Status: Whisper words of wisdom, Let it be. (:
Left Behind
My partner
CARTER
“I’m glad everyone is here this morning. We have a lot to cover.” The class continued to chat and ignore Mrs. Thompson, the art teacher. This was the only other class that Kristen, Blaine, Aliyah, Bryce, and I shared. “Save your enthusiasm for later please,” she added sarcastically.
Kristen raised her hand. Blaine groaned and rolled her eyes probably tired of Kristen still. Instead of retaliating, Kristen just looked away and back to the teacher who called on her. “I heard that there was a project that we had to do. Please tell me that this is a rumor,” she said.
Mrs. Thompson smiled, but shook her head slowly. The class started to moan in frustration since the art projects were never fun. “It is most definitely not a rumor,” she said in her soft, raspy voice. “The good thing is that you have a partner to help you.”
“Do we pick the partners?” Blaine asked sending dirty look towards Kristen. “I don’t want to end up with trash.”
“I pick your partner, Blaine. A matter of fact, I already have them written down.” She then took out the list. She went through the entire list without mentioning any of our names which wasn’t necessarily a great thing. “So, we have Blaine and Roderick that will be partners, Kristen will work with Carter, and Aliyah will work with Bryce.” Could it get any worse?
“Okay, move to your partners while I pass out the rubrics.”
I sighed and looked over to Kristen who refused to look at me. Shaking my head, I grabbed my things and walked over to the desk in front of her and sat down backwards in the chair. She kept her head down, and I stared waiting to see what she would do. “Kristen, what are you doing?”
She looked up at me with an innocent look on her face, but of course, I wasn’t buying it. It was the same innocent face that she repeatedly gave me at the movies that night, and there was nothing innocent about it. “Carter…”
“I don’t want to hear your excuse this time, Kristen. I’m over it, okay?”
“Yeah, but I really feel bad. It’s just that I miss him. He is honestly the best boyfriend I’d ever had, and I didn’t want to lose that.” She frowned and looked down at the desk.
“Well, thanks for letting me know. I thought you did it for the attention,” I replied with more sarcasm than needed.
She shook her head. “You know what? I actually never noticed that I did things for attention. I'm not giving excuses for myself, but it’s just that at home, nobody ever pays attention to me. School is the only place that I'm ever even recognized, and I feel like I have to take advantage of that.”
“Well, people don’t like when you act like that, Kristen. I understand how you feel, completely one-hundred percent, but it doesn’t give you the right to annoy the fuck out of people, okay?”
She laughed. “I know. And I'm so sorry for making the comment about Lucy. Again, I was just seeking attention.” Mrs. Thompson passed by and dropped two rubrics on the desk. “Thanks.”
“I just want you to know that I forgive you, Kristen, because I don’t hold grudges.”
As she flipped her hair, she got out a pencil and wrote out her name on the top of the paper. She dropped it down when done, and looked me in the face. “Carter, I was so wrong about you. And you know what; I know why Bryce likes you.”
That confused me. I didn’t know that he even thought of me in that way, if it was even true. I know that something small could have possibly been there, but I didn’t know if it was really something to worry about. “Why?” I asked.
She shrugged and placed a piece of hair behind her ears. “First off your gorgeous, girl. Your personality draws people in even though you don’t have one of those real outgoing personalities. You forgive people way too easily, but that’s not always good.” She chuckled, but kept going. “You are super nice, even if it hurts you to be nice to people. And, you like to keep the peace… most of the time.”
“Oh my God, thank you,” I said because it really made my day. “I, on the other hand, have no idea why he would like you,” I replied sarcastically. We both ended with a laugh making everyone stare at us. It wasn't any secret that Kristen and I had gotten into a fight, and I’m pretty sure that our friendliness confused just about everyone. I spotted Bryce hesitant to walk over, but instead he just stayed in his seat and stared at us from the corner of his eyes.
