Stuck With You

💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨

(Third Person POV- After they had left the party, they drove off in Troy's car, leaving Dylan's bike parked outside, by Steven's house. Deciding on having fun at the lake for a few good hours, and leading them to make a stop at Maggie's Diner before they headed to Sophie's house. They had been so tired by the time they got there, that the boys fell asleep in her living room. While Sophie tried to sleep, Alexa ranted away singing, talking on the phone with a boy she had met in Greece, and reading on one of her story apps on her phone.)

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Sophie

"Lexie! Lexie! come on wake up. My mom's done making breakfast. Get up so you can get ready for school before coming down to meet with the boys." Alexa protests with a grunt, making me chuckle.

Luckily, the boys were awake and ready to leave, and I had long ago gotten myself ready as well. Leaving only Lexie, who refused to leave the comfort of the bed.

Knock knock

The door opens and my mom comes in slowly. "Hi, sweetheart! Breakfast is ready. You girls need to come down before the boys finish all the pancakes I made. Never mind the bacon! It's probably gone by now. Dylan seems to have taken a liking to my turkey bacon, he seems like a nice kid." She syas giggling.

At the mentioning of turkey bacon and Dylan devouring it, Lexie jolts up and runs out the door, careless of the fact she's still wearing pajamas. I look at my mom rolling my eyes and getting up from the bed. My mom laughs and nods her head. "Yup! Should have gone with the bacon! Why didn't I mention it from the start? I could have saved myself a good fifteen minutes trying to wake her up." My mom chuckles and kisses me on me cheek.

"Come on sweetheart. I think you should get down there as well, before you are left with nothing but scraps." She chuckles, making me snort in laughter, walking down the stairs.

"Yeah! They probably already inhaled everything down there by now." She chuckles as she hears Lexie yelling at the boys to let go of the last strip of bacon.

We finish breakfast and still have plenty of time to drive to the military base and wait for Dylan to go to his house quickly and change, and grabs his backpack along with extra clothes for school, since the first day meant he had to go into school wearing his football uniform.

By the time we come around to park at school, there's plenty of action already going around. Students are driving in with their cars; some are walking to school; others arriving on buses, and some, being dropped off by friends or parents.

As usual, the first day is hectic, with a big welcome back rally that includes cheerleaders, music from a Dj, and the school band in full blast; the football team is presented on stage first, and the other sports teams taking their turn on the stage as well, right after they announce the football team.

Soon as we park, and realize we still have plenty of time to spare, we walk with Dylan towards the stage in the middle of the school campus so he can join the other football players.

"Don't leave, ok? Soon as we are off stage, I'll come join you guys and we'll go get our schedules together." He points to us and Lexie smiles. She had seen how cute he was last night, but with a fresh bath and all his hair tousled back nicely; his ocean blue eyes gleaming with excitement, she was practically drooling over him

"Ok, we'll wait for you over here by the entrance to the science building," Troy yells by his ear over the loud music, pointing towards the direction we will be waiting for him. He hands his backpack to Troy and grips his helmet.

"Hey, Williams! Get your butt up here boy." Coach Mitchell calls out to Dylan and he waves quickly back at us while making his way up the stage.

Alexa couldn't help but stare at his butt as he runs up on stage wearing his football uniform. But, I have a feeling he's far from wanting to make a move on her.

"Do you think he'll have to wear that uniform all day today?...Because I don't mind the view of him in it. . . .nope! Not one bit." She says making Troy roll his eyes and nudges her on her shoulder with his arm. "Hormones girl! Calm your hormones." She giggles and turns towards me. I find myself averting my eyes in all directions.

As planned, we wait for Dylan and get our schedules together. Dylan had a few shared classes with each of our friends, but me. He was thankful he got most classes with Troy since he didn't know many guys and had little time to meet the football players during the summer.

Having a military dad and no mom meant just one thing, wherever dad went, Dylan went. Which meant they moved around, A LOT! Making it difficult for him to make long-time friends and attach himself to anyone.

