I STOOD THERE watching, completely transfixed and fully invested in whatever it was that was actually happening. Curiosity only ever killed the cat right? Not people. Definitely not me. I wasn't the type to ever go down that easily.

She kept looking around and I turned away so I wouldn't be too suspicious. I was already suspicious enough. I mean anyone smarter would definitely know that something was up. But I couldn't expect that much from poor ol' Mandy.

That would just be too much for her brain capacity to understand. She talked while on her phone so I had enough time to look around too. The person in the driver's seat seemed to have no intention of getting out of the car. Mandy started yelling, more like screeching in her terrible voice and I felt sorry for the guy.

He clearly had enough patience in him to withstand that torture. Then a devilish smirk splayed right across my face as an idea suddenly popped unexpectedly into my head. I had to give the credit to the higher power. Some priceless things did land up in my lap.

Looks like the princess has some ugly things in her closet.

And exactly who was I to reject any mana from heaven. She then marched back to the car and bent over it, popping her head through the window to do whatever it was she was doing.

I took a few pictures hoping the guy would perhaps come out and grace the stage for a photoshoot. If Mandy was determined to come after me, it was only smarter for me to have some few weapons ready at my disposal.

Who doesn't like some blackmail material for future use?

I wasn't a bad person but I did like to have some fun once in a while. Who doesn't?

**************

I plopped down on my chair and checked my timetable to see which subjects I had for that day and at which periods. I wasn't exactly a grade A plus student.... okay not always and not on all the subjects.

That's what actually happened when you chose sciences as your academic combination for the torturous two years of your Advanced Level. But hey, it was my cross to carry right? It wasn't like someone pointed a gun at me to choose it.

I groaned dispassionately when I realised I had a double period of Chemistry which meant an excruciating hour and thirty minutes of dealing with mind numbing theory lessons then doing some experiments I had no idea were about half the time.

I didn't fail in the subject but I had to work extra hard at it to fully grasp each topic, which of course I hated doing. I preferred Geography where I barely had to study at all. I grasped that subject like I was paid to do it. Which should have been an offer that was on the table at this point.

I mean we should be paid to learn at this point. School was a full time job that you suffered in without any salary. Each year was a promotion with extra and harder work on top with a big red bow.

I still wished all the terrible things to happen to the mastermind behind this atrocity. I would forever haunt his spirit for the rest of my life. I didn't mind being dumb if it meant staying in bed all day every day. Yeah that was my dream job.

There was a nagging feeling I kept having when my eyes kept sliding over to the empty seat besides me. It felt weird sitting there without the handsome prick occupying the seat next to mine.

Ever since I've been here, Liam had never been late before. If anything, he liked to be unusually early which meant he was always here when I came in. Seeing his vacant seat felt like one of those rare moments that you knew you'll probably never see again. I liked documenting things so I took out my phone and snapped a picture of the empty chair. Why?

Don't ask me why.

Just as I was done and putting my phone away, our class beauty princess walked in with an exaggerated bounce and an even more exaggerated smile on her face. Then Mr James, our class teacher walked into class with a huge stack of papers. I frowned wondering if Liam was even coming to school today.

Then like I had just manifested him from my thoughts, he casually strolled into the room looking all dapper and sharp in simple jeans and T-shirt. Not too bad, I thought to myself.

Especially for a nerd-ish.

But the more I looked at him, the more I was insanely drawn to look at him more. He wasn't the type of guy that could grace the sexiest cover of a magazine. He didn't have the body and the face for that type of thing.

Oh but Cutesy definitely did.

Okay now where the hell did he come from?

But his looks didn't suit his name at all. The guy wasn't cute. Not at all. Neither of them were though. Okay maybe the word tipped a little bit to Liam's side. I mean the guy was just adorable with his smile and his reading glasses.  I scowled at my thoughts.

Look at me comparing them!

I rolled my eyes focusing on my earlier thoughts about Liam. Although he wasn't the supermodel type, he could just as easily walk into a set and make them consider. He was there but not there at the same time. His entire personality wouldn't fit. But his smile could. Definitely. He would be perfect for a toothpaste commercial. He would flourish in that department.

I frowned at my ramblings. I had no idea what I was on about and I definitely wasn't into sorting out any of my thoughts. I didn't even know what I was saying even made any sense. It probably didn't, but hey, there was nothing I could do about the water contamination of this school. Or even the air at this point.

My mouth voluntarily rose to a wide smirk as he walked towards the teacher. The guy didn't like late comers so I was wondering what he would say or do. Mr James turned to face him and Liam casually nodded at the man.

"Sorry for being late." Mr James raised a surprised brow.

"You're never late Liam. Is everything okay?"

"Yes." Was all he said, his mouth barely opening. The guy acted like he had a toothache or something. Like he was either scared to show his teeth or move his cheeks. Whichever way, he was a muster at straight faces.

