Status: Active
Just Swimmingly
Chapter 3
Jennifer
After third period, I rushed to the lunch room. If I didn't hurry, I wouldn't get a table because nobody wanted to be stuck sitting by me, the freak of the school. Inevitably, no one would sit by me once I claimed my table. I bought my lunch, put in both of my ear buds, and hit play. All Time Low sounded good to me right now. Just as the lunch room was starting to fill up, a guy walked up to me and moved his mouth.
Scott
Wow, I couldn't believe my luck. Both the good and the bad, I guess. After I bought my lunch, I couldn't see anywhere to sit. Kinny was sobbing loudly on one side of the cafeteria with a crowd of girls surrounding her and comforting her, sending the occasional synchronized glare at me. Whatever. They only knew what Kinny was telling them, which was more than likely portraying me as a pig. Then I saw her. The girl that they called Basket Case was sitting alone on the opposite side of the cafeteria than Kinny. I happily walked over to the table. Two birds with one stone; I could help this girl and stay away from Kinny and her crazy friends. But as I got closer to Basket Case (I felt bad calling her that, but I didn't know her real name), I felt shier. What if she really was what people said she was? Would she think I was weird if I just sat down? I closed my eyes and calmed down. The only way to answer both of those questions was to sit with her and ask them. If I was kind to her, she'd be kind to me, right? I took a deep breath. She looked at me as I stood in front of the table.
"Uhm, can I sit here?" She pulled something out of her ears. Ear buds.
"What?"
"Can I sit here?" I asked again, a little louder and a little braver. She looked slightly confused.
"Oh yeah, sure." She put one ear bud back in. This wouldn't be awkward.
Jennifer
He had deep, dark, cerulean eyes and sandy blonde hair. I heard myself give him permission to sit with me, but what did I do that for? And who the hell was this guy? And why did he want to sit with me? He looked like the typical guy you'd see around here, so why wasn't he sitting with people more...his type? I put one ear bud back in. I guess I didn't want to seem rude if he said something again, but I didn't want to sit in complete silence if he didn't. Sick Little Games rang in my right ear. Indeed, this whole situation was a sick little game. This guy couldn't be here just because. He bit into a sandwich. This wouldn't be awkward.
---
"Who are you?" I asked after a few minutes. I couldn't handle it; the paranoia would kill me if I didn't find out.
"Oh, wow I'm sorry! I'm Scott Kirkland," he said, sticking his hand out, smiling. His teeth were perfectly straight.
"Jennifer," I said, not taking the hand. Who knows where it's been? For all I knew about Scott, he could be a morning guy, if you catch my drift. It was quiet again, and I could tell his set up or mission or whatever he thought of it as, was failing. I decided to cut to the chase.
"So why are you here, Scott?" He looked up at me.
"Wh-why am I-"
"If those fucktards put you up to this, you can tell them to stop trying so hard; I don't even want to be here."
Scott
Her words broke my heart but made me want to laugh at the same time. Quiet a sensation.
"Who are these 'fucktards' you're referring to? Because if you haven't noticed, our school has a lot of those." She laughed.
"Half of the jocks and cheerleaders that get their kicks out of harassing me on a daily basis." She suddenly looked at her pocket and took her phone out, sighing. She muttered something that I didn't catch.
Jennifer
I sighed. Today was progressing shittier than usual. I'm stuck sitting with this guy that's acting like he cares, and now Hayden was calling me.
"Fuck off," I groaned quietly to both of them. Why couldn't people just leave me alone? Why did they have to continuously hurt me?
"What happened?" Scott asked. I looked up at him.
"My ex won't leave me alone," I told him honestly. Maybe that'd get him to leave; no one I'd ever met wanted to eat lunch with a girl that had just been...dumped. He didn't dump me, I told myself furiously. I dumped him. But wasn't he the one that ended the relationship by cheating? Scott's eyes widened. "You look like you're surprised that I'm capable of getting a boyfriend," I commented, breaking away from all thoughts of Hayden.
