Yours to Hold

I spent the rest of first period quietly trying to make myself invisible to Matt and the rest of the class. Our first period was combined with homeroom, so I spent a grueling fifty-eight minutes every morning next to Matt. I was surprised that he hadn't gone up to the teacher yet and asked to have his seat moved, although part of me wondered if he enjoyed sitting next to me just so he could torture me.

I had a feeling that the bastard enjoyed seeing me squirm.

My first period class was math, which was already hard enough for me to follow without missing a day. I am beyond horrible at the subject, so it is never easy for me to come back to school after a day at duPont and fall right back into routine. I personally did not see how knowing the circumference of a circle would help me later on in life, but our school requires us to take three years of mathematics to graduate.

Thankfully, I had taken math courses in both my freshmen and sophomore years, so this was the last math course I was required to take. Today, the teacher was talking about something he had started covering the day before. Of course he would start covering something new the day I wasn't there. I had no idea what the hell what we were learning about, so while the teacher gave his lecture, I zoned out a bit and kept glancinng over at Matt.

The male wasn't paying any attention to me; instead he was laughing and carrying on conversations when he wasn't busy scribbling down notes or working on a sample problem. God, he has the the cutest dimples when he smiles. His smile always sent butterflies through my insides when I saw it, and I just wished that he would smile at me one day. And, oh my god, his laugh was gorgeous. I loved hearing him laugh.

God, why was I so hopelessly in love with a guy that loved to make fun of me?

The first period seemed to last forever, and I was relieved when the teacher said that was all for today. As I stuffed my work back in my messenger bag, I became aware that someone was watching me. I shut my bag and and lifted myself up, turning around to meet Matt's hazel gaze. I was expecting the male to flinch and turn away, but I was shocked to see the slightest hint of a smile appear on his lips as I returned his gaze.

The bell alerting the end of the period suddenly rang, startling me and making me flinch. I leaned down and grabbed my messenger bag before turning around to realize that Matt had already left the room. I arched an eyebrow slightly in confusion before slipping the strap of my bag over my shoulder and heading out of the room myself.

I shuffled toward my second period class alone and in silence, my mind still stuck on what had just happened before the bell rang. I was in shock that I had caught Matt staring at me, and a small part of me wondered if he was checking me out. I quickly dismissed that fact, though; not only was Matt taken by Valary DiBenedetto, I simply wasn't a good looking guy.

While Matt was tall with black hair that was always slicked back, I was the complete opposite; I was of average height with messy black hair that was always hastily spiked up. While he was sturdy and muscular, I had put on some extra pounds after I was told I no longer needed to wear my brace; as much as I hated my small belly, Jimmy thought it was adorable and enjoyed poking it.

So, it was highly unlikely that Matthew Sanders was checking me out.

My second period class was only a short distance away, so it wasn't long before I found myself dropping my messenger bag and slipping into my seat. Major fucking déjà vu. I folded my arms on my desk and leaned my head against them, running my tongue over my lips and shutting my eyes. I greatly despised having to wake up early for school and wished I could have stayed home and slept in a little bit. I really am not a morning person.

Not even a minute later, however, I felt someone clap a hand to my shoulder. I let loose an audible groan and yawned before opening up my eyes and lifting up my head to see Jonathan Seward standing beside my desk.
"Wake up, sleepy head," he exclaimed, causing me to groan again and lean back in my chair.
"I'm up, I'm up," I grumbled.
The shorter male chuckled as he placed his bag on the floor and climbed into the chair next to me.
"Barely," he commented, causing me to roll my eyes slightly and lightly punch his shoulder.
"Shuddup, Johnny."

Johnny laughed again before opening his bag and pulling out his English notebook along with his copy of The Catcher in the Rye.
"So, how did it go at the hospital yesterday?" he asked, causing me to shrug and lean down to pull out my own English work.
"My spine is the same as it was the last time. I may need surgery," I told him as I tossed my notebook and book on the desk.
"May?" Johnny questioned, and I absently nodded my head.
"If its any worse by Christmas, Dr. Bowen says we're going to have to talk about surgery to make it better. I'm actually going back in a few weeks so I can have an MRI."