"Okay then. Go take a seat. You aren't late anyway. I just got here too." He answered, patting him on the shoulder which in turn made me raise a brow at the two of them.

Teacher's pet now are we?

I didn't want to be jealous but the man hated me. Okay maybe not hate but his dislike for me was evident. Especially after that first day he tried to embarrass me infront of the class. I was just glad that he was only my class teacher and didn't teach me in any subjects. I glared at the man infront of the class who wasn't looking at me.

Then my eyes slid to Liam who was inching closer to me, his eyes down cast. I rolled my eyes at him acting all pricey. He silently sat down on his chair besides mine and I inched closer towards him.

"Teacher's pet now are we?" I asked my earlier thoughts with a smirk. He shrugged without so much as a word to me. Not even a little glance. I frowned staring ahead. Is he avoiding me now?

Strange.

*********

"Oh come on. Stop acting like a little girl who's throwing a tantrum. You've been sour all afternoon. This hard to get thing is not a good look."

Okay. So as it turns out, Mr grumpy man with an amazing smile was actually avoiding me. Yeah you heard that right. He. Was. Avoiding. Me.

The imbecile!

"I'm in the middle of something here Lanaya, incase it wasn't that clear. Some of us have to study to get good grades you know." He grated out.

"Of course you do. But you're still acting like a little girl." He clenched his jaw and casually brushed me aside.

"And so you know, I don't take kindly to being brushed aside. What's wrong with you?" He sighed.

"That's your personal problem. Now just leave me alone." Okay for the first time in my entire life I was a little stunned. I didn't know what to do or how to react in this kind of situation.

I didn't have that much experience in this thing. In this making friends thing. The only friends I truly had were those I grew up with in the orphanage. We didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. We were just thrust into the same place together so we had no choice but to get along.

In the long run we actually became like some sort of a dysfunctional family. I had never really tried making an effort in getting to know someone before. So henceforth my predicament. But I couldn't help feel annoyed by his off-putting behaviour. We had been alright just yesterday. There was no reason for his rude behaviour.

I couldn't believe that it was only just yesterday that the two of us had bonded over my sandwich. I rolled my eyes taking out my phone to take a picture of his scowling face, hunched over a Geography text book trying to study the topic we had covered today. His scowl made it pretty clear that he had no clue of what was going on.

Although this was our first term of the year as seniors, and the subjects were a little harder, I was already ahead in Geography. That was my advantage. I had a clear understanding of most of the topics which we covered in class.

Sue me but I liked being prepared. I hated feeling like a lost sheep in that subject. That space was left there for Chemistry.

There was a little park that the school had made for students that wanted to study with freah air all around them. Which I had to admit was pretty dope. It was this cute little park setting with huge trees providing the shade, cemented and carved benches and tables, smoothed out it was hard to believe they were made from concrete.

It had taken me some asking around to find this little heaven, what with being the new girl and all. I hated that. But hey, I had instantly fallen in love with the place. Especially with rows and rows of flower beds with all kinds of flowers that made the nicely trimmed lawn pale in comparison.

But they gave that fresh air delightful scents all around it. It was bliss. It was usually hard to impress me but this school had definitely did it for me. It wasn't exactly like the type of schools that you saw on the television with long endless halls and lockers lining them. Or even had fancy equipments and fancy activities, but it was by far the best I had ever been in.

I was in my head so much that I completely zoned out from my surroundings until my hand made contact with something. There was a yelp and that brought me to the present. In my unconscious state of mind, I had hit the back of Liam's head with my fisted fingers pretty damn hard. I couldnt help it and smiled with glee at his cry. I shrugged raising my hands.

He rose up in a fit of anger, his face contorting into the hardest glare I had ever seen on his face. I had to admit I was used to his gloomy face but not his angry one. He was really angry alright.

"Take a hint will you. Stay away from you. I mean it."

He means it.

Then he stormed out of there like he had the demons from hell on his tail. I rolled my eyes at his retreating form. To me it was like seeing a child stomping his feet after throwing a tantrum to get attention. Then I shrugged again chuckling as I occupied his previous place.

Does this school have a gym or an indoor swimming pool or even a basketball training area?

That would have been definitely cool. In my previous school, all the sports grounds or whatever they were called, were outside in the scorching heat. There wasn't even a pool. Let alone a team. I shrugged. First things first, I had to definitely find out. That one definitely got my attention.

Let Liam stew in his delusions for a bit. I'll find him with a pacifier to stop his little teary face from well.... shedding more tears.

**********

And so you know, my school was nothing like this one here, well not entirely. For starters we didn't wear clothes but we had uniforms.

But I wanted to write something that had nothing to do with my high school so yeah. And yeah, we didn't get detention either, they punished your ass until you swore you'll never do it again.

But of course I failed in that test 😂😂. Punishments fear me at this point.

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