Chapter Eleven

      “Johnny! Anderson!” I called out as I caught up to the two boys.

      “Elle,” John greeted upon my arrival.

      “Paterson,” Phillip nodded.

      “Where are we off to?” I asked.

      “We have English,” Phillip answered.

      “Fun!”

      “Not really,” John said.

      “What are you guys doing after school?” I asked eagerly, unsure of where my newfound energy was coming from.

      “My house; do you want to come?” John offered.

      “Sure!” I said.

      “Cool,” he said casually.

      “Phillip!” Jillian yelled, running up to us just before we entered the classroom.

      “Jillian,” he said rigidly.

      “So, I was thinking, we should totally skip our next classes, and meet in the supply closet,” she said, drawing a spiral on his chest.

      “Uh, n-no thanks,” he gulped, going into the room with John and I following.

      “Mr. Kent, Mr. Anderson, and Ms. Paterson, please take a seat,” the teacher at the front of the room said. We all sat in the back of the room at a table together. Our teacher, a middle-aged woman with no sense of humor, started talking about the book we were reading, and what it symbolized. She wasn’t my favorite teacher, but she somehow accomplished the main goal of teaching us the required material.

      About half way through the class, someone’s hand abruptly shot straight up.

      “Mr. Ross,” the teacher at the front of the room said in confusion. Nick stood up, facing the class the class with a serious expression plastered on his arractive face.

      “I have an announcement,” he declared, pulling something out of his pocket.

      “Make it short,” she sighed, irritated.

      “Of course,” he shrugged, starting to walk all the way to the back of the room towards where the boys and I had sat down. All eyes were to the boy I had the pleasure of calling my boyfriend. He got down on one knee in front of me, pulled out a Ring Pop, and said, “Will you marry me?”

      “Absolutely!” I said sarcastically, cracking up into a fit of laughter. Apparently, I was now engaged to Nick Ross. 

      “Mr. Ross, please sit down, and stop wasting the class’ time,” the teacher said sternly.

      “Will do,” he saluted, winking at me before returning to his seat. Only Nick... 

      At the end of the day, Phillip, John, and myself headed over to John’s house. Phillip won a game of rock-paper-scissors, and got driving privileges.

      “So, Elle, how does it feel to be engaged?” Phillip asked as he attempted to kill us- I mean drive.

      “Pretty chill,” I said, as my heartbeat increased with every yard he drove. I honestly didn’t have a clue how Phillip got his license.

      “I bet,” John muttered.

      “John, what’s your problem with Nick?” I asked.

      “Nothing,” he brushed it aside. I gave a hard look, staying silent until he spoke again. “I just think he’s too cocky. Oh, and he’s a total dick.”

      “I diagree,” I said.

      “Let’s stop talking about this! By the way, Elle, do you know who was flirting with me earlier today?” Phillip questioned, stepping in and redirecting the entire conversation, as he also swerved the car dangerously close a stop sign.

      “Do I want to know?” I groaned.

      “Was it Ms. Rosie Walden?” John guessed.

      “Wow! You’re one good guesser!” Phillip said.

      “That slut- excuse my language- that bitch was flirting with you?” I said.

      “Yes.”

      “She really doesn’t understand boundaries, does she?”

      “I don’t get it,” John mumbled.

      “First, she kisses my boyfriend, then, she flirts with one of my best friends, whom her best friend is also into; see an issue with that?” I explained, hoping to enlighten John.

      “Oh! I get it!” he exclaimed, understanding. Phillip drove up to John’s driveway and pushed on the breaks sharply. I jerked forward in my seat, thinking that I had died.

      “Phillip, you suck at driving!” I said, quickly getting out as not waste another minute in the car.

      “Thanks! My parents were also surprised when I passed!” he smiled at his unlikely achievement.

      “Where to?” I asked.

      “The back!” Phillip said, grabbing my phone, and running straight for the backyard. I ran right after him, and when I eventually caught up, I tackled him to the ground.

      “Give it back!” I said.

      “No!” he defied.

      “Wrong answer!”

      “Oh, Elle, you’re so silly!” he laughed, rolling over and running for the trampoline.

      “Give it back!” I screamed again.

      “Elle, chill the fuck out,” John said.

      “Tell Phillip to give me back my phone!” I whined. It wasn’t that I suffered seperation anxiety from the small cellur device, but being away from it for an extensive amount of time wasn’t exactly good for my mental stability.

      “Never!” Phillip said, taking it out, and pausing as his finger brushed against the screen. “What’s your password?”

      “Why would I tell you?” I scoffed.

      “So it’s ‘Nick’?” he questioned.

      “No!”

      “‘Paterson’? Real original!” he said, successfully unlocking my phone. Eh, so maybe I wasn’t being too creative when I chose my password; next time I know.

      “Please give it back!” I asked somewhat politely.

      “Nope,” he said.

      “What are you giving back? Her virginity?” Nick asked, coming around the back.

      “My phone,” I rolled my eyes.

      “Toss it over here!” Nick said. Phillip obediently threw my phone to Nick as I watched in horror. If they had dropped it, I would literally be ready to kill them.

      “Nick. Ross. Give. Me. Back. My. Phone. Now!” I said, darting for him.

      “No way, babe!” he laughed, jumping on the trampoline with Phillip.

      “Nick, give her the phone back,” John said.

      “Absolutely not,” Nick said, scrolling through something, most likely my texts. That was it. I hopped on the trampoline with them, and then jumped on Nick’s back.

      “Get off,” he whined.

      “Give me my phone!” I commanded.

      “Get off of me, please.”

      “Not until you give me my phone back!”

      “Fine,” he sighed. Before I could think, his sturdy legs weakened, and he fell straight back with me still attached to him. We bounced on the surface we had landed on, and I then kicked him.

      “Give it!” I whined.

      “Here,” he said, handing me my phone.

      “Thank you,” I breathed, wrapping my fingers tightly around my phone. All of the sudden, Nick wrapped his arms securely around my waist, and pressed his lips onto mine. I smiled as I kissed him, and then he began to jump on the trampoline, while our lips were attached. Nick was never going to be able to bore me.

      “No PDA!” John cried, covering his eyes, still on the grass.

      “Well this isn’t public, is it?” Nick asked, pulling away.

      “It’s in front of others, which I would classify as public. Besides, it’s my house, so please, stop!” John said.

      “John, let it go,” Phillip pleaded.

      “I’ve kind of always wanted to do that,” Nick admitted, jumping up as he did a flip.

      “One more thing to cross of the bucket list,” I said, attempting to copy his actions. I landed on my head, and Phillip started laughing.

      “Fail!” Phillip proclaimed, also doing a perfect flip.

      “Yes, we get it, I’m not flexibly inclined,” I sighed.

      “Well, I don’t know about that,” John said, finally climbing on the trampoline with us, “but you definitely can’t do a flip.” John too decided to display a perfect front flip like the others.

      “Stop making me feel bad!” I said, punching John’s shoulder.

      “Speaking of feeling bad, where were you coming from?” Phillip asked Nick.

      “School. I got... distracted.”

      “By whom?” I asked.

      “Uh, Gina,” he hesitated.

      “She didn’t! That girl really needs to get a reality check!” I fumed.

      “Well, if that’s what’s needed, then that’s exactly what we’re going to give her!” Nick smiled.