Since his dad had recently been assigned to the Marine military base inside Lakeview Town, he had to enroll himself in Lakeview high school. He was used to doing things on his own, since his dad was always busy. But since he was new in town and didn't know anyone, he had been stuck inside the house the military assigned them for the rest of the summer, besides the afternoons, when he'd go for football practices.

I look over my schedule and sighs. "What's wrong, Soph?" Troy asks. I lift my head and show them my schedule.

"I have Mrs. McGee for English Literature, first period. I've heard she's really hard! I just hope she doesn't fail me, I need to do my best this year so I can get into NYU." Troy laughs and takes my schedule in his hands.

"Soph! What are you talking about? One, you are always top of your class! Well, most of the time because Emily Mitchell is freaking smart too. Second, you have impeccable grades, NYU will be crazy not to take you! And third, Mrs. McGee is awesome. I had her last year, don't worry, you'll be fine...." I sigh closing my eyes.

" Yeah, I guess! Maybe you're right. Anyway, I should get going. See you guy later, ok?" I grip the straps of my backpack and toss my hair back getting ready to leave.

This new wardrobe change still made me feel a bit uncomfortable. It would take me time to get used to no glasses and a more fashionable wardrobe that Troy and Alexa had gotten for me. Dylan chuckles bringing his arm around me and squeezing me tightly.

Troy purses his lips and brings an arm resting on my shoulder."I'm sure it won't be so bad, Soph. Oh but, heads up! She likes punctuality, and interaction, the more you participate, the more she likes you, and picks less on you. She will give you a pop quiz every week on what you've read so far. First thing, she will give you a list of books you have to read. She'll say you have until the end of the semester, but she'll give you until Thanksgiving break, maybe earlier, depends on her mood. Oh, and attendance counts against 25% of your grade, so don't be late too often, attend every day, if you are going to miss a day, send her an email or she will be very mad." He chuckles and gives me a toss on my hair with his fingers.

"Wow! I thought you said she'd be easy?" I widen my eyes and gawk my mouth open. "No, I said she was nice! If you do all your work neatly, abide by her rules, and you're on time. She won't tolerate late work either." Troy chuckles and gives me back my schedule. "Come on guys. Let's get to class before all the good seats are gone." He nudges Dylan with his elbow and leans close to him.

"Thankfully, most teachers don't give assigned seats here. So if we're lucky, we can get seats up front and don't get stuck in the back with all the popular kids, who will probably give you a hard time in class all year round." Troy says, Dylan smiles at him and nods his head. "I'm sure that won't be a problem for you anymore. I'll make sure you guys don't get picked on." Dylan smirks and squints an eye at Troy, leaving him flushed as he walks away and says bye to them.

"Holy bells! The more I know this boy, the more I pray he's gay! Sorry Lexie, but I saw him first." Lexie chuckles and punches him lightly on his shoulder.

"Fair enough, T! I got my greek god waiting for me back across the oceans." She giggles and they hug before saying goodbye and we leave for our classes.

I walk into my English class and unfortunately see that all upfront seats are taken. As expected, Emily and her friends are seated up front. Emily is not just an extremely smart girl, but unlike me, she is very sociable and loved by everyone around here. Especially since her dad is the football coach, and her mom volunteers at the administration office all the time.

My teacher smiles at me as I take a desk in the third row, on the very far side of the room by the windows. I take a seat next to a window, out looking at the football field. I quickly place my backpack down and unzips the top, taking out a book with a girl dressed in a long white gown and a white rose tainted with blood in the front cover to pass time faster, the title reads 'White Rose' by Grace Angel.

I open the page where I had left off, and forget the world exists as I read away. I'm at the part where Chase is visiting Jennie's grave, and he is still so hurt over her death that he yells. Screaming at the grave, he tells Jennie he hates her for leaving him. Unable to comprehend why she had died.

Just when I'm ready to turn the page, my book is snatched away by Amber, making me look at her, confused.

"Ah, hey? That's my book!. . . . Oh, Amber! What do you want?" I cross my arms and close my eyes with frustration.

