Binded

Chapter Three

       Nervous once again, I made my way to algebra. At least Grace will be there with me this time, I thought. This should be interesting, as algebra sucked. I went through the open door of room 2-107 and went and sat down next to Grace. She was always the first one to math, because she had art right next to it.
       "Did you do the homework from last night? I think I forgot. Do you think i'll have time to copy yours...?" she asked with a smile. I smirked.
"IF I let you copy," I said, sliding it over. She grabbed her pencil and started to aggressively copy down my answers.
"They're probably wrong, anyway," I said. Math was not my strong suite. She gave my paper back after finishing writing, and I turned around to put back my folder in my backpack. I saw Alec walk in. He smiled and waved, and went to go talk to the teacher. She sat him down with a group of boys. I caught his eye and he shrugged. I was relieved, but slightly disappointed at the same time. Turning to face the board, I focused solely on whatever confusing subject Ms. Hart was going to throw at us today.
••••
Math, for once, was quickly over. The rest of my day was pretty low-key, so I was always in a better mood after 5th period. Grace and I twisted through the corridors, silently walking to culinary.
       "So, today we're actually making the pancakes, right?" I said, attempting to make conversation. Her face quickly lit up.
       "Oh yeah! I've been looking forward to that part since we started the unit. We spent forever learning how to make pancakes. I mean, how much teaching do we need for that?"
       "Yeah, I know. You just need some boxed pancake mix and some water and eggs. Unless we're making them from scratch, using that one recipe from that one day," I wondered out loud. We discussed pancakes the whole way there. It's funny how food could make you forget all your worries. Alec continued to sit with some of the boys from the last class. Me and Grace made our pancakes. It was one of the best classes I'd had all year (or all month, anyway). The bell rang, and me and Grace said our goodbyes.
       I got lucky with PE seventh period. It was a free dress out day, so we all just sat in our clothes and looked at our phones. Browsing through Instagram and Snapchat, I settled down in a cozy corner of the bleachers. After 45 minutes and not have moved a bit, the bell rang and I stood up. Various cracking noises sounded through out my body, and I laughed. This crazy day had finally come to an end. I walked outside, and waved to a few of my friends on the way to the bus. Then it dawned on me. I'd have to sit next to Alec in the afternoon, too. Oh well, I thought, He's been hanging with Henry, and he's on our bus too.
       I climbed up the stairs on the bus, and looked around for Alec. He was sitting in my seat. Or, our seat, now. I walked to it and sat down. He looked up and smiled.
       "Hey," he said. I smiled back at him. I had to have been overreacting about this whole thing.
       "Hey. How was your first day?"
       "It was really great, actually. For once I actually enjoyed school. Everyone's really nice and my classes are pretty decent," He looked like he really meant it.
       "That's great! Don't get too used to it, though," I said, laughing. He laughed too.  I smiled at him again, but this time awkwardly. I looked down and put my earbuds in. He did the same and that was how the rest of the ride went.
        When we finally got to our neighborhood, I took my earbuds out. Alec and I stood up and walked off, with the rest of our bus stop. I prepared to say goodbye to him, but he turned and walked towards me before I could wave goodbye.
       "What way are you going?" he asked. Oh god, I thought.
       "Left, then left again," I said.
       "Okay, me too. Except I turn right after the first left. Mind if I walk with you?" I felt my cheeks turning red.
       "Yeah, you're good," I told him, and we set off. For the first two minutes we didn't talk, but I was determined to get some information out of him.
        "So, what made you move to New Orleans?" I asked. I stared at him avidly to sense and type of emotion. He bit his lip and shrugged.
        "I don't know. My mom loves the scenery. The old houses, the food, just the whole culture, I guess you could call it, of this place. It's beautiful here," he said as he he looked around, "I mean, there's beads wrapped around every tree. It's awesome. But the main reason is because my dad was... transferred here for his job," His job, huh, I thought.
        "Oh. What does he do?" I asked innocently. I tried not to seem to eager for his answer.
        "Ah, um, Walmart. I mean, he's the... regional manager... of Walmart," Once again, the hesitation.

Walmart's regional manager my ass.