Now It's My Time to Strike Back

Once I reached the doors of the cafeteria, I opened one, entering the place where scents of food filled the air.

It was packed with students, but I didn’t care. My eyes trailed to the Subway line as I saw Jake, the person who was currently at the end.

I couldn’t shake the shock that I felt from Nick’s words, however. He was letting me go? Just like that?

I walked to Jake, holding back my tears as I tapped him on the shoulder once I reached him. He turned, a smile gracing his lips as he stared at me before it turned into a frown.

“Are you alright?” he asked in a hushed whisper.

And just like that, I broke. I told him everything Nick told me a couple of minutes previously as we proceeded through the line. Just as I was near the end, Jake looked elsewhere, his eyes landing on someone else.

“Don’t look, but Nick’s in line, too,” he said in a concerned, yet slight monotone.

My eyes couldn’t help but trail to Nick’s figure a few people behind us in line. He was staring at the menu more than likely deciding to order something different than usual, but I was surprised when he didn’t frown nor smile much towards the woman as she made his sandwich.

I tore my eyes away from him just as his head began turning in my direction. I suddenly felt slight nudging in my left arm realizing it was Jake trying to get my attention.

I stared at him, then followed the direction he was pointing to which was directly in front of me. I blinked, reality slapping me in the face as I realized it was my turn to pay for my food and to exit the line. A sigh escaped me as I scrambled to get my wallet purse out of my backpack, handing a different woman a 10 before receiving my change shortly afterwards.

I felt like a zombie throughout the entire time I ate. Jake’s stare burned into my head as I ate my sub, my mind on Nick especially after he joined our table only minutes later.

He didn’t speak, but sat down eating in silence. I wondered what was going through his mind. I wondered how he could even make such a serious decision like that. My thoughts were quickly interrupted as Mel joined us as well, but had McDonald’s instead of Subway.

She unwrapped one of her McDouble’s before speaking.

“What’s with the silence? Did someone die?” she asked frantically, gaining our attentions.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Nick said before he continued eating.

“Well, obviously something is wrong since no one is talking,” she retorted, glaring at him for a second before her face softened.

Jake busied himself with his food again to avoid Mel’s stare causing her gaze to shift from Jake to me. I stared at Mel blankly and she instantly knew something had happened between Nick and me.

She picked up her lunch, rewrapping it before grabbing my arm as she forced me to come with her.

We walked coincidentally to Nick and I’s tree before she spoke.

“Something happened between you and Nick. What was it?” she asked.

Tears filled my eyes again and I sighed deeply before speaking.

“Nick’s giving up on me,” I said, swallowing hard afterwards.

“What?” Mel asked in a low tone, wrapping an arm around my shoulders just as I began to cry.

“Wh-why is he doing that?” she stammered.

I explained everything to her just as I did with Jake seeing a blank expression on her face by the time I was done. I sniffed afterwards before speaking again.

“Well, say something,” I tried.

“I-I don’t know what to say. I think it’s partially my fault,” she said, catching me off guard.

“Why do you say that? You had nothing to do with-,” I began, but she cut across me.

“I might have told Nick to let you move on without him trying to guilt-trip you and to just let you live your life,” she admitted.

I felt the wind get knocked out of me. I was happy, yet sad at the same time. Suddenly, I realized I enjoyed the attention Nick was giving me, then I realized even worse that I was acting like Vic.

A gasp escaped me before I spoke.

“So am I supposed to really just move on? What about he and I being roommates? What if he ends up with someone else later? I can’t deal with that, Mel,” I rambled, feeling myself panic by the second.

Mel sighed this time before speaking.

“Do you honestly want to reject Jake?” she asked, surprising me.

A few moments passed before I answered her.

“No. Not really,” I admitted.

“Then, give him a chance and for once, think about yourself and your happiness,” she said sympathetically.

I closed my eyes hoping this was easier than it sounds, reopening them to see Nick heading in our direction.

“He’s coming,” I said nervously.

