Worlds Apart (Completed)

Chapter 28: Play it Along (Flash Back)

"Hey, brat!" I call him.

"Don't call me that I swear I will..." He looks around him before looking back at me. "I will kill you for sure."

"It's not like your new FRIENDS are here anyway so they can't hear me say." I say, putting my hands on my hips and emphasize the word 'friend'.

"Even if they aren't around you can't call me that," he says, pointing a finger at me and giving a stern look. I was afraid for a second there.

"Oh? Why not brat?!" I give him back the same stern look. "I can call you whatever I want and whenever I like brat! So deal with it, BRAT!" He opens his mouth to say something and shuts it soon enough and starts glaring at my back, I swivel my head to look in the direction he was glaring at.

"Hi, you two having lunch here?" Asks Jamel to both of us.

"Oh hi, Jamel I was waiting for YOU here," Jamel smirks at me and looks towards the still-glaring-brat. Jamel hesitates for a moment but extends his hand towards the brat and he takes it fast enough then I ever expected him to. They shake hands together.

"Good to see you, buddy." Says Jamel to the brat and he responds him with an empty smile. "Say... how's it going, the new class? New people?" Jamel asks brat after a brief and weird handshake.

"Better than expected." brat replies while nodding his head. "And about people, it felt like I knew them already before I even met them." He says that looking at me and soon averts his eyes back to Jamel. "Actually I was also waiting here for a FRIEND to join me for lunch..." He looks behind him. "And Oh! There she is." He points in a direction of a girl who is a bit far and waves his hand in which he's holding a sandwich. The girl strides to us like a maniac just after catching the sight of the brat. The girl halts at the place beside the brat and pants, trying to catch her breath from almost running from that distance to here.

"You just slipped away and I was looking all over the place for you." She says between her ragged breathing and I just stare at her, Jamel does the same beside me. "Why are you always running away from-"

"Oh! I was waiting for you here and you are finally here MAGGIE!" The brat cuts her off and puts up a charming smile over his face and looks at her admiringly.

So this is the Magneta girl. Grrr...

"Really you were waiting for m-"

"Meet my grade six friends. This is Sarah and this is Jamel and she is Maggie." He cuts her off again and introduces us.

"Did you just call me by my nickname for the second time?" She asks, looking at the brat, her eyes wide and sparkling with amusement. She then looks at us enthusiastically. "I don't believe that he is actually introducing me to his friends!" She greets us awkwardly.

"Nice to meet you too." I was sure to pull the sarcastic tone but she seemed immune to it and nods to both Jamel and me.

"I'm Margaret, you can call me Maggie." Her voice was filled with excitement.

"No way, only I get to call you that!" Brat butts in and looks towards the Magneta girl. She perks up, upon hearing his words.

"Okay, you guys can call me whatever except for Maggie," she said, looking at the brat only, her hands clasped together.

"Oh? Then how about misery?" The Magneta girl gives me a weird look before she looks back at brat again and I give her a big fake smile.

Two can play this game. Well, bring it on brat!

"Jamel lets go to the pond later after school," I say, looking up at Jamel with yet another fake smile. Jamel gives me a confused look.

Oh, damn it. PLAY IT ALONG!

"Wait you just told him about our secret place?" Brat looks at me with a frowned expression.

"Yes, and we go there every day after school," I say looking at him, locking up my arms together against my chest.

"Weren't you coming at my home after school?" He questions, arching up an eyebrow.

Oh great, I'm caught.

Hurry up make up an excuse!

C'mon think of something!

"I do... But you're forgetting I don't come to your place just after the school, I take an hour or two after I reach home and change so you don't know what I'm doing that time." I tell him in a duh-tone.

"Sarah-" Jamel jumps in when he suddenly got cut off.

"Oh it could be, I don't catch up with time after school though. I and Maggie are eating ice cream at the Flo's mostly." He says, half smiling.

"You what!?" I half shouted. I don't believe he would do something like this. He never visited that place without me even if he'd go with his mom or dad, he'd always ask me to come along.

The Magneta girl manages to speak somehow. "But I don't remember to eat-"

"Anyway, this week I will be going out fishing with my family, just a small picnic, I guess you would be busy eating ice cream so... Jamel would you like to-"

"Who said I would be busy?" Brat speaks up before I can complete. "I mean, I think I can make it... Yes, sure... I'll be in."

Before any of us could say anything the bell rung, implying that the break time was over. The Magneta girl started fidgeting in her place and shifted her gaze from me to the brat.

"I think we should leave now, its Mrs. Arthur's class and she would be very furious if we came late." The girl said, weakly but brat didn't move his gaze from me and neither did I dare to do that.

I don't know what happened but now we both were being dragged far away, our backs turned to each other but I could still feel him looking back at me.

"What was that before?" Jamel asks, looking at me while we were walking up on the staircase for our class.

"I'm sorry Jamel that I've dragged you in this but you have to help me." I plead.

"I sensed that something was weird."

"It's because of my stupid sister's plan she told me to use.... you." I look down, embarrassingly. "I'm sorry Jamel, I'm so selfish sometimes."

"Aren't we all?" He smiles, trying to brush away my embarrassment. "It's okay, tell me how I can be of any use? We are friends now after all."

"I couldn't think anyone of my friends to help me in this you see... D would have caught me in the first place, he wouldn't have believed all... this."

"I get it, would you just tell me already?" he utters in a frustrated tone.

"Umm... Okay." A strand of hair falls out of my braid and I tuck it behind my ear while calculating my words to speak. "He is dealing with some family problems right now which is the very first reason he decided to jump a grade and I don't know what was he thinking but he surely is avoiding people who're close to him." I take a deep breath and continue. "It has nearly been a month that he's trying to live a solitary life so if jealousy is the way to take him out of his shell and make him realize then I'm obliged to do it," I say, looking at him expectantly for his answer.

"You like him?" He asks me.

"Yes, he's my best friend I would do whatever it takes to see the old bra-"I nearly choked out the word brat. "Him again."

"No, I mean... Umm... never mind." He hesitates to say something but I don't press him. "But yes, I'll help you." He smiles at me.

"Ohhhhh thank you soooooo much, Jamel!!! You are a great friend!!!" I say, jumping up and down excitedly but I suddenly froze on my ground, as a thought crosses my mind. "Jamel you have to come to our family picnic, it will be a lot of fun!" I wink at him and then walk towards my class, leaving him standing behind me. Probably he must be thinking that I sure have an evil mind.

Yes, sir, you got it right there. I have a pretty evil plan.

MUAHAHAHA!