Chapter 9:

Beckinsile's Point of View

"Welcome to day two of your English learning..." Ms. Matthews says over-enthusiastically.

She instructs us all to pull out our summer reading assignments and discuss with a couple of people. Oliver, Fiona and I decide to discuss the book. We talk for a few minutes and then our conversation tappers off into silence. Ms. Matthews realizes that nobody is talking and decides to move on with the class. Ms. Matthews gives us a discussion sheet and tries to get us talking again which doesn't work very well. She then gives us a project where we have to work in partners to write an Arthurian fairytale. She had come up with the groups before class and put me with Oliver like most of my teachers seem to enjoy doing. Oliver said that we should get the marketing project done first though. I agree and say we should do the project sometime next week.

~~~~~

The class thankfully ends and I race towards the cafeteria. The minute I walk into the cafeteria, I loacte Ed and sit down next to him with a huff. I'm still thinking about what Danika had said to Cadillac during gym. It wasn't right what she'd said. Danika needs someone to teach her a lesson but I can't be the one to do it. Mostly because I'm stuck working with her on a project that I'd rather get a good grade on.

"What's troubling you?" Ed chuckles and takes a sip of his water.

"Danika was being a jerk towards this girl in my gym class." I state simply and begin eating my lunch.

"This surprises you how?" Ed raises an eyebrow at me as Fiona takes the seat next to him.

"It doesn't; it's what she said to the girl that's bothering me."

"What did she say?"

"She was being rude about how the girl was "poor" and couldn't afford slutty perfume."

"That's a little harsh."

"A little? The girl was crying because of it and Danika didn't even bat a lash."

"Danika's a jerk but sadly I don't think there's anything we can do to change that." I whip my head around to find Oliver seated next to me.

"Oliver's right," Fiona says in a small voice.

"I just can't believe I'm forced to work on a project with her." I take a sip out of my water bottle.

"Hey, at least you have me." Oliver smirks at me.

"That isn't the most comforting thing in the world." I pat him on the shoulder and chuckle a little.

"Ha ha; now let's move on to more pressing matters, like those strawberries you owe me." Oliver rubs his hands together like an expectant child.

"What did Becks do?" Ed raises an eyebrow in a teasing manner.

"She lost a bet fair and square." Oliver has a pompous smile on his face.

"I'm disappointed, Becks." Ed shakes his head as I hand Oliver his victory prize. His eyes light up as he pops a chocolate strawberry into his mouth.

~~~~~

Oliver seems to be on a sugar high as we walk towards Ms. Mercer's AP History class. I take a seat up front and Oliver, as usual, takes the seat next to me. It turns out that Cody's in this class too. He takes the seat on the other side of Oliver and we all wait for the dreaded bell to ring. I can hear Oliver drumming his fingers on the desk which makes me feel like exploding.

Ms. Mercer stands up at her podium and takes attendance. Then she hands out textbooks and instructs us to read the first section. We're required to take notes and write an essay that's due on Tuesday. I groan internally as I open the textbook.

"Maybe all AP classes was a bad idea," I muse as Oliver continues with his infernal tapping.

I write the title of the section in my notebook and commence reading. As I continue reading, I get lost in the material. History is actually one of my favorite classes because I'm good at it and find it interesting. I write down definitions and important dates as they come up. Halfway through my reading I notice Oliver still has his fingers drumming away at the desk and a bored expression on his face. His notebook is empty and he still hasn't moved from the first page of the section. His fingers move in slow rhythms. Tap. Tap. Tap. His fingers are about to go down again but I grab them in the act.

"If your annoying fingers hit that desk one more time, I will personally cut them off. Got it?" I smile sweetly and drop his hand.

"Whatever you say, Beckinsile." I can feel my cheeks become hot with an angry blush. Oliver punches my arm lightly, an almost friendly gesture.

"Just start reading before Ms. Mercer catches us talking and gives us detention."

"Would detention with me be that bad?" Oliver smirks as I raise my head to face his.

"Let me put this in simple terms for you. I would rather go on an eight hour road trip with Danika." I cross my arms and fake-smile back at him.

"Well then," Oliver says with mock hurt.

~~~~~

The ringing of the bell signals that it's time for me to go to French. I put my textbook on the shelf and toss my notebook into my bag. Oliver gets to French first and sits up front where we usually sit. I take the seat next to him and lay my head on the desk.

"Is somebody tired?" Oliver chuckles as Madame Rousseau enters the room.

"No, I just don't feel like more vocab." I hiss and lift my head up.

Madame Rousseau takes attendance and quickly jumps into her vocab lesson. She makes us repeat each word back to her multiple times and then she gives us a sentence using that word. We have to repeat the sentence and then she moves on. After we accomplish that part of the lesson, she hands out a vocab sheet and tells us to copy down all the words three times. I copy them down at a fast pace. It isn't neat at all but it's done. Then Madame Rousseau graces us with yet another worksheet. It's shaping up to be a long class and I don't think we're anywhere close to done.

