Class 101❖Jeff Winger

Could Have Been Me || four

The first week was nearing its end. My classes were starting to have in-depth assignments, my friend group had established our study night, and I hadn't gotten any more texts from Jeff. He hadn't really talked to me at all besides in class when it was required. A part of me was sad, but another part was relieved. It meant that he had probably decided I wasn't worth his time. It also kept him, along with the rest of the Seven, from being our main topic of conversation during hangouts.

The study night we had established was every Friday after school, since we were all done by 2:15 p.m., and changed location every week. The first one was tonight, and we were having it at my apartment. We all agreed to make sure we were done by 4:00 p.m. to avoid any plans being ruined. Friday was Luna's family night at her parents, Clark and Zack's game night, and Darla's busiest night for work.

For me, it mainly consisted of staying up reading or watching shows on Netflix. Occasionally I would spend it baking, but that was when I felt motivated. I wasn't a very social person, let alone adventurous. That was something I've definitely been working on, though. I didn't want to spend my weekends alone, not doing anything that could change my life. I'm tired of feeling like I'm going nowhere.

I'm tired of treating myself like a side character. I'm the main character of my own story, and I needed to act like it.

I heard a knock at the door, snapping me out of my thoughts. I figured it was one of my friends since it was around 2:30. We didn't carpool today for the specific reason of being able to leave at the right time. I opened the door to see Darla and Luna.

"Heya, chickadee! Ready to study?" Luna asked as she walked in, Darla close behind.

"I have to leave early. I need to get chips and stuff for tonight," Luna stated. Darla and I nodded and started pulling chairs into my small living room. Clark and Zack showed up a few minutes later, bringing some snacks with them, and we all gathered around my coffee table. I didn't really have a set theme for my house or matching decor. I mainly just got stuff that I saw on clearance at stores or furniture from my parents.

Our seating arrangement consisted of me and Darla on my parent's old leather couch, Luna in a mushroom chair I got for $10 at Target, Clark on a red cube seat, and Zack in an office chair. My coffee table was the only thing I had genuinely purchased for full price. It was big enough to hold snacks and our drinks, nothing more. Not like we were going to study anyways, we had no genuine homework over the weekend and no tests coming up.

"Any Winger updates?" Clark asked through a mouth full of popcorn.

"No. He hasn't missed either of our classes yet, and neither have I. He isn't going to text me unless that happens, remember?" I asked, throwing a chip at him.

"Do you actually believe that? I mean, I know you're not the smartest, but he's a complete tool. You've got to see that," Zack said, causing silence to fall across us.

"That was rude," Darla said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, that made you seem like more of a tool than Winger. Do you know how hard that is?" Clark asked.

"I'm sorry for saying you aren't the smartest. But that's the only thing I'm sorry for," Zack said.

"Thanks. And I do know that Jeff hasn't had the best track record, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. I have to see him for the rest of the semester, so I would rather not make him hate me. He's my partner for one of my classes, too. I don't want to end up doing all of the work on partner assignments in that class," I said, sighing as I grabbed my drink.

"Well, I don't think Jeff texting Lou is our biggest issue. We still need to figure out how we're going to survive Class 101. We're going to be stuck in the same room as the Seven for an hour, three days a week. I'm not excited," Darla stated. We all groaned in agreement.