Treasured Tributes

The sun was high in the sky the next day. The cool autumn wind made it just bearable. It wasn’t humid at least, so that was always a good sign in Forestville. I pulled my grey cardigan closer around me. I had left work immediately after cleaning last night, and I was thanking the stars when I didn’t see pretty boy again. But he was working at the diner now, so I was bound to see him soon enough. I didn’t want anything to be awkward between us. I didn’t want to be awkward, but I knew there was a good chance I would be if he brought up the incident. No boy had ever passed a remark like that about me. It wasn’t anything major, but it was definitely enough to tinge my cheeks a light pink.

“Maya, Maya, hey!” I stalked up to my friend, catching up as we walked into school together. “Why the rush?”

She threw me a warm smile, “History test, Krys. Did you study?” I nodded meekly, recalling the little amount that I had studied, most of which I’d forgotten immediately.

“We can study at lunch together, before class. I’ll help you.” I nodded at her thoughtfully.

I found myself sitting uncomfortably in the library with Maya explaining the history syllabus in a hushed tone. I was hearing what she was saying, but everything went in through one ear, out the other. I never understood why I had such difficulty with history. It couldn’t have been just my dislike, because well, I disliked math too, but I was above average at it. History and I didn’t mesh well together.

I groaned, “It’s okay Maya, you can just go back to revising. I think I got it.” I mumbled, smiling at her softly. It was better to let her get in last minute revisions done than waste time with me. She threw me an apologetic smile nonetheless.

While Maya plunged her nose in her book, I sat there tapping my pen nervously on the desk. I knew no matter how much I tried studying, it would not make any difference. I just prayed that I would at least make it out with a pass. If my tapping annoyed Maya, she didn’t mention it.

After what felt like several hours, but was probably ten minutes, the school bell rang harshly through the quiet library. Grudgingly, the students picked up their books and textbooks and began packing their bags. I sighed, slowly throwing in my textbook in my bag. “Let’s just get this done with.” I muttered, mostly to myself.

Maya and I walked in silence towards our history class, but she continued to read through her notes. I knew she wouldn’t put it away until Mr Tanner threatened to deduct marks for cheating. She was going to study till the very last second; she always did.

We walked into the class, towards our seats in the second row from the back. “It’s only multiple choice,” Maya whispered to me as she put her notes on the desk and settled in. I nodded, but that only made it harder for me.

I huffed, planting my right cheek down on the desk and watching Maya unpack to my left. She shot me a small smile, then went back to her notes. I just wanted to sleep, but the class was filing in by now, and they were too loud to even allow me to shut my eyes momentarily.

In my peripheral vision I saw someone stop in front of my desk. Then I heard an all too familiar chuckle. “Hey, bra girl.” My head shot up instantly, and I was more surprised that I hadn’t snapped my neck than I was by the sight before me. Pretty boy.

My cheeks heated up as I realised what he had just addressed me as. “What are you doing here?” I frowned.

He raised a brow, “I go here.”

“No you don’t.” I narrowed my eyes.

“How do you two already know each other?” I turned to see Maya looking between us in confusion. I had considered telling her about pretty boy, but she had been so focused on studying today I didn’t get the chance.

“We’re friends.” Pretty boy answered simply.

I glowered at him, “No we’re not. I don’t even know your name.”

He extended his hand, a friendly gesture. “Erik.”

I shot up in my seat, my back straightening suddenly. “You’re Erik?” I almost screeched. He smiled in amusement, nodding, his hand dropping by his side, ignored.

I looked between pretty boy and Maya in slight astonishment. “So—are you two actually friends or not?” Maya asked.

Pretty boy was the mysterious Erik. I glanced at him again, my eyes trailing down his body. Maya had been right, he was quite the sight. Now I understood what all the fuss had been about in the cafeteria. As my eyes creeped back up to meet his face, I found him smirking again. I realised I had been smiling. “Like what you see, bra girl?” I pulled a face, hoping to look put off, but my crimson cheeks betrayed me.

“Bra girl?” Maya turned to me, shocked. “Krys, what is this about?”

“Your friend owns sexy bras.” I heard a low whistle from somewhere around me, and I sunk back in my seat. “Probably panties too. But she’s yet to show me those.” My face turned sour.

I winced, feeling perplexed, “Nothing, Maya.” I turned to Erik, a pleading look in my eyes. By now, most of the students in the class were watching our exchange, and I’ll be damned if he kept up with his teasing. Enough damage had been done.

I looked back at Maya to see her throw me a look that clearly said she wanted an explanation. Thankfully, she dropped that for now. “How did you two meet?” She asked again, her voice lower. She’d noticed the many eyes watching us too. I glanced around the class, and my cheeks turned two shades darker when I saw Aubrey looking our way. This couldn’t get any worse.

“We’re friends.” Erik repeated, slinging his bag down his shoulder and sitting next to me.

I watched him in irritation, “Why are you sitting here?”

He ignored me, leaning around to face Maya. “We spent the night together.” A look of horror crossed over Maya’s face. I would have thought it was an extreme over reaction had the same look not adorned my face as well. Pretty boy was choosing his words carefully.

“Shut up! I was working!” I defended, my face hot from the many pairs of eyes watching. Erik smiled down at me.

Pretty boy opened his mouth again, probably to shoot off another mortifying one liner. I was ready to clamp my hand over his mouth when thankfully Mr Tanner stepped in. “Class! Seats immediately. No one speaks another word unless they want a zero on their test.”

