best friend | zdj

two

my morning classes went weirdly well. my teachers didn't give us any homework, no books to read, no tests to begin study for yet. it was almost scary. i was on my way to my last class before lunch. when i walked into the classroom it was half full already. i raised an eyebrow as i browsed for a place to seat. i saw laur waving at me from the back. i smiled and walked over to her.

"why do we always have history together?" i asked rhetorically as i sat down beside her and pulled my laptop out.

"the real question is, why do we always get boring, old teachers? i want a hot teacher, like those fanfics on the internet."

i giggled. "i'm afraid that only happens in fanfics, laur. i don't think justin bieber or harry styles will be our history teacher this year."

i turned my laptop on and connected it to the school's wifi. we weren't supposed to know the password, but i know someone who knows someone that knows it and gives it away if you ask for it. i opened netflix and looked for a movie to watch.

"first day and you're already gonna piss the teacher off? i might have to call your boyfriend and tell him you're misbehaving."

i laughed. "zabdiel is not my boyfriend, laur."

"i didn't say i was talking about him, did i?" she winked and turned to the teacher, who had just walked into the room. i rolled my eyes and made sure my laptop's volume was all the way down as i watched the phantom of the opera for the thousandth time. zabdiel would tease me for watching it so often, but once i caught him mumbling the songs under his breath and it was my turn to tease him.

i heard the words 'groups' and 'project' come out of the teacher's mouth while i was lost in my fantasy of being christine daaé and i was brought back to reality. i paused the movie and started to pay attention to him.

"the groups are..."

he started naming the members of each group. i grew anxious when i didn't hear my name.

"group six: annabelle, richard..."

richard? what the fuck? i didn't even notice he was in this class.

"...and lauren. i will give you the rest of the class to reunite with your group in the library. have a good afternoon, students."

everyone started mumbling under their breath. laur and i smiled at each other. we packed our stuff and headed to the library to find our group, if they didn't use this chance to leave early for lunch. i definitely would if laur wasn't in my group.

"richard camacho is in our group. god, he's been the cutest guy at school since i have memory."

i laughed. "cute is an understatement, laur, but since that cringey kiss in seventh grade i have dreaded having to actually face him."

"you used to think that kiss was hot." she raised an eyebrow and opened the library door.

"yeah, when i was in seventh grade! my dog gives better kisses than him."

laur tilted her head to the side. "you don't have a dog, anna."

i smiled. "i know."

we finally reached the table where richard was sitting at with two other guys. great, not only was richard in my group, but laur and i were the only girls. i took my laptop out once again, but this time i opened up google to search info about our topic.

the guys started talking between themselves and i only half listened to what they were saying. our topic was actually pretty interesting: the revolutionary war. years of obsessing over hamilton prepared me for this.

"how are we gonna divide the parts for the oral presentation?"

my eyes widened. we have to present it, too? holy fucking shit. how much of the instructions did i not hear?

"hey laur, can you watch my computer? i'm going quickly to the bathroom."

she nodded and waved me away without looking at me. she was batting her eyelashes at richard. i laughed and stood up. i crashed into someone and i almost fell on my butt, if they hadn't wrapped their arms around me. i looked up at joel and started panicking immediately.

"annabelle! i was looking for you, actually." he smiled warmly.

i bit my lip. "you– you were?" i cleared my throat to pretend i didn't just fucking stutter.

"yeah, can we sit together during lunch? i kinda need your help."

"of course!" i blurted out. "of course..." i repeated, more calmly this time.

he winked at me before walking away. i stood in my place for a couple of seconds to process the information, then i made my way towards the bathrooms.

i walked back to my table afterwards, only richard and laur were at the table now. i sat down in front of my closed laptop. weird, i thought i left it open... i decided to pack up and leave for lunch early, since laur seemed pretty busy anyways.