facebook "Heads up- pop quiz in Walker's class" before slipping my phone back into my bag. "Gabrio's not here today?"

Mrs. Walker stared down at me with a look of concern before handing me my paper and continuing down the rows. Maybe he transferred schools. I doubt I'd be that lucky though. 

"No talking, you've got 30 minutes," Mrs. Walker called out and everyone began working. The quiz was easy, thankfully, mostly questions from last year's AP English for junior year. I was finished within 15 minutes and then sat quietly until everyone else was finished. "I meant to let you all know yesterday but it slipped my mind. All tests, quizzes, essays and assignments will be graded together in your group,"

Protests rippled through the class immediately and somehow I had lost my voice. She better not mean what I think she was meaning.

"Which means, if one of you fails you both fail. If one of you don't turn in the assignments, you both fail. If one of you does not study, you both will fail," Mrs. Walker glanced my way for a second but then continued scanning the classroom. "Any questions?"

Almost everyone's hands shot up, a lot of students didn't even raise their hands before calling out that this wasn't fair. I couldn't agree more, why should I have to fail for Gabe? All because he decides to skip class means that I get to fail?

The remainder of class was spent by Mrs. Walker trying to calm the class down until the bell rang and everyone filed out angrily. I hurried up to Mrs. Walker's desk with my bag hanging from one shoulder. 

"So you're telling me that if Gabe skips out on class because he's an idiot, I have to fail for that?" I nearly yelled at my teacher. I would never try to be disrespectful to a teacher but I think Mrs. Walker had hit her head, hard too. 

"Gabe skipping class has nothing to do with you failing, unless he misses tests, quizzes and doesn't turn in his work," Mrs. Walker began sifting through the papers to grade our quizzes. "Besides, we don't know the reason for Gabe's absence this morning," 

"The pop quiz this morning was a waste of my time then! Gabe wasn't here so I automatically fail," I felt like I was on the verge of crying. All my hard work the past three years and now my good grade in this class was riding on someone like Gabe! How could Mrs. Walker think this was okay?

"Unfortunately yes, that quiz isn't going to do any good. I'll disregard this one quiz for you though since I did forget to make that announcement yesterday and Gabe is not here today, but the next will count. There's going to be many pop quizzes and test, I suggest you pass this information on to your partner," Mrs. Walker didn't look up at me once, she just kept marking up the papers under her red pen. 

"Mrs. Walker this is totally unfair, I could fail all because of this slacker!" Students from her next period were beginning to trickle into the room and find their seats, watching me curiously. 

Mrs. Walker set her pen down gently and looked up at me finally, taking a deep breath. "Ms. Stone if you think this class will be too much of a bother for you, you still have three days to drop the class and switch to regular English class for your senior year. Now if you'll excuse me, I have another class,"

I stomped out of the classroom and began the short walk to my next class. In all the three years I had Mrs. Walker as my AP English teacher I had never had a problem with her or her teaching style, but this? This was absolute garbage! 

"Hey Ms. President," I half expected to see Gabe walking towards me but it was only Kale. I could see why Jasmine thought Kale was hot, his dark brown hair and hazel eyes were attractive and he was charming as well. "That pop quiz in class was a killer,"

He might be cute but he wasn't the brightest. 

"Yeah, I guess. Hey have you seen your buddy Gabe around?" 

"If I tell you, are you going to kill him?" Kale smiled down at me mischievously. 

"Possibly, he's going to be the reason I fail English if he doesn't get his act together," I grumbled, hearing the first bell ring. 

"I haven't seen him around yet, but I'll be sure to let him know you're seeking revenge," Kale chuckled and walked off down the hall. I guess I'll have to add Kale to my hit list as well. 

I hurried down the hall and into my next class, taking my seat next to Jasmine.

"Flirting with Kale now are we?" Jasmine asked, her eyes looking like daggers but her tone was playful. Was she being serious or joking around? 

"I wasn't flirting," I defended myself and turned towards the front of the room, done with the conversation between the two of us. I wonder if Jasmine had a crush on Kale now. I could never keep up with you Jaz had the hots for, her decision changed every week it seemed like. 

"So are you going to hunt Gabe down and murder him for lunch or what?" Pepper asked quietly, turning around from her seat in front of Jasmine and I. 

"That's definitely the plan right now, I could fail because of him!" I only got a sympathetic look from Pepper before she turned around when class began. 

Jasmine and Pepper were so laid back and relaxed, I wish I could be like that too except my whole future is riding on my grades. My whole future is riding on Gabe Romero.