I exhaled loudly. Couldn’t he have walked in sooner and saved me all this humiliation. I get that pretty boy was joking around, but I had never been in a situation like this. And I hated all the attention his stupid words got me. Most of all, I hated that Aubrey was a witness to all this. I squirmed in my seat, eventually deciding to increase the distance between us.

I inched closer to the edge as Mr Tanner placed the test paper in front of us. I looked up at pretty boy and shot him the nastiest glare I could muster. It must’ve been pretty nasty because his smug smirk fell right off. He almost looked worried. Almost.

Mr Tanner walked back to the front of the class. “Right. Get started. You have forty-five minutes! Write your names first, because you won’t get any time after the test.” He clasped his hands together, looking at the clock behind him. “Remember to use pencils, and rub it out completely if you change your answer.”

A small murmur of agreement went around the class. I could still see some students watching me curiously, but they eventually turned their attention back to their test papers. I opened up my paper and began reading the questions. Immediately I was stumped. I hurriedly scanned through the questions and moaned visibly. I was definitely going to fail.

I quickly glanced at Maya on my left, but she was too focused on answering questions to notice. I took a deep breath. This is it. Just guess them all, Krys. I began reading the questions again, willing myself to recall the tiniest bit of information that could miraculously help me find an answer.

Pretty boy shifted beside me, and my head shot up to look at him. He was watching me. I looked at his paper and realised he was almost finished. What the fuck. I glanced up at the clock. Shit, we only had thirteen minutes left.

I quickly studied the other students. Almost everybody was on the last few questions, and I hadn’t even answered a single one. I threw my head back down on the desk, pretending to be focused on thinking about the questions when I felt it. A small piece of paper was pushed into my left hand in my lap under the desk. I threw pretty boy a distorted glare before I opened it.

I’m sorry.

I scrunched up the paper and let it fall to the ground. Laying my head down on the desk again, I decided it was finally time to colour in random bubbles and hope for the best.

Another paper was gently pushed into my hands.

Let me make it up to you?

I stared at him in puzzlement, but he was pretending to look at the clock. I sighed and turned his piece of paper over, curiosity getting to me. I scribbled a small ‘How?’ and thrust it into his left hand under our desk. His lips turned slightly, a ghost of a smile at the contact. I watched his eyes flicker down for a moment as he read the note. He scrunched it up, and pocketed it.

My eyes observed him inquisitively as he glanced around the room. When he was satisfied with whatever he was looking for, or not looking for, he pushed his test paper towards me. I felt myself draw in a sharp breath when I realised what he was doing. But he had other ideas.

Before I could register what exactly he had planned, he swapped our papers. “What…” I breathed. He shot me a hard look and placed his index finger on his lips. Then he picked up his pencil, and began answering questions on my test paper.

I could do nothing but watch in astonishment. He was crazy. I looked around the room nervously, but no one seemed to have noticed what we had just done. He was going to get the both of us a big fat F. And a long Friday afternoon detention. I anxiously tapped my pencil against the desk, hoping it wasn’t loud enough for anyone to notice.

He finished quickly, with three minutes to spare. I stared at him in surprise as he wrote his own name down on my paper. I looked back at his paper and realisation dawned on me. He hadn’t written his name.

“One more minute! You should have written your name at the very start.” I jumped slightly as Mr Tanner’s rumbling voice caught me off guard. Pretty boy laughed quietly beside me. I slowly picked up my pencil and scrawled my name on his paper.

“Stop! Put down your pencils now.” I heard a few groans as some people hadn’t finished. “No talking until I have collected all the papers.” Mr Tanner barked.

I turned to look at pretty boy, but he was looking straight ahead. I looked at Maya instead, her face showing no nervousness. She must be happy with her answers. I wasn’t sure how I felt. He could have gotten all the answers wrong for all I knew. I couldn’t help but feel relieved that I didn’t have to do it myself. A sinking feeling overcame me. It was his second day here, there was a big chance we both failed the test since he hadn’t been here to cover the content we had learned. I wondered why he bothered taking the test then.

The bell rang to signal the end of the class before Mr Tanner had finished collecting all the papers. He allowed students to leave if he had collected theirs, and I squirmed in my seat in anticipation. What if he had noticed what pretty boy and I had done? What if someone else had noticed and they were going to sell us out? He reached our table before I could come up with further questions. I stared at pretty boy nervously, but he looked cool and indifferent, slouching back in his seat, hands folded across his chest, and his bag slung over his shoulder, ready to leave. Again, he didn’t look at me.

Mr Tanner swiftly took his paper, checking the coversheet as I waited with bated breath. I felt another piece of paper being pushed into my palm, and I quickly closed my fingers around it, almost letting out a gasp. Mr Tanner merely nodded, satisfied with the paper, and pretty boy gracefully shot out of his seat, walking towards the door. I wanted to stop him, but we still weren’t allowed to speak.

“Let’s hope you don’t fail Ms Weller.” I nodded meekly, not bothering to look at Mr Tanner since I was still watching Erik. Mr Tanner moved towards Maya when I glanced down at the note pretty boy had left in my palm again.

Lets be friends like Kate and Leo.

I had no idea what he meant by this. I looked up and pretty boy had stopped at the door. He turned around slightly. I threw him a dirty look for no particular reason, but he grinned.

And then he winked, walking out the door.