Forgive my Fins: A new point of view

Chapter 5

I walked into English but my thoughts were still on Lily. I took a seat next to Courtney, and started looking for my copy of animal farm as I felt a tap on my arm.

"Hey, I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. I was just angry at Brody," Courtney said with an apologetic look on her face.

"It's okay, you weren't the only one." I smiled sadly.

"Well, what can I do to make it up to you?" she asked.

"Do you still have that wench costume?" I replied. She was just about to open her mouth to respond when our teacher snapped.

"Quince, would you like to share your conversation with the rest of class?"

"Oh, Courtney and I were just talking about how the pigs overthrowing the humans was a commentary on the communist agenda in Animal Farm." I scramble.

"Well, as pleased as I am that you are discussing the book in class please be quiet while I am teaching." she said giving me a stern and surprised look. I am not the best student in class but that's only because I don't try. It's not that I don't want to, I have a job that takes up most of my energy, so by the time I get home, I am too drained to study. Most of my teachers like me but they have given up hope that I will put in more effort than to just pass the class.

Courtney passes me a note. Yeah, I do why?

Because I need to borrow it for the dance. I write back.

She gives me a confused look but tells me that she can give it to me after class. I give her a slight nod and get back to the lecture. My mind, of course, still can't focus as I am worried about Lily not showing up today. After what feels like an eternity, the class finally ends and we walk out. Courtney rummages through her backpack and can't find the costume. Just then, I see Lily walking out of her art class. She and Shannon seem like they are in deep conversation. She looks up and I turn my attention back to Courtney trying not to blush. I saw Lily out of the corner of my eye with a confused look on her face.

"I must have left it in my locker. Can you meet me there right after school?" she asks.

"Yeah, sure!" I respond and we both go our separate ways. Lily is just standing there with Shannon looking at me. I was about to go over to her when she grabbed Shannon's hand and walked away. Just fantastic! Now she'll never come to see me outside of the parking lot. I still had to try though.

I go to seventh period, still distracted and then run across the school to Courtney's locker.

"Here you go," she said, handing me the costume. "What are you going to do with this anyway?"

I take a deep breath knowing she is definitely not going to like my answer. I take a minute to formulate my response so she doesn't kill me.

"Well, it seems like telling Lily that she and Brody really shouldn't be together isn't going to work, so if Lily confesses her feelings maybe she will realize that she really doesn't know him that well."

"So your plan is to bring them together!" Courtney yells.

"Can you just trust me? You owe me that much," I tell her. I can tell she is hesitant but she just nods.

"Thanks, Court," I say as I let out a sigh of relief. "I gotta go."

I sprint to the athletic parking lot to grab my motorcycle and head over to the parking lot with the dress on my lap. I am already fifteen minutes late. I can feel my muscles as tense so I take a deep breath and relax. It's a technique I learned when I was a child. My parents fought a lot and instead of crying to add more to their worried, I would just take a second to let the emotion engulf me and release it with an exhale. It worked most of the time but my mom said that I makes me unapproachable since I don't show any emotions on my face for more than a few seconds.