||Jamilla Tate|| First Person ||

        "Ten bucks says she didn't finish," I hear Tyler's voice coming from behind me and Becca the next morning, the Troy Bolton child not even trying to keep his voice down. Becca and I were tiredly trying to make our way across campus to get to our lecture hall, as neither of us slept much the night prior. After Garrett, the boy that left his SD card in my computer last night, left, I stayed in the library until the literal last minute. My essay had just finished printing at 11:59 PM, and then I had to go through the process of shutting down my computer before leaving the library(that I may or may not have almost gotten lost in). Paired with what should have been a ten minute walk back to Park-Stradley hall but really became a twenty minute one when I nearly got lost in the pitch black of night, I didn't get back to my room until around 12:30 AM. And then there was the actual process of getting ready for bed by taking a shower and changing into my pajamas and finally, actually falling asleep.

        I rub my tired eyes and turn around to look at the two boys walking behind us, the first being Tyler Joseph and the second Josh Dun. Tyler was wearing a black hoodie and some jeans on this chilly morning, while Josh managed to get away with a long-sleeved sweater that made him look insanely good. I hear Becca yawn sleepily from my left, and I vaguely wonder how we even managed to wake up on time.

        "No way, do you see how red her eyes are? And the sweatpants-- she definitely pulled an all nighter," Josh grins in my direction as he gestures to my lazy day outfit which consists of a pair of grey sweatpants, a white tank top, and a zip up sweater that I didn't bother doing up. My hair is a curly and slightly tangled mess that I tossed into a high ponytail, and yes, my eyes are a shade of bright red, but I don't necessarily care because inside my backpack is my completed essay and the contentment that only a true procrastinator can feel when they finish their work right before it was due.

         "So what is it? Because she looks fairly defeated right about now." Tyler nudges Josh in the side, and I roll my eyes and turn around. Becca is smiling this little one despite the exhaustion on her face-- since I met her back in August, I've always known her to be the type of person that always wears an encouraging smile despite how terrible she feels. I find that I appreciate her optimism.

        "Are you sure you two want to make a bet off of me?" I say, staring straight ahead rather than looking back at the two guys.

        "If it makes me ten dollars richer, sure thing." Tyler responds almost immediately, making me laugh lightly.

        "Or ten dollars poorer?" Josh interjects. Becca chuckles lightly as we finally arrive to our massive classroom, a line stretching outside of the door full of students waiting to hand in their essay to the Prof. I don't immediately go to retrieve my essay from my bag, instead crossing my arms over my chest as I patiently wait for the line to move forward of students dropping their papers on Stevens' desk.

        "Josh, I can totally forsee you giving me ten dollars in the near future." Tyler hums excitedly as Becca's turn comes up, my roommate leaning over Stevens' desk so she can search for her name on the list and sign it off. Just then, I swing my backpack off of my shoulders and tug the zipper open, grabbing my essay out before setting it on top of Becca's with a telling smile. Tyler doesn't say anything for a moment out of shock, but Josh starts to laugh happily almost immediately as I go to sign my name off.

        "Bless your heart, Ja-mee-lah." Josh grins happily at me, and I try not to look at him as I follow Becca up the stairs to get to our usual seat. Tyler had originally sat at the front of the room on the first day, but Josh finally managed to convince him to sit with us under the premise that we wouldn't distract him too much during the lectures(a promise in which we sort of stayed true to). Becca sits down in an empty chair near the end of the seventh row, and as usual, I plop down in the chair next to her. Not long after, Josh slips into the seat on my right, Tyler following after him. Josh only has a can of Monster with him today, having stopped the unhealthy habit of drinking coffee along with his energy drinks after I told him that I wouldn't drive him to the hospital if he had a heart attack because I don't have my license yet. Without thinking, I grab his drink from him and take a sip, sighing in content.

