Half of What I Could Be

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I enjoyed history, it made sense to me. The classroom had thirty desks, but only twenty-five were occupied at a given time. I always sat in the back of the class, partially because I was a loner, but mostly because there was a heater back there. When Taylor and I walked into the class, only a few students were sitting at their desk. The teacher wasn't here. I heard rumors that Mr. Cunningham had a bad fall, and that we would be having a substitute for the rest of the semester.

The room was always overly bright. The overhead lights were turned on, and the panorama of windows just added to the glare of brightness. Every single highschooler's face grease was on display. I was the type of person that barely even had one light on at a given time. Everytime I walked into class, I had to give my eyes a few seconds to adapt. I made my way to my desk with Taylor in tow, and sat down.

"Does anyone sit here?" Taylor asked motioning to the desk that was positioned to the left of me. Before I could answer, she sat down.

"Nope," I proclaimed, popping my "p." She dropped her purse with a thud. It was a large purse that daylighted as her backpack. I wasn't really into fashion, but I could even tell her bag was Louis Vuitton. It was made of brown leather with small, yellow tinted LV's and flower-like shapes printed all over. I was envious.

"You like her?" Taylor asked, noticing me checking out her bag.

"I love her," I responded, because I really did. I would marry the bag if I could, "Where'd ya get her?"

"Paris," she stated as if it was no big deal, and then began digging through her bag for her class stuff. My mouth dropped. I was not a fan of people who casually dropped. It was a mirage of bragging and screaming for attention. Yet, when Taylor did it, I knew it was not a grab for superiority. It was just a fact. Just like the grass is green.

"Why are you here? The closest thing we have to designer brands in this town is Forever 21 and Dogtastic, which is a clothing brand that caters to miniature dogs," I claimed. Don't get me wrong, I like Forever 21, and Dogtastic did create really cute dog clothes, but it was no Louis.

I dug through my bag, which was a fifteen dollar backpack from Target, and grabbed my notebook. The pages consisted of more doodles than actual class notes, but I have always been one to get distracted easily. As I flipped to the nearest blank page, I heard the door open. Based on the smell and small feminine sighs around the classroom, I knew who it was: Jacin, Roan, and their disciples.

Their group usually sat by the windows, but for some reason I heard their footsteps coming towards Taylor and I. I lifted my head to make sure I wasn't hallucinating the sounds. Sadly, my ears were not deceiving me. Roan and Jacin were walking towards us. It must have been fear induced, because to me they walked in slow motion, as if my brain was preparing for a mental attack. My eyes got wide.

Roan didn't even hesitate before he sat down in front of Taylor, in a seat that was usually occupied by a human girl named Julia. Lucky for Roan, Julia was too shy for her own good and would be too scared to ask for her seat back. He sat down with a drawn out sigh, and then turned to place his arms on Taylors desk. Roan didn't even acknowledge that I was there, as usual. His eyes were directly on Taylor, who was trying her best to ignore him.

Jacin stood there between Roan's now claimed desk and the empty desk in front of me...awkwardly. I could tell he did not know if he should sit down in the open seat, or go to his usual spot across the classroom. Come on boy, pick a spot, I narrated in my head as if I was talking to a dog. Frankly, I was.

He stared at Roan, as if he was trying to inflict pain on him with his mind. He was fidgeting with something in his pocket. He was stressed. Was it because of me? Roan finally turned toward him.