Johnny frowned as I finished, and reached over so he could rub my shoulder lightly.
"Man, Zack. I don't want you to have surgery."
"Yea, me neither," I said quietly. "But, Brian told me its not worth worrying about yet, since it may not happen."
Johnny nodded his head in agreement. "Yea, I certainly agree with him there. Its not worth getting yourself stressed about something if there's a possibility it won't happen."

I gave the male a small smile and opened my mouth to reply, but I got cut off by the bell ringing. Johnny gave me a sheepish smile before turning his attention to the teacher. Me and Johnny had met at the beginning of tenth grade and hit it off almost instantly, since we both get picked on a lot. Although, the reason of Johnny's torment was because of his height; while I was of average height, Johnny was a good two or three inches shorter then me.

Me and Johnny have a habit of playfully teasing each other from time to time; I call him my "Travelocity Gnome" while he calls me his "Little Princess". Unlike Jimmy and Brian who had been down to duPont with me on more then a few occasions, Johnny had never been to the hospital with me and didn't understand my condition as well as the other two. It wasn't that he didn't want to go to duPont with me; his parents wouldn't let him go. I have a feeling its because his parents don't know mine as well as Brian or Jimmy's do.

English always went by much faster then the period before, mainly because I wasn't sitting next to a guy that I was hopelessly in love with. That, and English is a much easier subject for me then math is. As much as I couldn't stand the majority of the books on the curriculum, I would much rather read a book I hated and answer some retarded questions about it then spend a half hour trying to figure out ONE math problem.

We spent the whole period reading a chapter in The Catcher in the Rye out loud and then going over the questions that went along with it. A hell of a lot easier then goddamn geometry is, although I kind of wanted to toss my damn book in the fire. Whoever decided to require us to read Catcher in the Rye was officially on my shit list. Johnny turned to me as we started packing up our stuff at the end of the forty-five minute period.

"So, are you going with us to Field of Screams on Friday?"
"I need to ask my parents, but I'm almost positive they'll let me go," I told him as I zipped up my messenger bag and slung the strap over my shoulder.
"I'll yell at them if they don't," Johnny joked, causing me to laugh.
"Nah, my parents love Jimmy, so I don't see why they would say no."

The bell rang shortly after that comment, and me and Johnny extited the classroom together. The two of us had third period learning support, so we always walked from English together. The two of us chatted about Jimmy's trip to Field of Screams and various other local haunts as we walked; Night of Terror, Terror Behind the Walls at Philly's Eastern State Penitentiary, and the new Pennhurst Asylum. Johnny love the Halloween season as much as I do, and its nice to have someone to chat about the scariest haunts in our area with.

We had just walked down the steps onto the main level of the school when Johnny suddenly let loose an audible groan.
"Goddamn. Its Matt and Val," he growled to me under his breath.
I let loose my own groan, but couldn't stop myself from looking over and seeing Matt and Valary DiBenedetto sitting on the bench by the stairwell; the pair were lightly kissing and chatting about something. I didn't know exacly what they were talking about until we walked by and I heard Matt make an obnoxiously loud comment.

"Yea, I caught him checking me out this morning in math."
Val rolled her face and wrinked her nose before replying.
"Well, tell that faggot to fuck off, baby. Because he certainly isn't getting in my man's pants."
"Of course he isn't," Matt replied before leaning in and placing another kiss on Val's lips.

I didn't realize that I had stopped dead in my tracks until I felt Johnny tugging on my arm.
"Come on, Zee. Don't pay any attention to those two; lets get to class."
Suddenly wanting to under a rock and die, I watched the pair kissing for a seocnd longer before grunting and letting Johnny pull me away from them.