        "You never let me drink your stuff!" Tyler exclaims suddenly, his lips forming a disappointed pout. Josh chuckles before knocking his shoulder into my own as I casually take another drink from his can.

        "Uh oh, trouble in paradise." Becca says.

        "Jami just won me ten bucks," Josh tells Tyler, who scoffs in disbelief as he sinks back into his chair. "And yes, I do, Ty."

        "The logic in that is incredible." Becca yawns again, but nevertheless her lips quirk up in a small smile.

        "My logic is worth two cans of Monster, so I don't mind at all." Josh grins, and without thinking too much of it, I tilt my head to rest on Josh's shoulder, sighing contentedly when he doesn't shift away from me. Considering the fact that we shared his bed the evening prior during our movie marathon and I just drank from the same can as him, I don't feel the need to put much distance between us. He's comfortable anyways, and I don't care who I use as a pillow. I'm sure though that if I wasn't so sleepy, I wouldn't feel the need to.

        "I'm so tired," I huff, rubbing my strained eyes.

        "When'd you get back from the library?" Josh asks me curiously, his head tilting downward so he can look at me. I sigh as I try to rack my brain for the answer to his inquiry.

        "I dunno, like 12:30?" I glance over at Becca, who covers her mouth as the third yawn overcomes her. She turns to look at me and Josh and nods in confirmation. "I couldn't sleep for a while though."

        "Aww," Josh says in the slightest drawl that makes me feel things I really shouldn't feel for him, and then he's shifting around and tossing his arm over my shoulder to allow me to get comfortable. "Class will be over eventually, then you can sleep and dream about cereal... or whatever girls dream about."

         "Just because you dream about cereal, Josh--" Tyler begins to say, but Josh shushes him almost immediately and shoots him a look. Josh opens his mouth to make a rebuttal at Tyler, but then our professor is straightening up and addressing the entire class.

         "Congratulations on finishing Hamlet!" Stevens' voice booms across the room, a smile stretching his lips. I take this announcement as my cue to stay awake considering the fact that he will probably be announcing the new piece of literature we will be studying for the next few weeks. I pull away from Josh's side and slip out from underneath his all too comfortable arm, tugging my sweater closer to my chest as I listen intently to the discussion.

        In the course of the next twenty minutes in class, I manage to yawn approximately thirteen times. It got to the point where Tyler leaned over Josh to slap his hand over my mouth when I started to go for the fourteenth, shooting me an uneasy smile when I narrowed my eyes at him. I push his hand away from my face and rub the sleeve of my sweater against my mouth just to taunt him, making Josh laugh at the expense of having a girl in the row ahead of us turn around and glare at him.

         "Sleeep," Becca groans when we are finally dismissed, and without wasting a second, she's packing up her English notes along with the new book we were given to study-- a collection of short stories by authors that might as well not have been writing in English. The one selection in the book that absolutely intimidates me is the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, mostly because it's going to take me far too long to actually understand what he is trying to say. Becca doesn't say a thing before shutting the book away in her bag, refusing to look at it as she gets out of her chair eagerly. "I'll see you, yeah?" She raises her eyebrows, and I nod my head yes in confirmation. Josh pushes me from behind so I can let him slip out of our row with Tyler tagging behind him. The two boys hurry down the steps, excited about something that I clearly did not know about.

        I'm just starting to follow after the boys when I recognize a voice coming from behind me. Upon hearing "Jamilla," I turn around and find a vaguely familiar looking boy rushing down the steps from a row a few behind where I had been sitting. It takes me a moment to recognize him, but then I see that the boy has a camera hanging from around his neck and he is wearing the dopey grin I remember from the night before.

        "Garrett, right?" I ask him, and he nods almost immediately.

        "Garrett Mason," he repeats.