Amber and her friends giggle as they flip through the pages and scuff at my book. "What the hell are you reading? This thing doesn't even have pictures in it?" She gives the book to Mackenzie who begins to read the back of the book silently.

"Amber, this is high school remember? Not elementary. I'm allowed to read books without pictures, you do know that, right?" I know I'm pushing my limits by mocking her, Amber glares at me furious. Just when she is ready to answer me back with a sneer, the bell rings and Mrs. McGee orders the girls to take a seat.

"Sorry teacher, but this actually, is not our class," Amber replies to Mrs. McGee who is unamused with her smart reply. "Then kindly leave my room, before I send you to the principal's office for disrupting my class and bothering my students." Amber and the girls widen their eyes and leave promptly.

Mrs. McGee snatches the book away from Mackenzie as she passes by and gives it back to me. All four girls exit the room and allow the door to shut harshly behind them. The teacher begins by introducing herself like every year and writes the rules down on the board, along with an outline of what books we will begin to read for the first quarter of the year.

She continues to write away on her board, and just when she is ready to turn while still giving orders, the door jolts open. Logan and Steven walk in, gasping for air as they make their way inside, stopping in front of the teacher. Oh, God, no....why?

"Hi! Sorry, we're late. We had to stay and help coach Mitchell with a few things in the locker. It won't happen again, Mrs. McGee." The teacher looks from above the rim of her glasses and reaches out for the boys' schedule and permission note signed by their coach

"Hm, Logan Spencer and Steven Jameson. Take a seat, I'll let it go this time, being it's the first day of school. But don't make it a habit, and let Jacob know I will not tolerate my students missing any minute of lecture." She gestures towards the seats and Logan smiles, "Will do, Ma'am!"

His face turns to an evil grin on his face as he sees me look at him, and an empty chair right behind me. He nudges Steven to take the seat beside him, and they both quickly make their way to sit.

I can feel my face gone pale and my heart racing to a million per second. The last I wanted, was to have my worst nightmare around a class where I feel I'm great at.

I close my eyes and look down to the top of my desk as he passes by and sits behind me. "Great! As if this day couldn't get any worse." I whisper making him chuckle as he places his backpack down right behind the foot of my seat.

As the teacher looks towards the board and continues to write, he swoops my hair slowly to a side and leans to my ear.

"I can help you with that, If you're up for the challenge, Patterson? I am more than willing to make your day a bit more...or less cloudy. It's all up to you!" I shiver, feeling his warm breath by my neck as he whispers.

I narrow my eyebrows and look back at him. "Back off satan! Not in the mood to deal with your shenanigans this early." I turn back and he chuckles, biting down on his lower lip.

"As you wish your highness! But can't guarantee I'll behave all year long if you give me motive!" He whispers making me roll my eyes as I write down the notes Mrs. McGee is writing on the whiteboard.

All through class, Logan plays with the strands of my hair and kicks my seat to annoy me. The more I ignore him, the more he does it.

I grip hard on my pencil each time I feel the kick to the back of my chair and pull myself away each time I feel his fingers through my hair.

"Quit it, Logan!" I whisper time and time again. But he continues to smile and do as he likes. As the time comes close to the end of the class, our teacher has had enough.

Though she had tried to be patient, being it was the first day of class, she begs to differ now. "Mr. Spencer?" The teacher calls out to him seeing he is distracted. He clears his throat and sits straight in his seat. "Yes ma'am!" He calmly answers her.

"I like to do a little game called guess the quotes of famous philosophers. Since you and Miss Patterson like to converse so much in an argument. I figured you two would be the perfect candidates... for our first quiz, so I'm making it an oral exam. You can either partake in the exam along with Sophie, or you can both sit here after school in detention to continue your playful discussion. You can start by using the quotes written on my board." He and I turn red in embarrassment, but nonetheless, he turns to me and wimnks an eye with a bright smile."

I giggle, glancing at the quotes and sure of who wrote them. I silently turn my body to see him. The smile on my face making him turn red as he averts his sight between me and the teacher. He clears his throat and runs his hands against the side of his pants.

"Ahem! Of course." He sighs and stands straight to read out loud.

