Back to school

Buzzzzzzz went an annoying alarm clock beside my bed at 6.30AM, every school morning. Haven't heard such a rack in a month. The noise aching my ears and hurting my beauty sleep makes my legs jump and drag myself out of my own comfy bed. I didn't want to leave the cold breeze I was feeling between my cheek and duvet, but don't want to make a bad impression, especially on the first day back.

I hadn't noticed my endless early tiresome body had dragged me infront of the bathroom sink within seconds. I desperately wanted to head back because I knew once the water from the sink tap hits my face that's it, I'll be detached from my half dead face back to life, bye bye dreams.

First day of school, new year, new classes, and hopefully new teachers, I really am getting tired of the old ones. And also a new me. No more dark depressed Jen, I won't be that dead inside invisible girl anymore, who got pushed and stepped on last year and in the past before. This time I'll be different; more sassy, more chill and mostly importantly, more like Kylie; my bestfriend, who's supported me since kindergarten.

"Hurry up Jennifer! You're wasting time!!!" mother screamed from across the living room of our small, broken apartment.

God, she's so annoying! I haven't even dressed yet and there's still time. That woman always wants me out of the house for only reasons those sharp needles, piercing out liquid on to the carpet below her, know. I don't want to mess with her either, it gives me heaps of headaches.

Finally found the right look for school; a light blue, cropped, shoulder less, v-neck vest over a dark blue plaid skirt and whire high knee socks in semi-black heels. Perfect! Well, it's what Kylie would wear and she gets all the attention from it. At least I'm covered, just in a more sexy/nerdy way, completely the opposite of months ago me. I meant it when I said new me.

As I manage to step out of my front door, remembering my bag, I hear a sense of relief from my mother's throat. I remove my attention to Kylie who happened to be walking towards me with a massive grin, that could tear her face cheek from cheek. I quickly scan her to see what she's wearing from a distance, something similar but more revealing.

She gasps with such intensity as she stops approaching me, wondering what's so different about me, "OMG, something is so different... did you change your hair? Oh! I know! You're wearing makeup... Finally girl!".

"Uh, No-", I shook my head rapidly as I've never worn make-up nor do I now, but before I could explain anything to her, she changed the subject, how Kylie of her, "so... how do I look? Chic or so last week?"

"You look good, Ky. Same as always; like the Asian Barbie every guy wants and every girl wants to be, unlike me.", You could sense a sigh of disappointment in my tone. I can never be near as perfect as Kylie; her figure is 0, her hair is silky smooth and very long, on top of that, it's all natural. She could just as easily become a model influencer for teens.

We began walking to Al'Burdene high side by side, passing by Gabriel's place. I felt like surprising Gabriel, so I tried to avoid him until school when we're in the school halls viewing each other from each end of the corridors, it seems more romantic.

As we almost reach school, I hear a distant wail in the cool breeze, vibrating across the air. I turn around whipping my heat-blown hair assisted by the light wind brushing through it. It was like a scene right out of a movie.

"Hey Jen! Is that you???", the familiar voice queries aloud from a great distance.

How unexpected, my eyes couldn't extend any further, shocked. Oh no! It's Gabriel. He wasn't supposed to see me yet. There goes my moment. At least I got a pleasantly surprised expression from what I could tell just as he looked me up and down. I hoped he'd like it and he did, very much so. In fact, he said and I quote, "I love it. I'm glad you took a different route", he did... well, I may have put it lightly.

We make it through the school gates, Gabriel tagging along with us; me and his cousin Kylie, who he despises a little, they rarely get along. Yep, they're related, their grandparents were siblings. We reach our destination and realize majority of our classes are together, as written on our curriculum. Yay for me, at least I won't struggle to find a partner; boyfriend and/or bestfriend. Especially during class projects.

