Arranged Fate

“Annie,” My teacher scolds, slapping her hand down on the corner of my desk. The sound from the slap alone made me jump in my seat. My knee collided with the bottom of my desk, sending a terrible pain through my leg. I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t curse and get myself into even more trouble. “Now that I finally have your attention,” My teacher sneers down at me as I narrow my eyes at her. “Why don’t you go solve the problem on the board?”

I continue to bite down on my tongue as I stand up from my seat. My knee is sore from hitting the desk, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I walk down the aisle to the front of the class and pick up one of the black markers.

I look over the problem and start figuring it out in my head. I resist the urge to write something mean about Mrs. James before running out of the classroom. I quickly solve the problem and then get back to my seat.

I can see Maria snickering in her seat out of the corner of my eye. I have to, once again, resist the urge to make a face at her because Mrs. James is glaring daggers at me every five seconds.

I’m still unsure of what I did to make her so angry. One second I’m listening to her talk about our homework last night and then the next thing I knew, she was slapping the corner of my desk! Well, I guess somewhere in the middle of those two things, I started to think about Oliver.

I couldn’t help but think about that kiss again. A girl can’t just get over a kiss like that. Especially sense I haven’t been kissed for about two years.

And after that happened, we left the pizza mess for the morning and went up to bed. We said goodnight to each other, which included a long goodnight kiss and then went to our own rooms. But that didn’t last long. I was tossing and turning for a good hour before I gave up. I got out of bed and went over to Oliver’s room, not bothering to knock. I was a little surprised to find him sitting up in bed, playing a game on his phone.

“I was wondering when you were going to come in here,” He said with a smirk on his lips. “I could hear you tossing and turning the whole time.” He said before I could ask how he knew I was still awake.

I smiled slightly and slipped into the bed next to him. He already had the covers folded back, ready for me. As I got under the covers, he got off of his phone so that he could pull me into his arms. That surprised me as well. Oliver didn’t seem like the type to cuddle.

After a while, we finally got comfortable. Oliver was on his back, my head was on his chest and my right leg was hooked around his waist. My right hand was on his neck and his hands were on my lower back. He had pulled my shit up just a little so that his hands were resting on my bare skin.

We were quiet for a while and I was sure he had fallen asleep. But then, just as I was about to fall asleep, he said my name.

“Yeah?” I answered, my voice tired.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” He asked quietly.

That was the most surprising thing of all. Over the past few days I had learned that he’s been with a lot of girls. He hasn’t been in a “serious” relationship since the 8th grade. Since then, the girls he’s been with have all been hook ups. None of them have been a real girlfriend.

I wasn’t sure what to think of it. Was he just messing around? Was he too tired to really know what he was saying right now?

I turn my head to rest my chin on his chest so that I could look at him. His eyes were open and only slightly tired looking. He looked pretty serious about it too.

“Yes.” I answered, not thinking about it anymore. We may be moving a little too fast considering he was living here, I’ve only known him for a few days and he’s already asking me to be his girlfriend but I could care less. I really liked him.

He gave me a small smile before pressing his lips to mine.

The bell rang and shook me from my thoughts again. As I gathered my things, I could feel Mrs. James glaring at me from the other side of the room. I couldn’t blame her though. Daydreaming twice in one class period? That has got to be a new school record.

As I was leaving the room, an arm hooked itself through mine.

“Someone’s got a lot on their mind today,” Maria says, giggling.

“It’s that substitute in Chemistry. He is so fine,” I lie easily. I feel bad about lying to my best friend but I still wasn’t sure how to tell her about Oliver. Now that Oliver and I were together though, I had no choice but to tell her. She’s my best friend. She could tell you every boyfriend that I’ve had since preschool.

But I wasn’t sure how to tell her about him without telling her that he lived with me. That topic was still off limits. I couldn’t risk my dad finding out.

“I haven’t seen him yet.” Maria pouts as we make our way to our lockers. Mine was first. I stuff my Math books into my locker while Maria starts to talk about this weekend. “So finals are really soon and I’m completely unprepared. So I was thinking that we should all come to my house and study.”

“On Saturday?” I groan, pulling my History books out of the locker. “You really want me to study for the SAT’s on a Saturday?”

“Yes,” She says, completely serious. “We’ll study during the day and then have a little party or something at night.”

A little party or something in Maria’s terms meant watch movies and drink Pepsi until 1 in the morning.

“Alright,” I say, knowing that I needed to study if I wanted to pass. “I’ll be there.”

“Great!” She says, tugging me down the hall to her locker. As she’s getting books out of her locker, my phone starts vibrating in my front pocket. I pull it out to see that Oliver is calling me.

“Hey, it’s my dad.” I lie to Maria. “I’m going to take this. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Alright. Tell him I say I,” She smiles as I start backing away. I nod, clicking answer.

“Hey,” I say, turning around so my back is towards Maria and she can’t see my smile.

“Hey,” Oliver says with a smile to his voice. “So I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight.”

“Are you asking me on a date?” I ask, my smile getting bigger.

“Yes, yes I am.” He chuckles.

“Well, I don’t know. See, I have finals to study for… My schedule is kind of booked up right now.” I stop walking and lean against the wall in an almost abandoned hallway. The bell was going to ring soon but thankfully, my class was right across the hall from where I was. And the teacher wasn’t too strict so I would be safe if I was a few seconds late.

“I will take you to Olive Garden,” He voice just on the edge of begging.

“Well in that case,” I say, my stomach rumbling at the thought of delicious Italian food. “I’m in.”

“I knew that would work.” He laughs. “Alright, I’ll see you after school.”

“Don’t be late!” I tell him.

“Don’t be bossy,” He says before hanging up the phone, just as the bell rings. I hurry across the hall and slide into my seat just as Mr. Winters closes the door.

“Nice timing, Annie.” He laughs. “Alright class, today we’re going to be discussing….” I tune out Mr. Winters as I begin to daydream for the third time today.