Back to you | ✔

17 | Chapter Seventeen

B O N N I E

I look over at him, putting on my best 'I'm annoyed you lied but I still love you' face. He smiles back, acknowledging the silence as me forgiving him.

The classroom door swings open, everyone's attention now focused on the figure walking through the door, anxiously waiting to see who we get.

Mr. Baites, great.

"Of course we get him." I hear Scott whine beside me and I chuckle.

"Good morning everyone, welcome back." Mr. Baites starts as he places his bag down on his desk, looking around the room at all of us, with a smile on his face, which was a pleasant change.

No one in the class dares to move or make a sound. Mr. Baites was the teacher no one wanted. Everyone is terrified of him, and for a good reason. The smile on his face, though, seems to confuse most of the class, all of staring at him like he grew two heads. I guess he sort of has. The smiley Mr. Baites and the grumpy one.

Last year he made Glenn Garrison cry on his first day in his class. Need I say more? Let's just say Mr. Baites has a way with words that can make you feel so insignificant, but if you stay on his good side, he is probably the best teacher in this school. It's one or the other with him; I hope this year I remain on his good side.

As Mr. Baites gets into his lesson, his back facing the class, I lean over slightly towards Scott. "we need to talk after class," he nods in agreement, no emotion showing through his blank expression as he stares back at me.

***

After class, I wait just outside the doorway to our classroom. Scott is taking his time coming out, probably trying to avoid having this conversation with me.

Eventually, he emerges around the corner, looking defeated and sad. Now I'm feeling bad; I don't want to upset or hurt Scott; he is my best friend, I just need answers.

"Are you okay?" I question, studying his appearance, noting his hands are fidgeting, fisting the bottom of his shirt, which tells me he is nervous or worried about something.

"I'm okay. Can we talk outside? I need some fresh air." I nod, following Scott out to the quad. We sit down at a bench seat over by the car park. Scott still avoiding eye contact with me; now I'm regretting being so blunt with him earlier.

"Look, Bonnie, I'm sorry," he starts, "We didn't want to keep this from you. We just weren't sure how you would react to us being together."

"Scott, I'm happy for you, I'm not upset that you two like each other," I sigh, "I just hate that you felt the need to keep it from me." Scott nods his head up and down ever so slightly it's barely noticeable.

"I'm sorry," he mutters. I slide closer to him, leaning my head on his shoulder. "It's fine. I still love you, I guess." That gets a chuckle out of him as he wraps his arm around me, pulling me in closer.

"I don't know what to do about Olivia," he sighs. This causes me to look up at him, his face still so sad. There's more going on than I know.

"What do you mean?"

"I really like Olivia, but seeing her all over Axel every weekend kills me, and she knows it does." He drags his hand over his face in frustration.

"I bet now that I know about the two of you, she will call things off with him. That's the only reason she is with Axel still, right?" I smile, trying to convince Scott that was true, but I wasn't so sure.

Scott shrugs, "I don't know. She seems to like him more and more every day." I sit up straight, grabbing his hands between mine. "Axel is fun and good looking, but that's all he is to her, I'm sure of it. If he were anything more, I'd know about it."