"No, no, it's not that," he said quickly. "It's just that my ex won't leave me alone either." My eyes widened this time. He was either a really bad liar, or this was just too convenient.
"Well, if we got that girl that got dumped in the hallway today over here, we'd have to start a club." He looked uncomfortable.
"Uhm...that girl is my ex."
"Oh, so you were the jerk that broke up with her in the hallway?"
Scott
Crap, I didn't want her to think I was a jerk. She needed to know that not everyone she'd encounter in this town would hurt people for fun.
"Yes. No. Well, actually I broke up with her a while ago but she thought we were still dating, and she decided to pick the hallway to start freaking out about the break up. At least I think we're done for good now." I smiled a little. Kinny's parents would leave my mom alone now, and even better, Kinny would leave me alone, unless you counted the glares from her friends.
"Yes, that can be annoying," Jennifer agreed with a quick nod.
"How long have you guys been broken up?" I asked, gesturing to her phone. She thought about the question for a second.
"I guess the true answer is on the day he started cheating on me, but the official day, when I found out, was about two months ago." I felt my mouth drop. I quickly closed it, remembering that I still was chewing my sandwich.
"So you're saying I might have to deal with her for two months?!"
"I guess it depends on how long you were dating and her personality."
"Well how long were you dating your ex?" She looked away and smiled slightly.
"A year."
Jennifer
I flashed back to when I'd first met Hayden at the Sleeping With Sirens concert and I confused him for Kellin Quinn in the dark. He'd actually gone with it and sung If I'm James Dean, You're Audrey Hepburn. His voice was lower than Kellin's but I thought it was sweet and gave him my number and we went to concerts and other dates together.
"Wow, that's a long time," stated Scott. I'd almost forgotten he was here; nostalgia was washing over me.
"Yeah." I felt sympathetic for the guy. If his ex was anything like Hayden, he'd be in for a long ride. "Here, listen to this." I played An Infallible Remedy by Artist vs Poet. After the song was over, I realized I'd probably just made a big mistake. I looked at him intently, expecting him to leave like everybody else eventually did.
After third period, I rushed to the lunch room. If I didn't hurry, I wouldn't get a table because nobody wanted to be stuck sitting by me, the freak of the school. Inevitably, no one would sit by me once I claimed my table. I bought my lunch, put in both of my ear buds, and hit play. All Time Low sounded good to me right now. Just as the lunch room was starting to fill up, a guy walked up to me and moved his mouth.
Scott
Wow, I couldn't believe my luck. Both the good and the bad, I guess. After I bought my lunch, I couldn't see anywhere to sit. Kinny was sobbing loudly on one side of the cafeteria with a crowd of girls surrounding her and comforting her, sending the occasional synchronized glare at me. Whatever. They only knew what Kinny was telling them, which was more than likely portraying me as a pig. Then I saw her. The girl that they called Basket Case was sitting alone on the opposite side of the cafeteria than Kinny. I happily walked over to the table. Two birds with one stone; I could help this girl and stay away from Kinny and her crazy friends. But as I got closer to Basket Case (I felt bad calling her that, but I didn't know her real name), I felt shier. What if she really was what people said she was? Would she think I was weird if I just sat down? I closed my eyes and calmed down. The only way to answer both of those questions was to sit with her and ask them. If I was kind to her, she'd be kind to me, right? I took a deep breath. She looked at me as I stood in front of the table.
"Uhm, can I sit here?" She pulled something out of her ears. Ear buds.
"What?"
"Can I sit here?" I asked again, a little louder and a little braver. She looked slightly confused.
"Oh yeah, sure." She put one ear bud back in. This wouldn't be awkward.
Jennifer
He had deep, dark, cerulean eyes and sandy blonde hair. I heard myself give him permission to sit with me, but what did I do that for? And who the hell was this guy? And why did he want to sit with me? He looked like the typical guy you'd see around here, so why wasn't he sitting with people more...his type? I put one ear bud back in. I guess I didn't want to seem rude if he said something again, but I didn't want to sit in complete silence if he didn't. Sick Little Games rang in my right ear. Indeed, this whole situation was a sick little game. This guy couldn't be here just because. He bit into a sandwich. This wouldn't be awkward.
