Chapter Three: The Bastard

The bell rang, causing me to jump slightly. I narrowed my eyes at the streak that my pencil had made on my paper from the sudden movement and groaned.

Marcus raised a brow at my reaction. "Calm down, buddy. Wait till you get home." He held in a snicker.

I glared at him. "You know for a fact that's not what that is. I've got Science next period."

He furrowed his brow in confusion. "Okay? So, why are we groaning like we just jerked off?"

I rolled my eyes and started to pack my things. "Ha, ha ha, you're sooo funny. No. It's because next period is the class I have Roschèr in."

Realization formed on Marcus's face. "Ohhh. I see." He smirked and raised a brow.

I side-eyed him as I shoved my textbook into my backpack. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" It took me a second before it dawned on me what he was indicating. "Oh, Marcus! No! Don't even consider that."

Marcus raised both eyebrows. "You know," he continued, despite my warning glare. "Based off of what you told me about how everything happened, it seems like you got a little...jealous when you saw her flirting with other guys."

I rolled my eyes and ran my hand through my dark hair. "Don't be an idiot, Marcus. There's no way in hell that I would feel that way towards her."

Marcus only shrugged. "I'm just saying."

He packed up his things and pulled his backpack over one shoulder.

I stood and did the same. "Well, don't. It's an absurd thing to even consider." I walked out the door, Marcus following behind.

"Just so you know," Marcus added. "I have Haylie Murrah in my next class. And Owen."

"Well, at least you have one of our friends in your class."

Marcus gave me a smug grin. "Yeah, you're right. I am lucky, aren't I?"

I roll my eyes again. "Yeah, whatever. Maybe you can -" I stopped talking when I suddenly got an idea. "Hang on."

He stopped and looked at me. "Yeah?"

"You and Owen are on the TSO, right? The Teacher Student Organization?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Why? You got some sort of twisted plan in your head or something?"

I felt a wicked grin spread across my face. "As a matter of fact... I do."

Marcus stayed silent, listening for what I was going to say.

"The TSO organizes the trip for tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, we do."

My grin widened. "So, I have a brilliant idea on how to make this trip just absolutely perfect for Roschèr."

Marcus quirked a curious brow. "I'm listening."

I explained my thoughts to Marcus, and he slowly began to grin. "I don't know how your twisted mind works, Zach, but I love it," he grins wickedly.

As we were walking, I heard Leia and Haylie talking. I stopped short once I heard their voices and told Marcus to go ahead.

He shrugged and continued walking, thankfully not asking why. "I'll mention it to Owen," he muttered as he walked by.

I nodded in agreement.

Once Marcus was gone, I backed up and looked around the corner, seeing Haylie, Leia, and her...boyfriend talking, and watched as Leia and Jacob Broder kissed and talked, and I felt a twist in my gut. "The hell?" I mumbled to myself, holding my stomach. Lunch wasn't for another period. Clearly, I was starving. Either that, or I suddenly got a vagina and started my period.

My ears strained to hear what Leia, Haylie, and Jacob were saying as I focused my attention back on them. Despite Jacob being a jolly old twat, Haylie didn't seem to like him very much. Clearly, he wasn't aware of her tension as he turned back to Leia, his shit-eating grin still stuck on his face as he asked her about something tonight. What an idiot.

I heard Jacob asking Leia if she was excited about the trip tomorrow. Ugh, he was going? Why did this trip constantly seem to be getting worse and worse by the minute?

Now Leia was rambling about the trips itinerary and what we were going to be seeing, where we're going, boring shit like that. It was pathetic, really, how excited she was to see hundred-year-old stuff in cases and statues of dead people.

My eyes narrowed as Jacob put his hands on her shoulders and told her to calm down about something she was excited about. Bullshit, telling her to stop talking about something she liked so much.

He should've just let her be excited, even if he thought it was absurd, instead of making her embarrassed for expressing her excitement. I might have thought her hobbies were fucked up, but I had let her talk about them. I didn't tell her to fucking shut up about it, unlike this jackass.

I looked down and saw my fists clenched so tightly, my palms hurt, and my knuckles were white. What the fuck? I looked back up and saw Jacob resting his head on hers, saying something about how this what he loved about her. Bullshit.

If that's why you loved her, then you'd have let her be excited about something since that's what you found so fucking attractive about her. God, what a pathetic piece of rubbish. I got a sudden urge to punch him in his face until he needed to go to the hospital.

I shook my head and continued walking in the direction of my next class, and I felt another twist in my gut and clutch it. Geez, lunch better come quickly because I was going to die of starvation.

I walked into the classroom and took my seat, directly behind Leia's, and glanced down at my watch. She had two minutes before the tardy bell rang. I hoped she's late. It would've been so nice to see her get a tardy mark on her so-called clean record.

I pulled out my notebook and doodled some random shapes as my mind wandered into a void of nothing.

After a little bit, I pulled myself out of my daze and stared at the scribbles, which had somehow come out to be a really good cat, so I erased the extra lines to bring out the cat's shape more. Bloody hell. How the fuck had I done that? Strange thing, how some things come out almost perfectly when you don't even try to make them in the first place.

I had just been absent-mindedly gliding my pencil across my paper, and when I looked, there was a near-perfect drawing hidden within the lines. What the hell was going on today? I scribbled some more, still unsure of what I was trying to do.

I didn't even like to draw. But sometimes I just ran my pencil along my paper just to see what comes out.

I gave a small head nod at some girls who had been staring, who immediately turned red and looked away. I could hear their fucking giggling. Geez. So excited about a God damn head nod. Ridiculous. I mean, honestly. Why did a girl think that a head nod meant more anything other than what it was? I shook my head and lowered it onto my arms and closed my eyes.

The warning bell rang and caused me to jerk my head up. So far, Roschèr wasn't here.

I couldn't help but let a smirk tug at my lips. I really, really hoped she wouldn't get here in time.

Just then, Leia ran right in and darted into her seat just before the bell rang. I didn't even think she had noticed me.

I raised my eyebrows in amusement as Ms. Sconley looked at Leia before she cleared her throat to take attendance.

"I'm going to call your name," she spoke and looked at everyone. "When you hear your name, say 'here.' Ryan?"

"Here."

The voices faded away as I zoned out, leaving me and my thoughts alone. I started thinking about the game tonight.

I knew for a fact that Owen was a great goalie. His reflexes were phenomenal. He just needed... better coordination. There had been one time that he had accidentally thrown his his stick when trying to stop a goal. It actually had hit the ref in the face. I held back a snicker at the memory.

It's when I heard Leia's name called that I was pulled out of my trance, and I realized that I had been staring at the back of her head. Whoops.

"Here," she responds.

I smirked and leaned forward, my breath brushing against her neck. "Guess who else is here," I whispered, my voice low and my accent heavy.

My smirk widened when I saw how tense she became. Suddenly, this class didn't seem so bad anymore.