I'll Take You Out Though I'm Hardly Worth Your Time

“What if we do win?” Jason asked me as we sit on the chairs

“That’s not for sure” I plainly said

“Yeah, but theoretically” he insisted

I thought about it. “Honestly, I don’t know. I just hope we don’t because it will complicate everything”

“Right. And I was hoping to get the free day” he sighed

“Sorry, but in reality, we’re not partners. It sucks.” I mumbled

“Yeah, it does.”

The students started to pile up in the room and I slowly got nervous. What if we did win? Do I have a free day? Who gets the free day? Shit, I am so confused now. Either way, I have to spend time with Alex for an entire day because of course, if I take the free day, I have to be with Alex and if Jason takes it, he has to be with Katy. Agh, this is so confusing. Why did we have to do so well?

“Okay, based on the flags all of you have showed to the teachers, we have made the ranking, starting from the third placers. The third placers are Anna White and partner. The second placers are Kathy Robinson and partner. Last but not the least; we have Sandra Jacobs and partner. May we ask all of these pairs to come on stage?”

“Jason, why did she say my name? Why didn’t you write your name on the entry?”

“I wrote your name because Katy wrote my name for their entry. I can’t have my name paired up with two different people” Jason answered

“Shit, what do I do now?”

“I’ll call Katy” he said as he waved somewhere

“Just stand up and go on stage already, if I have to drag Alex there, I will” Jason reassured me

I stood up, feeling my legs shake out of shock and apprehension. They can’t find out that we switched. They just can’t.

I slowly walked to the stage, trying my best not to trip or stumble. I usually trip myself whenever I am nervous and I wouldn’t want to do that in front of everyone. I felt someone’s hands clasp mine and led me to the stage. I didn’t even bother checking who it was. I needed the support at that time. I was so close to tripping myself. I step on stage and that’s when I noticed that it was Alex who grabbed my hand. He wore a blank expression and just stared. Maybe Jason forced him to go on stage.

“Congratulations to all the winners, especially the first placers! You two may have your free day any time you wish” the teacher said and led us off stage

I slowly go down trailing behind Alex. I was startled when he suddenly turned around and faced me

“What will we do about this? Was this in your wise plan?” he asked, acid flowing off every syllable he uttered. I flinched with his tone and his glare. I’ve never heard him use that tone with me and he never glared at me like that. I felt like crying right there and there. I was still in state of shock with everything and now he was treating me like this.

“I—I” I stutter.

I can’t think of anything to say. I was too emotional at that moment. I was upset, surprised and hurt. Upset because of all the complications happening. Surprised because everything happened so fast and we didn’t plan or expect it. And most of all, I was hurt. I was hurt that Alex was treating me like this. He usually was kind and happy around me. Now, he was completely different. It looked like he loathed me so much.

He continued to look at me with cold eyes as I struggle to look for something to answer him. I couldn’t so I just looked down at my shoes and managed to spit out “I don’t know”

“Great” he plainly said

“Sash, I am so sorry. I tried my hardest to shove Alex to you.” I hear Jason as he patted my back

“Su-sure” I stuttered

“Sash, it’s OK, you two can take the free day. I don’t mind anyway. I just don’t wanna be caught.” Jason soothed me

“Really?” I looked at him

“Yeah, take it.” He smiled

“But—but you also worked hard for this. You deserve it.”

“Nah, I was just the one who got all the flags. You were the one who found every flag” he chuckled

“I wouldn’t be able to get them without you. You climbed all the trees” I pointed out

“That’s all cool now. I mean, we can’t both take it because in reality, I am not your partner. Alex is”

I glance at Alex, who was just standing there, listening to whatever we were saying

Why was he acting like this?