Inexperienced

Chapter 2

The beeping of my alarm clock told me it was time to wake up. I grunted, wiped my eyes, and turned off the annoying buzzer. It took me a few minutes to finally roll out of bed, but when I finally did, my body was not in agreement. I brushed my teeth, combed through my hair and sauntered over to my closet. I grabbed my favorite pair of jeans and a tank top. Simplicity was my style. I didn’t bother to put make up on, for there was nothing I could do to brighten my pale skin.

I shuffled down the stairs to the kitchen. My father sat at the end of the kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee and holding up the newspaper. Such a typical scene. I kissed him lightly on the forehead and proceeded to the fridge.

“Good morning, pumpkin,” my father said as I poured myself a glass of milk.

“Morning Dad.” I sat down across from him. “Where’s mom?”

“Probably trying to get Ella ready for school,” he mumbled.

I didn’t reply. It was usual for my mom to spend a long time helping my younger sister, Ella, get ready. She was a pain and in the mornings, it was worse. She needed help with everything, from her hair to her clothing. She was Mommy’s little beauty queen, the little princess my Mom had always wanted, even after she wound up with me.

I dumped my half drank glass of milk, said goodbye to my father, and headed towards my car.

While grabbing the keys, I called up the stairs, “Bye Mom! Bye Ella!”

I heard talking, an annoying complaint most likely from Ella. Instead of waiting for a reply, I turned around and headed to the car, not looking forward for the long day of school.

I searched for a good radio station, before settling on one that played mostly classical stuff. I needed something soothing today. A headache was already brewing in my brain and school was not going to be any help.

Especially Pre Calculus. This is just a disadvantage of being a smarter junior. While most of my class is in Algebra II, I am in the highly Senior populated class of Pre Calculus. Even worse, Jared Kent would be there, most likely making it as uncomfortable as it could get.

I sighed. What had he meant with his little comment yesterday? He just seemed to have a comeback to everything. Quite the smartass. I laughed to myself.

I pulled into the school parking lot. A light sprinkle had started and I didn’t bother to shelter my hair from the wet. I threw my bag over my shoulder and went into the school, heading for my locker. I grabbed my books for first period and headed to Biology.

By the time lunch rolled around and I was sick of taking notes and doing homework. I was also sick of dealing with everyone around me, but then again, that was nothing new. It was a normal day, indifferent from any other.

As I walked from the cafeteria to sixth period, I got this strange pit in my stomach, and I knew immediately why my stomach had twisted into such a tight knot. How could such an incompetent senior have this effect on me?

I walked into the classroom, not surprisingly arriving before Jared, even though I usually am one of the last ones in. I pulled out my math notebook and tapped the end of my pen against the binding while waiting for the bell to ring.

Just as the final bell rang, Jared Kent sauntered into the room, his presence completely made aware. Instead of heading over to me his seat immediately, he talked or more flirted with a couple of the girls in the front of the room.

Once Mr. Hender walked in and closed the door, Jared took his seat.

After a moment, he turned to me. “Hey, Austin.” I glanced at him, and he had a small smile playing on his lips.

I gave him a weak smile and turned back to my work.

“Oh, so we going to play that game again, huh?” he asked.

I turned back at him. “What game?” Who’s playing games?

“Oh you know, the silent treatment.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I turned away from him and smiled sheepishly. It wasn’t like I was intentionally keeping what I have to say short, but with him I didn’t know what to say other than quick comebacks or smart ass remarks.

He snickered and before he could reply, Mr. Hender walked to the front of the room with a stack of papers, calling out, “Pop Quiz!”

Everyone groaned, and even a small one escaped my lips. He passed the quizzes out quickly, telling us to quiet down.

I was one of the first done, finding the quiz extremely easy. Math’s always been one of the easier subjects of mine. I sat down back in my seat, pulling out my IPod. I also grabbed my journal and started doodling, swirls encompassing the entire page.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone had finished and Mr. Hender passed out an assignment and excused the class, apparently not in the mood to teach. “Assignment’s due tomorrow. What you do with your time now is completely up to you.”

I chose to continue my doodling.

“What is that?” came a voice to the right of me.

I glanced up at Jared. I had forgotten he was even there. I took one of the headphones out and smiled smugly. “A notebook.”

He scoffed. “I know that. But what are you writing in it?”

I lifted my eyebrows. “I’m not writing in it.”

Jared’s eyes shifted between the pen in my hand and the paper in front of me, trying to make the connection for me. I just laughed and tipped the pen towards him and said, “I’m doodling.”

His face remained blank and I couldn’t fight back the laughter that rose past my lips.

“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?”

I shrugged, but smiled triumphantly.

“Quite a challenge, you are,” he admitted.

“Oh, really? How so?” I asked lightly. I was surprised at my actions, how I turned towards him slightly, leaning in, with a little heat on my cheeks.

“For a girl who doesn’t say much you seem to have quite a lot to say,” he explained. “Yet you choose not to.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Something wrong with not being an open book?”

“No.” He smiled. He scanned my face for a moment, and I could feel the heat on my face flush even darker. “I don’t mind a good challenge.”

I rolled my eyes. “Good thing I’m not a challenge you’ll have to face.”

His lips turned into his famous smirk and his eyes danced with amusement, almost as if they were trying to convey a message to me.

I couldn’t break his gaze.

Just then the bell rang, our stare was broken, and Jared was already packing up.

As I stood up, I accidently knocked my math book over. Before I could get to it, Jared already had it in his hand, offering it back to me.

“Thanks,” I breathed.

He nodded. “See you around, Austin.”