An Arranged Marriage to a Jerk

Chapter 5

Chapter 5: My Clumsiness

The next day at school, I find Kim as soon as I walk through the door. She's waiting for me at the front door, watching people come in and smirking at the couples. I roll my eyes because I know that it's out of jealousy. She's been dating Gavin for three years now. She pinned him against the wall sophomore year and forced him to ask her out. Ever since then, they've been dating; even though she loves him she looks for every chance to get out of it.

"Kim!" I yell as I approach her. "Get over here!"

She smiles but doesn't move. I finally reach her and fake hit slap her across the face. "What a disaster!" I cry.

"What, the date? Yeah, Mark called me. It didn't sound like he took the whole marriage thing too well. I'm sorry." She sighs dreamily as Connor walks by. "But on the bright side, you're one step closer to marrying Connor!"

I force myself not to say anything. It won't help, I know it. "Yeah, well, who's next?"

"Let me check," Kim says as she reaches into her purse. She pulls out a mini notebook and crosses off his name at the top of the list... it almost looks like mine, except she has a full page for each guy devoted to pros, cons, interests, and appearance... but mostly appearance.

"Ah, here we are! Number two on the list is Trenton Walker. He's a basketball player and state-ranked swimmer, he gets good grades and his ambition is to become a doctor. His overall appearance is ranked an 8 which is really good considering our school!" She shoves the book back into her bag and pulls me along the hallway.

"I'll find him first period and tell him the date is tonight. He's really excited to meet you."

I smile and then stop dead in my tracks. "I can't tonight. I have a date with- ugh- Connor." I sigh. "God, I hate this! I shouldn't be forced to date him if I don't even like him! Who knows what kind of tricks he'll have up his sleeve!" And it's true. He always tricks girls into liking him and then, just when you think he might actually like her, he dumps her. I can only hope he does the same thing to me.

"Great. Okay, two days from now."

"Wait, why not tomorrow?"

She smiles mysteriously. "We're going out with the clan tomorrow. We have something very special planed to cheer you up. But first! After school, come to my house so we can pretty you up."

I almost tell her to do the opposite, make me ugly, before I realize I can't. He's my last hope and whether I like it or not, I have to marry someone so I can become a vet. Because there is no way I'm becoming a lawyer. I've seen what my dad has done to some people; he always represents the big clients, and he has sent lots of innocent people to jail. I can't do that: people may be cruel but that doesn't mean I want to hurt them. I'll stick with animals.

We break away and walk to our lockers to grab our Psych books. we meet back at the classrooms and pass notes through Psychology where we're watching a documentary on Sigmund Freud.

We walk to second period together and discuss her future marriage to Gavin. It's a game we play, planning the wedding and picking baby names. Suddenly, I crash into a huge wall and fall, dropping all my books onto the wet ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" a deep voice says. I look up and squint past the sun to see that it's not a wall; it's a person, a very large male person.

"No, it's my fault," I say. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm sorry." I reach over to pick up my books.

"Here, let me help you with that." He bends down and turns away to grab a book behind him.

"Thanks, I-" I stop when he turns to me. It's Connor. "You? Oh, god... no, no, I've got it!" I say when he reaches for another textbook.

"Are you sure?" He grips my arm as we stand. I pull it away after I've regained my balance. "Want me to walk you to your next class?" He reaches for my hand.

I step away and pull Kim, who's trying to hide her laugh (and not succeeding), away from the scene of madness. A few people are watching and staring in awe. I shake them away and storm off to class without responding.