Reliving Yesterday ✔

Chapter 14.

School couldn't have been more unwelcome. I slugged myself into school in the hopes of seeing only two people: Hanna and Blake and in the hopes of never coming into contact with Parker. That was probably impossible, seeing that we had gym today and there was no way in hell that Coach wouldn't turn up. He'd have to do more that die to not turn up in school. I groaned inwardly, but forgot everything as soon as I saw Blake standing by my locker. He was smiling at me and happiness washed over me as I walked over to him.

"Hey, Alex," he said, slowly in his low voice.

"Hey," I whispered back to him.

I was oddly conscious of everything I was doing as he watched me take and put book into my locker. When I finally closed the door, he straightened up and looked down at me, biting his lip. "Hey, uh, I wanted to ask you something."

My heart skipped. "Sure."

"Come on." He jerked his head towards the school yard and started walking. I followed him, unsure of what was coming.

He walked up to an empty table and sat down, motioning for me to do the same. I sat in front of him. "OK," he said, "It's not a big thing. It's just that my big sister is coming home soon and she's getting married, so I wanted to ask if you'd come and help me pick out a little gift for her, like jewellery or something."

I breathed out in relief that he wasn't asking me what I thought he would. If he did, I'm sure I wouldn't have known how to answer. I like him, but I'm not sure how much I like him or if I like him like that at all. I smiled at him. "Sure," I replied, "Shall we go today?"

Blake flashed me a bright smile, his eyes shining. "Thanks, Alex."

*

"So shall we do something after school?" Hanna asked me, during French period, while a surprisingly subdued Ms. Sorrento handed out our next play for French class. So far, I hadn't been cast as lead with Parker again and neither did I have to finish that horrible play. I'd been happily stationed in the backdrop for sometime. Something Ms. Sorrento isn't exactly pleased about. It didn't seem to be the only thing she wasn't pleased about. When she walked back to her desk and looked at us, her face was stone and unmoving.

"Class," she said in a fragile voice, like she was going to burst into tears at any moment, "I have horrible news."

I braced myself. Most things that were bad to Ms. Sorrento were bad for me, too. She took a deep breath and scrunched up her eyes. "Our play for the showcase has been cancelled," she practically wailed, "They said that no one would understand a French play."

She dropped into her seat, while there was a wave of happiness that went through the class. I dropped my shoulders, happy that I wouldn't have to play Juliet to Parker's Romeo anytime soon in French.

"We'll just have to showcase our talents here, inside this class. Bound by these four walls and give all of you no creative expression whatsoever," she burst out, "I had such a wonderful play planned. Romeo and Juliet in French is such a wonderful play and I had the most lovely parts planned for all of you."

She leaned back in her chair mumbling a few words like, "Green eyed Romeo."

My breath hitched. I was so glad it wasn't happening. Parker would have found some way to make my life miserable and embarrass me on stage if it was. Hanna rolled her eyes and smiled at me. I gave her a weak smile. The class was the most dry French period I had ever had because Ms. Sorrento was in such a terrible mood. I almost wished we had some way of doing the play, just for her so that she wasn't so sad.

When I mentioned it to Hanna and Jackson, they considered it. "Well, it's a nice thought, Alex," Jackson nodded to me, "But getting everyone else on board might be a problem." Hanna nodded and I sighed.