Chapter Thirteen Part 1/3:

Thou Shall Not Insult Me

"Maverick, you look tired." Said Ms Shatilla, my old English teacher as she handed out booklets for our new Hamlet assignment.

"Are you telling me that I don't look good today?" I asked our teacher in amusement while the class laughed at my comment. Ms Shatilla just chuckled and told everyone to be quiet, and quickly dismissing the subject.

I felt self-conscious all of a sudden, and told myself that I shouldn't give a damn. I looked fine. There were bags under my eyes, no doubt about that, but I hid them behind my framed glasses. I still believe that I look somewhat presentable with my comfy, white knitted sweater that fits perfectly, a pair of dark skinny jeans, and a pair of tan-coloured combat boots. My dark hair probably looks like a mess, and I ran my hand through them, to somewhat loosen any knots.

I took one booklet, and handed the rest behind me. When I turned around as I hand them out, Dani was sitting on the back corner which was my original seat, and was staring at me. Her stare was so blank, that for a second, I thought that she was spacing out. But then I realized that she was spacing out, so I waved a hand at her to get her attention.

Dani seemed to snap out of it, and shook her head, a blush coming out of cheeks and looked away quickly.

"The hell?" I whispered to myself, frowning at her, and wondering if she got mad at me when I decided to follow Thomas and made a scene in front of Natasha earlier this morning. Tsk. It was him that made a scene, not me! I turned around again while Ms Shatilla told us to look at our booklets.

It said,

Slam Poetry Presentation

You will be assigned a quote from Hamlet, and use it as an inspiration to tell a story as a poet. You may speak from personal experiences, or not (I don't care, just be creative). You may work as an individual, with a partner, or in groups.

Evaluation:

Physical Presence: /10

Voice and Articulation: /20

Dramatic Appropriateness: /20

Evidence of Understanding: /30

Overall Performance: /20

The next page contains the rubric of each evaluation.

"Ms Shatill-" I called out as I immediately raised my hand up in the air.

"No Maverick, you may not work on your own." She cut me off, giving me this knowing look as if she knows what I'm thinking already. The class laughed because our teacher knows me too well to predict what I might say.

"How did you know that I wanted to work on my own?" I asked, and grinned at her innocently. Ms Shatilla shook her head in disbelief, because yes, I do prefer to work on my own, and I don't see any problem with that except for her, apparently.

"I think it's best if you're in a group, or paired up with a person." She explained, giving me a stern look. "You've only worked on your own, and I'm afraid that your cooperating skills aren't being practiced." She said, holding on to her hips and mocking me in a light way.

"That's because she doesn't have any cooperating skills." Said Nicole, the girl that's sitting beside me. She was holding on to her booklet, and staring at it while appearing nonchalant. Obviously, she's pretending that she didn't say anything mean. I turned my head at her, surprised to hear her talk about me that way.

"Excuse me?" I asked in bewilderment, somewhat feeling pissed off because she was being rude.

"We have Christian Ethics class together, and had one project together, and you wouldn't let me help you. I'm not complaining about the mark that we got, but you refused to accept any help from me." Nicole said, shrugging her shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal. Clearly it was though.

"Yeah." Said another guy that sits on the other side beside me. He reeks of cigarettes, but he dressed properly. Too proper, I might add. "Same thing happened with me during Biology class. We were supposed to dissect a squid together, but Maverick just ditched me and worked on her own."

"What?" I asked in shock, staring a him with narrowed eyes because I can't remember a thing. "What's your name? I think I would've remember from the stinky smoke smell."

The boy just flailed his hands around as if saying exactly, see what I'm talking about? To my surprise, the class murmurred their agreement, and some were chuckling from what I said. "I got zero for that assignment by the way. And my name is James, remember it this time." He added, giving me a glare.

I stared a him carefully. He's pissed too, and when I turned around to scan the class... A majority of them were somewhat staring at me with disdain except for Dani, who seemed to be in awe. Then, she looked like she was trying really hard not to laugh.

"Maverick." Called Ms Shatilla, and my full attention went back to our teacher, her sctrict tone active. "Why don't you give yourself another chance and work with a partner? Or a group?"

"No one would want to, Ms Shatilla." Said Nicole, who gave me a lazy look.

"Wow, thanks Nicole for putting it out there." I told her, sarcasm thick in my voice. "Why don't you shut that mouth of yours before I make it bleed? You little bitc-"

"Maverick Bridge!" Ms Shatilla cut me off, and giving me her usual you better shut up now, or else.

Everyone went insane and it got noisy pretty quick. My classmates did their usual oooh and most of them were laughing, but I didn't think it was funny at all. Nicole glared, turned to face the front, and said nothing.

Ms Shatilla gave me a dissapointed look, and I suddenly felt bad. I know that I should apologize, but I couldn't seem to do so. Then, Ms Shatilla told everyone to be quiet, and she didn't need to repeat herself because of the scary teacher voice that she used. No one wants to make her mad, ever. I'm just lucky that she didn't send me to the office because of my use of foul language.

Then she told everyone to form their own group or pair up to plan for the assignment. Like ants, everyone moved swiftly as if it was already planned for them to go together like that, and I stared after them in desperation as I now realized how much of a loner I must be.

"I'll be her partner." Dani spoke up, her hand shot up in the air. Then, heads turned to look at her in disbelief.

I watched her stand up, walk up to my desk, tap the top of my head with her palm, and sat on the table of my desk. She was so close that I could smell her shampoo, which was strawberry scented, and her hands right beside mine as she gripped on the wooden table. She looked down on me, and had a smirk on her lips.

I couldn't figure out if it amused her that almost everyone in this class hates me, or she's just making fun of how I lost my temper earlier. But somewhere in her smile, I knew that she didn't care.

"That was quite a scene." She said. "And here I thought that you were a good Catholic- girl."

"It's not my fault! It was obvious that I was being verbally attacked." I complained, and sighed as I dared myself to bury my forehead on her lap. Dani chuckled at my action and flicked my ear. "I was just defending myself." I added, my voice mumbled on her lap.

"You didn't need to spat out rude comebacks though." Dani explained.

"They were rude first!" I said, lifting up my head and pouting at her.

"But saying more rude things will make things worse." She said, and I keep on pouting. "Why don't you just prove them wrong by demostrating your cooperating skills with me?"

"But I already get along with you." I said. "I actually like you, so it would be easy for me to cooperate, because I'm actually talking to a decent human being." I said, now turning my head to stare at Nicole and raising my voice so she could hear, "Unlike some other people."

Dani lightly slapped my face and held the booklet in front of me.

"Stop it." She scolded. "Now we have work to do, and obviously this assignment needs after school hours to work on."

"We can work at my house." I suggested.

"We can work at mine too." She said.

"Sweet." I grinned, nodding my head. "Now we need a quote. Hey Ms Shatilla-"

"It's on the front desk, Maverick." Ms Shatilla said in her monotone voice, as if she was bored. She was currently talking to Nicole and James, who apparently were paired up together. "Pick a quote, and come see me so I can write it down."

James was staring at me, so I narrowed my eyes at him questioningly. "Look away, thou whoreson toad." I said, while making a shooing motion.

Ms Shatilla turned around, and gave me a warning look.

"What? I thought we're allowed to say bad words to each other if we used Shakespearean insults?" I asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Our teacher just shook her head in disbelief, but gave me a small smile nonetheless.

A/N:

This is a short one, but this chapter has three parts, soooo~ all you gotta do is be patient. I have cramps right now, and I am currently on our living room floor, refusing to move. My mom kicked me a few times, and called me crazy, but that's okay.

xoxo - Jean

Unedited.