“Oh, and you totally have my permission to go after him, not that you need it. Because I believe that you really make him happy, and as corny as it sounds, that’s all I really wanted. So do me a favor, please?”
“Uh, sure, what is it?”
“Take care of him? Make sure you hug him and kiss him. Sing him little songs while you play in his hair, because he loves that. Just, be a better girlfriend than I was. And don’t break his heart. Promise?”
“I promise,” I said with a soft smile. She nodded and then began to read over the rubric aloud. I couldn’t help but just look at her, because in all truth, I had been wrong about Kristen as well. She actually wasn’t that bad, and I was glad that we’re in the peaceful state with each other.
***
BRYCE
“Why are they laughing?” I asked myself, but out loud making Aliyah roll her eyes. “Aliyah, why are they laughing?”
She shrugged and gave me a disgusting look. “Who cares? Can we just discuss this project?”
I ignored her, and thought about getting up to just ask them why they were laughing. It was killing me to not know what Kristen was telling Carter. She could have been making stuff up about me, and I would never know. “I’m going over there.”
“No, you’re not! You’re my partner, and you're going to help me with this fucking project.” When I didn’t respond she hit her hand against my desk making me snap out of my trance. “Why do you care so much about what they’re laughing at, Bryce?”
“I don’t know,” I said still staring at Carter and Kristen who looked like they had been bestfriends for years. “I really don’t like them talking to each other.”
Aliyah squinted her eyes at me until I looked her way. “I don’t understand why it matters,” she said with an attitude. “You’re my partner, okay? Not Carter’s and not Kristen’s. If they want to get along, then let them and butt out.”
“Alright, alright. It’s due in two weeks, so we can work on it later; after school or something. It won’t take that long.”
“Cool,” she said. “But at your house. Kristen and Carter will most likely be working at mine.”
“All the more reason for me to be there.”
“I’m glad everyone is here this morning. We have a lot to cover.” The class continued to chat and ignore Mrs. Thompson, the art teacher. This was the only other class that Kristen, Blaine, Aliyah, Bryce, and I shared. “Save your enthusiasm for later please,” she added sarcastically.
Kristen raised her hand. Blaine groaned and rolled her eyes probably tired of Kristen still. Instead of retaliating, Kristen just looked away and back to the teacher who called on her. “I heard that there was a project that we had to do. Please tell me that this is a rumor,” she said.
Mrs. Thompson smiled, but shook her head slowly. The class started to moan in frustration since the art projects were never fun. “It is most definitely not a rumor,” she said in her soft, raspy voice. “The good thing is that you have a partner to help you.”
“Do we pick the partners?” Blaine asked sending dirty look towards Kristen. “I don’t want to end up with trash.”
“I pick your partner, Blaine. A matter of fact, I already have them written down.” She then took out the list. She went through the entire list without mentioning any of our names which wasn’t necessarily a great thing. “So, we have Blaine and Roderick that will be partners, Kristen will work with Carter, and Aliyah will work with Bryce.” Could it get any worse?
“Okay, move to your partners while I pass out the rubrics.”
I sighed and looked over to Kristen who refused to look at me. Shaking my head, I grabbed my things and walked over to the desk in front of her and sat down backwards in the chair. She kept her head down, and I stared waiting to see what she would do. “Kristen, what are you doing?”
She looked up at me with an innocent look on her face, but of course, I wasn’t buying it. It was the same innocent face that she repeatedly gave me at the movies that night, and there was nothing innocent about it. “Carter…”
“I don’t want to hear your excuse this time, Kristen. I’m over it, okay?”
“Yeah, but I really feel bad. It’s just that I miss him. He is honestly the best boyfriend I’d ever had, and I didn’t want to lose that.” She frowned and looked down at the desk.
“Well, thanks for letting me know. I thought you did it for the attention,” I replied with more sarcasm than needed.
She shook her head. “You know what? I actually never noticed that I did things for attention. I'm not giving excuses for myself, but it’s just that at home, nobody ever pays attention to me. School is the only place that I'm ever even recognized, and I feel like I have to take advantage of that.”
