Monica's P.O.V .
I kissed my mom's cheek as a goodbye and dreadfully went out of the house where a shiny Chevy Camaro was waiting for me.
"You ready?" Brandon asked from the driver's seat as I got in.
"Pretty much." I breathed out.
Brandon offered to drive me to school today because I think he knows how unable I will be when I drive to school alone. He said, and I quote, "I don't need another version of Natasha's drunken driving."
Like, isn't that a little too much?
"You know, I'll be here all the time." he looked at me briefly with a reassuring smile.
"Except 5th period which is gym class..." I trailed off, biting my lip, "which means athletes. Athletes meaning Josh and Josh meaning a load of basketball players. A load of basketball players meaning a lot of teasing."
"Nah. You'll survive." He tried saying nonchalantly but ended up sounding unsure and worried.
"I sure hope so." I said sulkily.
And so we drove to the school, a thick layer of tension swerving along the air. It took us at least 8 minutes to finally get to school, and with the numbers on my watch changing awfully slow, Brandon parked the car in the parking lot.
My breathing turned into rapid pants as I noticed how many people were in the lot. I tried to calm myself but none of the tricks worked and that made me panic even more.
"Hey, hey, Monica." Brandon called out, grabbing my attention as it snapped me out of my hyperventilation, "Relax, okay? Relax." He instructed carefully.
Monica. I didn't bother correcting Brandon. Two things.
One, I was too busy being uncomfortable and scared. Second, it sounded pretty different the way he said it, in a good way.
"Just breathe," he took in a deep breath and I hesitantly took a deep, shaky one. "Good. Just breathe and duck your head low, alright? Don't worry, it won't last for long, and besides, I'm here for you every step of the way."
I tried to force out a smile but it came out as a nervous grimace. Brandon sighed, gave me an encouraging smile before going out of the car and opening my car door for me.
I took a huge breath in before placing my clammy hands on Brandon's extended one. I did what he told me, I ducked my head and acted calm and normal but they weren't having it.
The whispers were almost deafening because I didn't know what they were talking about. And it wasn't good.
I had this churning feeling in my stomach that made me wanna throw up... But I didn't dare to because I wouldn't want another set of rumors when one wasn't even forgotten yet.
So I settled to trying to ignore them, after all, it was the plan to make me feel less anxious about things.
Keyword being try, as usual.
If someone old me before that this would happen to me someday, I'd probably laugh and think they're crazy, but now that it really is happening, I wouldn't laugh because I simply couldn't.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•° GYM CLASS °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
I entered the girls' locker room warily, eyes followed my every move as I did.
Why were they even make such a big fuss over this? I mean, Josh was the school hearthrob and he can have any girl falling at his feet, he can get any girl and I bet he kissed a lot more girls everyday than that of an average daily basis. It's just weird, having people notice you, especially since it's not even good in the first place. They noticed me because they wanted to scrutinize and judge me, and I'll let them.... but I never said I would let them get to me again.