"Wait!", Gabriel pulls me by my new, above the knee skirt, as I was walking away, shoving me into his chest. My hands clenched into a light fist with my arms faced up like poles, pressing hard inbetween our bodies, keeping whatever space I could, "huh?". I can feel his breath against my lips as he leaned in. "You forgot something", he teased.

Before we knew it, an alarm ringing from the school bells bang into our precious eardrums as well as the hallway of where our lockers laid. I quickly pushed him against his locker and ran for my first lesson. Flushed red, I could feel the heat across my face as I giggled uncontrollably, knowing we almost kissed. I mean it would've been our first as he did ask me out last month after texting so much. But did I really want my first kiss to be in an empty hallway of a school? During my senior year? No, I needed it to be more memorable.

I made my way into my first class; English where there behold a new, well suited, teacher with a clean cut beard called Professor Vanderwalt Jr. standing before us in front of that dark, rusty, chalk board. He seemed quite moody staring down at the papers on his desk, so I tried not to get on his bad side by avoiding making any awkward eye-contact while walking, since I was the last one to enter.

"You are aware that you're 2 minutes late?" He sighs while his eyes and fingers are glued to his desk. Like he was telepathic, and also I may have made some noise entering. These old doors.

"Ah-- yeah, sorry, I didn't know. I-I didn't know which class I had first", In hopes he would fall for the whole which class did I have first day back.

"Hm... well, you're lucky I haven't started-", he paused from emotionless to confusion when he began to notice me, after he readjusted his very thin glasses. Even I was confused to why he was staring at me like that. I know I haven't done anything wrong, besides coming in 2 minutes late. I don't understand why it felt like he was undressing me with his eyes.

A hand in this sitting crowd rose up stretching, "Professor?". It took his attention away from me to that mysterious wildly waving hand. "Yes?", he responds with a stern voice, looking at the hand while glancing back at me and back to the hand. It was constant. His gaze concerned me a little, am I in trouble. Was he one of those strict ridden teachers? I hope not.

The hand questioned the old newbie, "Vanderwalt Jr? Is your father the well-known scientist Vanderwalt Sr? The man who effectively theorized how human life on Mars would work. Will we ever come to the point that we would need to colonize another planet?", the interest of the question has peaked everyone's attention.

"Yes, that is my father. I don't know what he expresses to the public about his work, nor do I care. I'm simply here to teach English", he brushes her off and moves forward with his lesson, still keeping his eye on me, "So, anyone here know of William Shakspeare?". As a whole class in a mundane tone we share, "yeah".

"Good! We will be looking into love, tragedy and trust in these coming weeks", he nods looking around and back. What is up with him? Does he expect me to answer? Because I have no idea. I didn't think being late 2 minutes, 2 minutes would be a personal attack on my soul with his eyes, during my first lesson as well.

As time ticked on, it felt like forever being in the same class, there was a moment I noticed he was just staring at me, looking me up and down behind those polished specs. Probably thinks I'm so full of myself for dressing like this. It was 5 minutes until the end of English. We were told to pair in groups of 3, just before the school's giant alarm bells rang again, "each of you from your group will be doing one of the 3 subjects; love, tragedy and trust by comparing 2 of Shakespeare's work-", saved by the bell, "that concludes your homework".

"Wait... the comparison thing is for homework?", a student from behind me gulps in fear, as he stands out of his chair ready to bolt out like the rest of us.

"Yes, you'll have a whole week to present your work to the class", Professor Vanderwalt taunts, irritating the class,"Ughghgh", everyone groans, first day back and we got homework to present this Friday. This is such a buzz kill. Sadly, I don't have Gabriel for English nor Kylie. Luckily, Maths is next where I'll be seeing them.

As I was heading out, past the squeaking door of the English class into the hallway, a girl, came out of the blue and asked how I was, "you okay? Seemed a little intense in there", the same girl who had her hand up. I replied I was fine. I felt at ease knowing she was a little concerned by the way the teacher was having a go, indirectly, at me, "Thanks, for helping me in there, kind of. I'm not a fan of stare downs, specifically for intimidation", I took her hand for a shake before we parted ways.