"No matter what happens, enjoy life because you only get one and it doesn't last long. . . . .-Epicurus." He smirks and squints his eye at me, making me roll my eyes and turn to face him.

"Sophie, your turn. You can both take turns doing one each." I stand and begin to read out loud.

"It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life. . .  - Epicurus" I clear my throat and look at Logan giving him a cheeky smile. I nod, waiting on his next guess. Mrs. McGee clears her throat and stands in front of the whiteboard with arms crossed. "Very well, Logan? Go ahead."

He turns back to me with a smile. "Socrates- The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." Before I can answer, he continues to the next quote. "John Stuart Mill- I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them." He nudges his head to the side and smirks.

I sigh, tossing my hair back. The class remains surprisingly attentive and Mrs. McGee jots down in her board while we continue to guess.

"Henry David Thoreau- Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulders." I tilt my head to the side lifting an eyebrow.

Logan presses his lips in a pucker and gives me a smirk. He parts his lips ready to continue the next guess, but Mrs. McGee holds her hand up while she continues to write on her board.

"Very well! Miss Patterson and Mr. Spencer, I can see you two are quite knowledgeable about your philosophy. Thank you very much. You both may be seated." She turns and points to the board.

"Thanks to Logan and Sophie, the rest of you are free of today's pop quiz." They all cheer and she holds her hand to silence them. She turns back to the board and walks pacing back and forth.

"This is a list of books I expect you to read by the end of this semester. I will assign you a partner and expect a 10 thousand word report on all the books in this list. Now, you will have until the week before Christmas break to turn in your report. That's far more time than I have ever given before. But! Come the start of the second quarter, I will need a rough draft of at least half of this list."

She grabs the stack of papers on her desk and begins to pass them out one student at a time.

"Now, this is a simple outline of things I will be expecting in your report for each book, along with questions you need to answer in paragraph form." She comes back up to the front of her desk and places the extra forms on top, grabbing her attendance chart.

"So, before the bell rings I will call out your name and who you will be partnered off to. Pay attention, for I will only say it once. Amanda, you will partner off with Jason. Samantha with Abigail." She continues to name the students pointing towards them and asking them to sit next to each other. I shrug my shoulders and close my eyes hoping to get partnered off with Emily who I know for a fact is an extraordinary student and takes her studies very seriously.

"Emily, you will be partnered off with Chloe since I know you two always work perfectly together." She smiles and squints an eye.

Then she looks at Logan and me, taking a long sigh. "Sophie!" She looks at me and nods her head. "You will be partners with Logan." The bell rings and Mrs. McGee places her board down on her desk and turns to the students.

"Very well. I'll see you all tomorrow for another day. If I did not call your name, stay after class so I can assign someone to you. The rest of you, you are dismissed."

I sit there, unbelieved of what the teacher just did to me. How can she partnered me off with Logan? Doesn't she know that we can't stand each other? All this is going to do is cause more arguments and misunderstandings between us!

I stand not waiting for another second and walk towards the teacher. "Mrs. McGee, isn't there anyone else you can partner me off with? You saw yourself, Logan, and I are not compatible with this assignment. We don't get along! Please, I'm begging you." Mrs. McGee smiles and looks back at Logan who stands behind me, with a mischievous smile on his face.

"For all the better reasons, Miss Patterson. You and Logan will have to learn to communicate and work together IF you want to pass this class. This project will be worth half of your grade. I expect you two to work together and give me your best. Besides, this may help the two of you to come to better terms. Who knows? Maybe you'll learn to like him by the end of the year." She looks between the two of us, making me groan.

"Oh come on now Sophie! You don't want to fail this class, do you? I'm not that bad to work with, you know?" He runs a hand over my shoulder and squeezes me hard, making me  tumble against his chest.

"Ugg! Fine! I can't believe I'm stuck with you!" I close my eyes and slap off his hand, Mrs. McGee chuckles and nods her head.

"You two will be just fine. Now get out of my class and make room for my next students. And in the future, don't interrupt my class. Unless you want extra time together in detention."

💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