        "Jamilla Tate." I reply, smiling up at him. He flushes red slightly as he looks down at his sneakers quickly. I realize then that Garrett is the type of boy that comes across as such a kind soul and suddenly makes you feel the urge to hug him and play with his hair all at the same time. The short, golden brown curls atop his hair complement his gorgeous hazel eyes beautifully, and the cheesy grin he sports make it all the better. Garrett goes to hold his hand out for me to shake, but then he retracts it upon remembering that we already did this song and dance last night. He laughs nervously and runs his hand through his hair.

        "I didn't realize we had the same English Lit. class," he says slowly.

        "Yeah, uh, me neither." I say lightly, glancing behind me to see that Josh and Tyler have stopped by the door to wait for me. "Have you always sat in the back?"

        "Uh, I guess so. I'm comfortable back there." He tells me honestly. I nod my head, digging my hands into the pockets of my sweatpants. "I, uh, I think your friends are getting impatient, I guess I should--" I turn around to look back at the two boys that I thought were being patient and quietly waiting for me. Instead, I see that Josh is standing next to Tyler with his arms crossed over his chest and a passive aggressive expression on his face. Tyler, on the other hand, is stomping his foot childishly as he continues to look at the door that his freedom rests behind.

        "Oh," I mumble under my breath.

        "Anyways, I, uh, I won't keep you. I just wanted to ask if you wanted to get something to eat sometime?" Garrett scratches the back of his neck nervously as he rocks back on his heels. I chew on my bottom lip as I try to make a quick decision before Tyler could start screeching impatiently.

        I don't know who Garrett really is. I don't know what his true intentions are-- if this whole shy thing really is true or if it's simply an act, I don't know. All I do know is that he is just another eighteen year old boy at Ohio State that just so happens to be incredibly attractive and impeccably nervous about talking to new people. The fact that our paths crossed last night due to sheer negligence(in which he forgot his memory card in the computer that I just so happened to be on) is purely coincidental. If anything, our interacting should have ended there. But here we are, in the same English class, and him asking me to go out with him in the most awkward way.

        He seems nice enough, and God knows that if the circumstances were the same as they were before August, I would have said no by now. But something about that sweet smile of his and the way he twiddles his thumbs nervously makes me want to tell him yes, that I would love to. But then I hear Josh's voice, and I pause. "Jamilla!" He calls out to me, and I turn back to look at the dark haired boy that is waiting for me by the door. I bite my lip and turn back to Garrett.

        "Yeah, sure." I smile at him, and the grin that stretches across his face is so pure and beautiful that I can't help but laugh lightly. "Meet me outside of Park-Stradley tomorrow, at noon? We can get lunch." Garrett grins and nods, so I wave at him and start to head down the steps so I can reach the impatient boys by the door. When I stop by them, Tyler rolls his eyes at me.

        "Could you have taken any longer?" Tyler huffs in annoyance. I scoff in disbelief and roll my eyes. "Who was he anyways?"

        "This guy named Garrett I met last night." I answer him curtly. "We were making plans to get lunch tomorro--"

        "Hold up," Josh raises a hand to stop me from continuing to speak, and my lips purse almost immediately as I wait for what he has to say. "What do you mean by last night?"

        "It was at the library, like almost 10--"

        "You made plans with some random dude you met last night?" Josh exclaims in disbelief. "What the hell, Jamilla?"

        "What? He's really nice." I furrow my eyebrows at him. Josh groans loudly.

        "You don't know who he is!" He presses.

       "I don't know who you are," I interject.

       "Yes, you do! I'm your neighbour-- he's some pretty boy that could be totally taking advantage of--"

"Don't tell me what to do, Josh." I say harshly. It clearly struck a sour chord within me to hear Josh trying to control my choices and the decisions I make for myself, especially when I ran away from home for the very reason of getting away from that. Josh may have his intentions in the right place, but he has zero right to tell me if I shouldn't make friends with Garrett, especially not after only knowing me for a little over two months. It aggravates me.

"You're naïve, Jamilla." Josh says warningly, his jaw set and locked as he glares straight ahead. I scoff.

"And you're being an asshole, Joshua."