---
"Who are you?" I asked after a few minutes. I couldn't handle it; the paranoia would kill me if I didn't find out.
"Oh, wow I'm sorry! I'm Scott Kirkland," he said, sticking his hand out, smiling. His teeth were perfectly straight.
"Jennifer," I said, not taking the hand. Who knows where it's been? For all I knew about Scott, he could be a morning guy, if you catch my drift. It was quiet again, and I could tell his set up or mission or whatever he thought of it as, was failing. I decided to cut to the chase.
"So why are you here, Scott?" He looked up at me.
"Wh-why am I-"
"If those fucktards put you up to this, you can tell them to stop trying so hard; I don't even want to be here."
Scott
Her words broke my heart but made me want to laugh at the same time. Quiet a sensation.
"Who are these 'fucktards' you're referring to? Because if you haven't noticed, our school has a lot of those." She laughed.
"Half of the jocks and cheerleaders that get their kicks out of harassing me on a daily basis." She suddenly looked at her pocket and took her phone out, sighing. She muttered something that I didn't catch.
Jennifer
I sighed. Today was progressing shittier than usual. I'm stuck sitting with this guy that's acting like he cares, and now Hayden was calling me.
"Fuck off," I groaned quietly to both of them. Why couldn't people just leave me alone? Why did they have to continuously hurt me?
"What happened?" Scott asked. I looked up at him.
"My ex won't leave me alone," I told him honestly. Maybe that'd get him to leave; no one I'd ever met wanted to eat lunch with a girl that had just been...dumped. He didn't dump me, I told myself furiously. I dumped him. But wasn't he the one that ended the relationship by cheating? Scott's eyes widened. "You look like you're surprised that I'm capable of getting a boyfriend," I commented, breaking away from all thoughts of Hayden.
"No, no, it's not that," he said quickly. "It's just that my ex won't leave me alone either." My eyes widened this time. He was either a really bad liar, or this was just too convenient.
"Well, if we got that girl that got dumped in the hallway today over here, we'd have to start a club." He looked uncomfortable.
"Uhm...that girl is my ex."
"Oh, so you were the jerk that broke up with her in the hallway?"
Scott
Crap, I didn't want her to think I was a jerk. She needed to know that not everyone she'd encounter in this town would hurt people for fun.
"Yes. No. Well, actually I broke up with her a while ago but she thought we were still dating, and she decided to pick the hallway to start freaking out about the break up. At least I think we're done for good now." I smiled a little. Kinny's parents would leave my mom alone now, and even better, Kinny would leave me alone, unless you counted the glares from her friends.
"Yes, that can be annoying," Jennifer agreed with a quick nod.
"How long have you guys been broken up?" I asked, gesturing to her phone. She thought about the question for a second.
"I guess the true answer is on the day he started cheating on me, but the official day, when I found out, was about two months ago." I felt my mouth drop. I quickly closed it, remembering that I still was chewing my sandwich.
"So you're saying I might have to deal with her for two months?!"
"I guess it depends on how long you were dating and her personality."
"Well how long were you dating your ex?" She looked away and smiled slightly.
"A year."
Jennifer
I flashed back to when I'd first met Hayden at the Sleeping With Sirens concert and I confused him for Kellin Quinn in the dark. He'd actually gone with it and sung If I'm James Dean, You're Audrey Hepburn. His voice was lower than Kellin's but I thought it was sweet and gave him my number and we went to concerts and other dates together.
"Wow, that's a long time," stated Scott. I'd almost forgotten he was here; nostalgia was washing over me.
"Yeah." I felt sympathetic for the guy. If his ex was anything like Hayden, he'd be in for a long ride. "Here, listen to this." I played An Infallible Remedy by Artist vs Poet. After the song was over, I realized I'd probably just made a big mistake. I looked at him intently, expecting him to leave like everybody else eventually did.