Kylie appears out of the blue herself, "um, what are you doing?", she pulls my arm twisting it into hers as she leads us to Maths. "Uh... what do you mean?, a puzzled expression plastered across my face. "What were you doing talking to Vanessa?", she skattled all over the place rushing to class, dragging me. "Vanessa?-"

"Yeah, Vanessa! Gabriel's ex?", she reveals.

"Oh, I didn't know she was his ex... does she know that he and I are dating now?", I ask hoping she she knew.

"I don't know, but something seems off", She squints her eyes and shakes her head. This is definitely going to bother her.

Making it to class, there sat Gabriel, biting his bottom lip, glaring at me seductively. I make my way next to him without grabbing too much attention, with my head down and books in arms. I place them on my table and ignoring Gabriel as much as I could, smiling so hard my lips would tear off, licking my dry lips. I was giggling so hard inside, imagine containing it on the outside?

"Hey! What are the books for?", Kylie whispers from in front of me. She sat directly in front with her swiveled body facing me. How had I not noticed. It made me chuckle a bit, moving my head side to side lightly. "From English. Homework...", I whisper back as our lesson starts. Kylie didn't seem too happy since she had plans for us to hangout with her new friends, "on the first day back you get homework? We only got a lecture! Does that mean you can't come over tomorrow, after school?"

"Don't worry, it's a group thing, I was paired with Hale and Kiki. They're like really smart, it will be done fast before you know it", I silently end the chit-chat before Kylie gets caught.

With the corner of my eye, I see a note coming my way from Gabriel's table, as the teacher passes an icebreaker quiz on individual pieces of paper. His hand thumps on my table dropping the note, retreating back his hand quickly, winking with his dashingly good looks. I open the note to read, 'ignoring me in class will only mean you'll need to make it up to me after', bringing the corner of my water filled lips to curl while I read it over and over.

My paper finally makes it to my table, I made sure I was glued to the paper as I ignore Gabriel's attention for me.

I hear a whisper of a whistle, wandering the room like a lost puppy, my eyes peak around the class. After a while, I'm able to locate it with my sharp sight; Michael Gerrera, ew. Who is this Michael Gerrera and why I was shaking my head like hell no. I was a freshman, had gotten my first braces when mom had a job and was decent then.

●●●

Michael Gerrera was the popular freshman all the new girls wanted, I wasn't following the same footsteps of those annoying girls, which seemed to piss him off.

He had approached me one time and asked if I would go to the adventure park with him and a few friends, to which I declined.

During lunch he had asked me to sit beside him with his 'cool' crew, I didn't think anything of it, so I did, only for him to struck me with his red pigmented juice all over my face and hair. For what? To call me names and humiliate me just because I didn't care about him like the others?

●●●

What did Michael Gerrera want from me? I decided to ignore him just as I did Gabriel. Flicking that one strand of hair waving alongside my left cheek. Once I had finished the icebreaker, I get up to hand it to Mrs Muller, our Maths teacher since 10th Grade.

As I walk towards her, I pause and freeze in terror, my eyes almost bursting from its sockets, I felt a cold grip around my thigh from behind, tracking its way up my skirt! I squeal, "OH MY GOD!", Slapping the nasty hand, that belongs to Michael, away.

Next thing I see, aggravated, Gabriel taking off from his seat tackling the pervert off of his desk, onto the floor throwing brutal punches left and right piercing each skin with blue and purple bruises, "what the f*ck is wrong with you!", he cried, first time seeing Gabriel honouring my pride with such aggression. I don't know why but I felt a huge sigh of relief, my own protector.

Mrs Muller, enraged, "GERRERA! AUGUSTUS! WITH ME TO THE PRINCIPLES OFFICE, NOW!", she explodes like the bells in the hallway. They leave the class heated and silent. I head back to my seat, traumatized.