~~~~~

Madame Rousseau hands us a conjugation worksheet just as the bell rings and gruffly reminds us to complete it. I roll my eyes as I walk out of the classroom and stuff the worksheet in the bottom of my bag. The school year is finally getting started and I do not like it one little bit.

"Hey Becks," Oliver holds the door open for me as I walk out into the still overcast atmosphere.

"Hey Olly Pop," I smile at him and stand near the curb. It still looks too wet to sit on which is okay with me since I've practically been sitting all day.

"What time should we be at your place tomorrow?" Oliver stands near me as he pulls out his helmet.

I can feel my heart skip a few painful beats as I remember the project. Tomorrow night Oliver, Brandon and the Queen Slut will be at my house supposedly filming our commercial. In all honesty, we'll probably spend most of the night arguing as we do in class.

"6:30, but you are coming home with me tomorrow and helping me set up since you dragged me into this mess. It was your idea to film it at somebody's house and since I was doing nothing you decided it should be at my house. See, it's your fault." I cross my arms and smirk at him.

"Fine love, if it will make you feel better, I'll help you set up for our little get together." I roll my eyes at his use of the word "love" and hop into Ed's car as it drives up.

"Does Oliver want a ride?" Ed asks as I shut the door.

"No, he has a ride home." I say as Oliver straddles his bike.

Ed shrugs and begins to drive to my house. When we get home, we go into the kitchen and eat food just like before and then retire to the living room for more crime dramas.

~~~~~

Ed's gone home and now I'm up in my room working on homework. My music's on full blast as I finally finish my conjugation worksheet and start on my essay for history. I power up my MacBook and start typing a rough draft of my essay. I work fast and soon enough I have a five paragraph rough draft, ready for editing. I go back to the top of my essay and begin reading. I'm about halfway through the first paragraph when my phone starts ringing. I read the caller ID and see "King Oliver" written across the top of my screen. I roll my eyes and answer.

"What are you doing right now?"

"Writing a History essay..." I say with uncertainty.

"Oh good, so nothing important,"

"Very funny, what do you need?"

"Do you need me to buy anything for the gathering tomorrow night? I just so happen to be at target."

"I like sour patch kids and gummy bears..."

"Good, I thought you were going to ask for like a ski mask and some rope. This is a relief." I can hear the humor in Oliver's voice.

"Oh, I need those too. We have to keep Danika in line somehow." I laugh as I hear my mom calling me for dinner.

"I need to go. Goodnight, Olly Pop."

"Goodnight, Beckinsile." The line goes dead and I toss my phone onto my bed.

"Becky, this is the last time I'm calling you. If you don't get down here right now, I'll take away your phone for the weekend."

"Coming mom," I sigh and walk downstairs to the dining room.

I take my seat and dig into the chicken stir-fry my mom has set out at my place. It's warm and makes my mouth water for more. My parents are unusually quiet so I try to strike up a conversation.

"Mom, can I have so friends over tomorrow night?" I move some food around on my plate as I wait for her response.

"Sure, is he one of them?" My mom gives me a smirk and my dad looks at her like she's crazy.

I open and close my mouth until I realize she means my non-existent boyfriend. I can hear Gabe and Nate laugh as I formulate a response.

"Mother, how many times do I have to tell you I do not have a boyfriend?" I stuff a bite of food into my mouth.

"I think she needs to hear it a few more times." Gabe snorts as I meet my mother's gaze. She's beaming, just like she was this morning. I'm embarrassed in my own house; this shouldn't be happening.

"Mother, if you keep acting this way, when I do get a boyfriend you'll be last to know." I smirk and go back to eating.

"Fine, I won't pressure you into telling me." My mother sighs and then starts talking with my father about his day at work.

~~~~~

I'm drying dishes with Gabe and Nate while my parents watch the evening news with a mug of coffee. I towel dry the dishes and hand them off to Gabe to be put away.

"Thanks a lot,"

"For what, sister dear?" Nate responds as he hands me a few plates to dry.

"For telling mom about my non-existent boyfriend." I hit Nate with a dish towel and then go back to drying.

"I love how this continuously bothers you. It's perfect; a prank that never ends." Gabe smirks as he takes the dishes from me.

"Gabriel, you better watch out or I'll tell her about Terra and you'll be the one never hearing the end of it."

"Oh, I'm so scared." Gabe teases as he puts the dishes in a cabinet.

"You better be; mom might even invite her over for dinner. What will you do then?" I hang the towel up and follow Gabe and Nate upstairs.

"I will catch some mysterious illness that lasts until mom forgets about dinner." Gabe hisses as he walks off to his room.

"You won't really tell her about Terra, will you?" Nate smirks at me as he stands in his doorway.

"I don't know; we'll have to see how long it takes for this "boyfriend" trick to play out." I walk into my room and close the door.

I finish reading my essay and decide to turn in early since I'll need all my energy to deal with Danika tomorrow. I pack up everything and slip into my pajamas. I undo my bed and fall asleep almost instantly.