Not Your Romeo & Juliet

Chapter 21

Vanessa~

Getting back to campus, I park in my usual spot and make my way to my literature class. The time is only 12:45, so I decide to stop in my room and grab a granola bar from my personal supply because I never did eat lunch. Stuffing it into my bag and dropping off my books, I walk over to my class and easily get in my chair ten minutes before the class starts. Munching on my granola bar, I open one of the new books Paul gave me today, but I can't seem to focus on it. The words start floating on the page, so I close it and put it back into my bag and finish the granola bar.

Ms. McAdams comes in at 1:05 and begins writing today's objectives on the board. We're going to be discussing the class book again, but I've already read the story three times and written a full paper on it that isn't even due until next week. I am beyond bored. Rosely put me in Advanced Literature, but it still isn't advanced enough for me. I guess that's what happens when your parents ditch you in your early teens and all you have are books and good old alcohol, which is an interesting mix.

As bored as I am, I try to focus on our discussion to see if these amateurs can contribute anything interesting, but I cannot, for the life of me, concentrate on anything other than my pure rage towards the new kid delinquent that I thought was becoming my friend, but is actually digging up information about me behind my back. Someone who didn't even ask me anything first. Not that I would've really released much information, but it's rude to not even give the person a shot first.

My gaze shoots up to the clock in the front of the room and it is currently 1:57pm. I have approximately thirteen minutes until I can get out of here and confront the little bastard in theatre. I regret not making a scene in that coffee shop. Raising my hand, I tell Ms. McAdams that I feel sick to my stomach and need to go to the nurse, which is only partly a lie. She lets me whether she knows I'm lying or not. It's very clear how bored I am in this class and what can she really do? Even the teachers around here don't mess with me.

Leaving the classroom, I find my way to the theatre classroom and wait around the corner. I try to think of where Skylar may be right now, but I have no idea. Instead, I wait around my corner for her to come up for class. The bell rings and I get ready to spot her. Not a few moments later, I see her annoyingly untidy uniform approach the theatre room, so I approach her from behind and grip the loose collar from behind. I've clearly startled her as her arms flail about in surprise, but I drag her away before she can do much.

"Vanessa!" She yells when I finally get where I want to be: away from people. I continue to drag her to a back exit of the school and release her collar to walk the rest of the way once were were far enough from the building. "What the fuck?!"

"I need to talk to you. Now." I say, thinning my glare and tightening my stance.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" She asks lazily, apparently having recovered from being dragged around.

"How about you tell me the truth about why you've been acting like my friend while trying to find out information on me? Why don't we talk about that?"

She just stands there, looking surprised by my outburst. I was very rarely this blunt, especially with this level of annoyance, but I just can't help it. Quickly recovering, she responds with something that sounds like her own irritation. "Well, Princess, you never tell me anything about yourself and plenty of people around here know about you. What's the harm in asking?"

"Because it's none of your business, Skylar!" I exclaim. I am so frustrated! "You just got here, you just met me, you don't know me and you don't deserve to know me. My best friends don't even know me. What gives you the right?" I ask, making eye contact for as long as I can without crying. I feel heat rising in my cheeks and water rising in my eyes. Turning away for a moment to rebalance, I wait for her to respond.