Few minutes later, a teacher enters and it's not Mrs Mullers. Turns out, she passed by the teachers lounge to ask someone to cover her. A familiar sound had entered my ears and I felt chills. Kylie batters her lashes in awe wondering who this new teacher is. Mr Vanderwalt Jr., "Oh... look at that! We got a hot teacher with a fine behind!", she swerves for a wink at me. "He's the new English professor. He's the reason I have these books!", seeming like my whispering skill was weak, he starts approaching us as if he heard us.

"Anything you girls would like to share?", he tenses his brows at us, my heart started to pump so fast as if I was caught stealing. "No...", I shake my head without trying to break a sweat.

He kneels down to my height to get a closer look at me, intimidating me even more, I was burning up. Felt like I needed to escape. He had to open his mouth, "I'd like to see you after class".

"During recess?", I ask.

"Yes.", he grins.

"Why?", I feel so antagonised, making me miss my break? No thank you!

"Fine. Keep your recess if it's that big of a deal. I'll see you after school instead!", he concludes.

What?! I can't afford to stay behind, my mother would kill me!, "No! Recess is fine, I guess.", I nervously agree. His piercing blue eyes stuck, the sunlight from the window glimmers into them as he gazes into mine, they shifted to my lips for a brief second, I could've sworn he bit his lower inner lip while glaring at mine. I couldn't bare looking at him anymore, I turn my concentration to Kylie, who happens to be oogling her eyes at our substitute. Wow.

He gets up steadily, interrogating the class to see if they had finished the simple icebreaker. He wants to teach 'properly'. No one really wants to learn anything right now, "Sir? Can we just do puzzles instead?", Kylie's friend, Jessica enquires, the same friend I was supposed to meet tomorrow afternoon.

"Yeah, I'm sure Mrs Muller had quite a few on the table for us to do.", I distract.

"Hm...", he nods thinking. His eyes hinged on to me like he was watching his favourite show.

I wasn't sure if I should hand him my paper during class or after the bells. So I waited. Time went by quickly this time, the school's ringing alerted the half-dead sleeping in class to jump out of their seats.

I sat still watching the last person leave the class just as Mr Vanderwalt shuts the door. He initiates me to come forward with my papers using his fingers, while he takes Mrs Mullers seat. I make my way there and place my papers on Mrs Mullers desk, he didn't like that I put the papers directly in front of him. He made me pick them up and go around the table next to where he sat and run through it with him as I stand beside.

He makes it clear that I have nothing to worry about, "you're not in trouble. You still haven't made up for those 2 minutes", wiping his glasses with a small cloth he kept in his right pocket of his 3 piece, preparing himself to read while I stood to his right. I knew he was still ticked off by the lateness.

To my shock, he pulled me harshly closer by the arm, I tumbled and accidentally sat on one of his extending leg, "Oh I'm so sorry! I-You tugged me and I fell! I didn't m-". Unphased, he's so close, our faces almost touch, my nose whiffs the smell of hot coffee in his breath as he reads the papers. For a moment, our eyes fixated onto each other. The temperature in my face and body rose so fast that you could see the redness oozing out of my pale flesh, I thought I was going to faint. I couldn't tell if he was feeling as inflamed as I. He had a very cool, natural tan, so smooth could almost be a wax figure at madame tussauds. Almost impossible to take your eyes off of.

"What do I call you?", his deep voice gently questions. I try to get up off of him while my shoulder pressed against his collar bone. His hand pinned to the side of love-handle, forcing me to face him as he watched me struggle. Without knowing my name, I was going nowhere, "you did well today, uh...?", his mouth lingered.

"J-Jennifer", Mesmering him with my warm tone so closely arousing his lips and steaming his clear specs, I was able to brush myself off of Mr Vanderwalt just as he lost his focus, hopping up off him and almost out the door. Snapping out of whatever trance that was, "I believe I'm done here!", taking a grip of reality, I stroll away before the end of recess.