“Well, people don’t like when you act like that, Kristen. I understand how you feel, completely one-hundred percent, but it doesn’t give you the right to annoy the fuck out of people, okay?”
She laughed. “I know. And I'm so sorry for making the comment about Lucy. Again, I was just seeking attention.” Mrs. Thompson passed by and dropped two rubrics on the desk. “Thanks.”
“I just want you to know that I forgive you, Kristen, because I don’t hold grudges.”
As she flipped her hair, she got out a pencil and wrote out her name on the top of the paper. She dropped it down when done, and looked me in the face. “Carter, I was so wrong about you. And you know what; I know why Bryce likes you.”
That confused me. I didn’t know that he even thought of me in that way, if it was even true. I know that something small could have possibly been there, but I didn’t know if it was really something to worry about. “Why?” I asked.
She shrugged and placed a piece of hair behind her ears. “First off your gorgeous, girl. Your personality draws people in even though you don’t have one of those real outgoing personalities. You forgive people way too easily, but that’s not always good.” She chuckled, but kept going. “You are super nice, even if it hurts you to be nice to people. And, you like to keep the peace… most of the time.”
“Oh my God, thank you,” I said because it really made my day. “I, on the other hand, have no idea why he would like you,” I replied sarcastically. We both ended with a laugh making everyone stare at us. It wasn't any secret that Kristen and I had gotten into a fight, and I’m pretty sure that our friendliness confused just about everyone. I spotted Bryce hesitant to walk over, but instead he just stayed in his seat and stared at us from the corner of his eyes.
“Oh, and you totally have my permission to go after him, not that you need it. Because I believe that you really make him happy, and as corny as it sounds, that’s all I really wanted. So do me a favor, please?”
“Uh, sure, what is it?”
“Take care of him? Make sure you hug him and kiss him. Sing him little songs while you play in his hair, because he loves that. Just, be a better girlfriend than I was. And don’t break his heart. Promise?”
“I promise,” I said with a soft smile. She nodded and then began to read over the rubric aloud. I couldn’t help but just look at her, because in all truth, I had been wrong about Kristen as well. She actually wasn’t that bad, and I was glad that we’re in the peaceful state with each other.
***
BRYCE
“Why are they laughing?” I asked myself, but out loud making Aliyah roll her eyes. “Aliyah, why are they laughing?”
She shrugged and gave me a disgusting look. “Who cares? Can we just discuss this project?”
I ignored her, and thought about getting up to just ask them why they were laughing. It was killing me to not know what Kristen was telling Carter. She could have been making stuff up about me, and I would never know. “I’m going over there.”
“No, you’re not! You’re my partner, and you're going to help me with this fucking project.” When I didn’t respond she hit her hand against my desk making me snap out of my trance. “Why do you care so much about what they’re laughing at, Bryce?”
“I don’t know,” I said still staring at Carter and Kristen who looked like they had been bestfriends for years. “I really don’t like them talking to each other.”
Aliyah squinted her eyes at me until I looked her way. “I don’t understand why it matters,” she said with an attitude. “You’re my partner, okay? Not Carter’s and not Kristen’s. If they want to get along, then let them and butt out.”
“Alright, alright. It’s due in two weeks, so we can work on it later; after school or something. It won’t take that long.”
“Cool,” she said. “But at your house. Kristen and Carter will most likely be working at mine.”
“All the more reason for me to be there.”
♠ ♠ ♠
I understand that I've been away... BUT my grades have drastically gone down hill and I had to help myself before I wrecked myself. I brought my English grade from a 66.7 to a 74 in one day... and that was only English. AND that grade sucks butt cheeks.But ANYWAYS, something with this story isn't clicking for me anymore, probably because I haven't dealt with it as often as I used to. But since it is now Christmas break, I will reunite with my baby and try to put out more chapters :) ...Because I'm awesome. Yeah, let's go with that. So read and give me some feedback.