“Do what you want to do, Rose,” she said, causing my heart to increase in its beats.

She turned, smiling a small smile to Nick before heading back into the cafeteria leaving Nick and I alone. Once he reached me, we stood in silence for what seemed like hours before either of us spoke.

“Are you OK?” he asked, staring at me with concerned eyes.

My feelings began to fill me, but I forced them into the back of my mind.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered with a smile.

“OK. I was just making sure. We have Music Appreciation with one another next class, right?” he asked, scratching the back of his neck.

I ignored his nervous gesture, deciding to just answer his question.

“Yeah, we do,” I answered.

“OK,” he replied before walking back towards the cafeteria.

I followed in his footsteps, ignoring the frantic beating of my heart just being around him.

…

Third period rolled around and I was away from Mel the entire time which sucked.

Nick and I walked from the cafeteria to the first floor of the Academic building where our Music Appreciation class was.

He held the door open for me which I thanked him quietly, before entering.

There was nothing but Seniors in the class sitting on the steps away from the instruments. My eyes landed on the co-ed group as all eyes landed on us. Nick walked in one direction as I walked in the other, clearing my throat nervously as I found a seat somewhere farthest on the right of the classroom while he sat on the left farthest from the group.

A woman entered from a side room connected to the classroom dressed in a long, brown and red flowery dress with brown heels. Her hair was brown with large curls that flowed to her shoulder blades. Her brown eyes landed on the group as a bright smile covered her lips.

“I’m assuming you’re all Seniors, correct?” she asked, getting nods as well as a few ‘yes’s’ from the group.

A content sigh escaped her lips as her smile widened.

“Good. OK. My name is Mrs. Barrows. My husband Mr. Barrows will teach this class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we’ll change up each week so when it comes down to assignments, turn them into either of us. Sounds fair?” she asked, surprising all of us.

We nodded in agreement.

“Since you’ve all signed up for Music Appreciation, I expect you to already know how to read sheet music or at least have the ability to write your own songs as well as play at least one instrument. Those are the requirements for this class.”

“In addition to those, which will be vital to passing or failing this class, you must know how to work with others. We’ll only be working every week on songs of your choice in which you can either sing or play an instrument or both,” she said happily.

One person, a brunette with green eyes raised her hand.

“Yes? And name, please,” she asked politely.

“My name is Megan. Hi,” she said the class with a small wave. Some people waved back in return while others just stared at her.

She was a slim girl like Mel with the same bubbly personality.

“Could it honestly be any song or are we censored from profane words?” Megan asked, making a point.

“That’s a good question. I was just about to get to that. Songs with profane words are prohibited, so if you want to remix a song and reword it to fit the song as long as the lyrics are similar, you can do that as well,” Mrs. Barrows answered.

A thought came to me, but another student, a boy this time with blonde hair and brown eyes similar to Jason raised his hand.

“Mark. What assignments are we going to have, anyway?” he asked with a brow raised in curiosity.

“Well, about that, throughout the year, you’ll work on a song with a partner which you’ll be put into today. Is that alright? Every week, though, we’ll cover a song and by the end of the first half of the school year, you’ll each have an essay written about a particular song that you can’t live without. Is that alright with you guys?” she asked, catching everyone off guard.

A round of nods flowed throughout the class.

“Alright, well, I’ll take roll, and then I’ll randomly put you guys in to pairs. These won’t be permanent, but you’ll know who your partner will be for the end of year project,” she explained.

She walked to the previous room she exited from earlier, pulling out a clipboard that had a pen and stack of papers, passing them out to us before calling roll.

My breath got caught in my throat as Nick answered with a “here”. Then, I waited patiently as my name was called also saying “here”, expecting Nick to look at me, but he didn’t.

Afterwards, she began putting us in pairs first our regular pairs, but by the time she got to our group pairs, the bell rang, dismissing us from class.

I practically ran out of the class deciding it best to head to the gym.

This was going to be a long first day.