"What was that about?" Tyler asks once I catch up to him.

Tyler and I have been friends since he beat me up in the playground in the third grade. It's a guy thing. Needing to vent, I catch him up to speed.

"That's messed up. She just totally left you hanging because of a key chain?"

Just knowing he agrees with me made me feel better. "Can you believe it?" Brynn argues. No...states things with such conviction I began to question my own judgment.

"I'd just leave it alone. She sounds like a whole bag of crazy," Tyler advised as we approach our English Lit class.

"Yeah, I guess." Although I agree, I somehow get this feeling in the pit of my stomach that my run-in with Brynn wasn't over by a long shot. She got under my skin like a bug bite that you know you really should leave alone but just have to scratch even though you know it's only going to make things worse.

Tyler takes his seat next to mine. "Speaking of crazy how are things going with the ex?"

Just thinking of Jessica causes an audible groan to escape my lips. Now, SHE was a bag of crazy. We dated only a few months and now that we broke up she won't leave me alone, which is ironic really since we broke up because I had gotten tired of every date being, whether or not we were alone or in public, her taking selfies, texting on her phone to her friends and updating her online status. Self-absorbed didn't even scratch the surface of describing this girl's love of herself.

Tyler lets out a deep hearty chuckle, "That good, huh?"

"You have no idea." Before I get the chance to explain, our teacher Miss Valentino walks in.

"How do I love thee ... Let me count the ways! That's right, ladies and gentlemen we are moving on to sonnets. Starting with the lovable poet and playwright Shakespeare. Open up your text to page fifty-seven."

Now there were several audible groans coming from the class in unison. Nothing like Shakespeare's Sonnet to bring a class together.

I look over to Tyler to say something sarcastic but he has that dreamy look on his face. Ever since Mr. Kearns left and we got Miss Valentino a twenty-something, leggy, and attractive by anyone standards replacement, Tyler was no fun in English class. He had a major teacher crush.

"I love your mocha skin. The length of your legs especially in those sweet heels you like to wear..."

"Enough, Ty. It was rhetorical." I throw a wad of crumpled paper at his head to shake him out of it.

"What?" He looks at me dazed and confused.

"You were doing it again."

"Out loud?!" 

He looks seriously panicked.

I take pity on him. "She didn't hear, chill."

His body visibly relaxed. "You think I can ask her out, once we graduate?"

What do you say to a question like that?

I opted for, "Maybe? Not sure what the ruling is on that one."

"Isn't that right, Tyler?" Ms. Valentino says and my best friend's head shoots up.

Busted.

He's been struck dumb. "Ty," I say through gritted teeth and under my breath, "say something."

Tyler shakes his head to clear the fog. "Absolutely."

"Thanks so much for volunteering to read the next sonnet." Miss Valentino points to it in her copy of the book. 

I can feel the sigh that emanates from my friend, as he reads,

"As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow'st

In one of thine, from that which thou departest;

And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow'st

Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest."

I can't help wondering why Shakespeare can't speak prose like everyone else. Never was I more grateful to hear a bell ring than the one that ended English class, but my enthusiasm quickly diminished when I saw who was approaching as I wade my way through the ocean of bodies to my next class. Jessica.

"Good luck with that." Tyler gives me a pat on the back as we weren't going to the same class, and he then exits stage left.

Darn, she's seen me. I watch as Jessica jumps up and down waving her hand frantically trying to get my attention. Maybe I can pretend I don't see her. And maybe I can pretend not to notice the nose at the end of my face.

A not-so-real smile gets plastered on my face and I give a quick salute before trying to duck down the next hall. Too many bodies in the way. She is now forcibly pushing people aside to get to me. "Please, Please, Please leave me alone", I chant in my head.

Before she gets to me I feel a strange tapping sensation in the middle of my back. I turn and look down to see Brynn looking up at me. She really is a tiny little thing, if I hugged her I think her head would be somewhere around my solar plexus. Why am I thinking of hugging her? Never mind.

She has a piece of paper folded in her hand and seems to be waiting patiently for me to take it from her. So I do. Right before I'm spun around and face-to-face with Jessica. She tries to look around me and I feel compelled to block her from doing so. Why? I'm not sure. Perhaps I just don't want Brynn subjected to Jessica's brand of crazy. She already seems to have her own plate full. Curiosity gets the better of me however and I too check over my shoulder to see if Brynn is still there but she has already disappeared. How does she do that?

A hand was pushing my cheek back to center. Jessica's hand. I shove the note into my pocket. Jessica's glossy pink lips were making a pouty face at me. Her honey-blonde hair was long and perfectly styled. Her makeup was expertly applied. There is no denying Jessica was beautiful but it was what lies under the surface that made me call it quits.

"Jess." I try to smile but I'm not really achieving it.

"You haven't answered any of my texts," she whines.

"Duh?" Is what I want to say followed by, "And yet you didn't get the hint."

Instead, I say, "Been busy. Big game this weekend."

She runs her perfectly manicured fingers through my hair in an attempt to style it away from my face. One of many annoying habits she had when it came to trying "to fix" me.

"You know I'll be cheering for you?" Her voice takes on a husky whisper.

"Yep. You and the rest of the squad. Like you do at every rally." I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. "I really need to get to class."

"But?" Her attempts to delay me further fail as my Mom shows up in the hall.

"Miss Davis, don't you have a class to go to?"

"Yes, Mrs. Nash." Nothing could make Jessica squirm or retreat faster than my Mom.

I mouth, "Thank you!" 

My mom responds with raised eyebrows and a head nod in the direction of class, letting me know I too should be moving along. If it wouldn't be so uncool, I'd totally hug her right now. I love my mom.