Trying To Shake Him Off

"My name is Makayla, Makayla Summers. I'm a Floridian - born and raised. And though I'm pretty sure I've made it quite obvious to you all," pausing, I looked especially at Damien - the one person who really had the extent of what I was about to say taken out on him, "I hate being here." Damien's lips twitched upwards. "But..." I smiled, jutting my chin upwards. "I think I'll give it a go. What have I got to lose, right? Apart from, judging by what I've seen so far, parts of my hearing."

All of the students clapped dramatically, and I laughed, giving them a little bow before I retreated back to the side of the class where I was no longer in their attention span. Nick joined me, giving me a sarcastic smile as he said, "The answer to your question is: your sanity. This class will drive you crazy Makayla."

Grinning at him, I winked. "I think I can handle it."

I was confident in believing so: I'd handled my parents' divorce and the experience of my dad and I moving to a new city. I'm sure I can put up with a class of a few troublemakers.

Little did I know...

The bell rang loudly, signifying the end of the current period. Damien zoomed to my side in a split second. Raising an eyebrow, I glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to lead you to our next class - AP French," he said happily, looking quite forward to doing so.

"But Leo's my tour guide," I said, irritated.

"Exactly, he's your tour guide, I'm just a friendly classmate helping you find your way around."

Turning my back on Damien without even accepting his offer, I directed a question towards the two other 'acquaintances' I'd made so far. "Do any of you do AP French?" Nick and Leo both shook their heads at me. Nick shot me a pitiful expression, whispering something I couldn't catch to Leo whose smile widened as laughter danced around in his sapphire eyes.

Reluctantly though, I turned back to face Damien who wiggled his eyebrows at me in a flirty manner. "Êtes-vous prêt?" (Are you ready?)

"Oui mais pas avec toi," I hissed and walked ahead of him to only feel him slip his hand through mine, holding it in a couple-like fashion. (Yes, but not with you)

"I'll follow you wherever you go," he teased.

I wish to kill him, I really do.

Damien literally dragged me through the now jam-packed hallways of the school. He managed to capture the attention of several of the students on his way, who smiled and waved at him with questions in their eyes when they saw me with him. He must be popular to have so many people watch us the way they had. Not only that, but our arms were linked together.

Wriggling out of his grasp, I muttered angrily, "Damien, just stop!"

"You don't want to be late for your first AP French class, do you?" he asked feigning seriousness as he looked down at me.

"Of course not," I said, anger seeping into my tone, "but not with you forcing me there like this. I could take my time and get to know the directions of where we're going so I won't have to get you to lead me there every single time!"

He grinned knowingly."Uh-huh."

It dawned upon me.

Violently slapping him on his shoulder, I half-shouted, "Let me go you big buffoon!"

"Fine, fine," he grunted, loosening his hold enough for me to ease my arm away. Glaring at him, I stomped off in the opposite direction, ignoring the several eyes that were imprinted on the scene that Damien and I had shared. Most had expressions of amusement on them, but didn't approach me, instead crowding around Mr. Smooth-Talking-Marshmallow over there.

My eyes drifted off to the entrance of the girls lavatory and immediately, I redirected myself to that particular room. Hurrying in, I closed the door loudly behind me. No one was inside, much to my relief.

Sighing, I headed over to the basin and opened the tap, letting the cool water tickle the surfaces of my palm before splashing it on my face repeatedly till I felt myself cool down. I glanced up at my reflection, thick strands of my wet black hair clinging to the skin on my forehead. I looked flushed, my usually milky-white complexion tinged with bright spots of red, especially near my cheeks.

I closed my dark brown eyes for a second, only to have the image of Damien pop back up in my mind. That infuriating smirk, and lights dancing around in his green orbs as he mocked me.

I couldn't even get a moment of peace. He even managed to make an intrusion into my mind. Sighing, I closed the tap and stared at myself in the mirror. I looked absolutely bewildered.

The burning of my cheeks looked as hot as it felt as blood rushed furiously in my veins, redirecting itself to the nerve points at the tips of  my fingers that so desired to implant themselves in a hard slap across Damien's face.

Stable boy was going down.

Stepping outside, back into the cramped halls of the school, I couldn't help but start to feel a little claustrophobic as it swarmed busily with students. Most of them were looking at me. I stuck out like a sore thumb, with my bizarre-way of dressing compared to them (I had no fashion sense at all) and the fact that I looked like a beet.

Yet, quickly hurrying myself back to the spot I'd left Damien at, I managed to blend into the school society for a short while before appearing at the scene going on in the middle of the hallway. Apparently, my hypothesis about Damien's popularity wasn't at all incorrect. In fact, I was dead on about it.

A group of plastic-like girls were grouped around the lockers to the side of where Damien stood. They admired him as he talked and threw his head back in laughter while in conversation with one of his friends. I walked slowly, hiding myself quickly behind a group of jocks who were just a few inches ahead of me. I couldn't tell if the girls were drooling over Damien or his pal, but their eyes seemed to be fixed on the former.

Smiling slightly to myself, I approached Damien at a snail's pace, hoping he wouldn't see me and create another one of his dramatic little 'hello' scenes. But he did exactly what I'd been dreading.

Turning around, his bright green eyes met my own, lighting up when he saw me.

"Ah! There you are!"

Gulping, my eyes flickered momentarily to his admirers whose gazes turned to me, sharp and piercing. This was not going to end well for me.

"Where have you been? I was just telling Adam about you!"

Laughing nervously, I averted my gaze from the girls who I knew were going to kill me later on during the course of my short life. Looking up at the very tall boy in front of me, I smiled at him.

By first impression, I could tell he was a jock. Probably a quarterback. He had the build of one, toned body, muscular arms and built-up chest. He also looked like your typical high school hottie: tan, curly brown hair, twinkling blue eyes.

Flashing me a friendly grin, he reached out his hand and said, "Damien hasn't stopped talking about you one bit. If I were you, I'd be on your guard."

"Shut up," Damien muttered, burning up slightly. I could hear one of the girls cooh appreciatively at the supposedly cute line but I definitely did not need this crap to deal with now.

Grinning at Adam, I said, "Pleasure to meet you but I should probably get going to class."

"Of course," he replied, patting Damien on the back. "Show your new girlfriend the way around Dai."

Gritting my teeth, I held back a bloody-curling scream as Adam walked past me, lightly (and I should mention, intentionally) knocking me as he did causing me to tumble backwards against Damien.

Now I was being considered his girlfriend?

"Ready milady?" Damien's voice snapped me out of my typhoon of angry thoughts. Looking up at him, back into those green pools, I felt an irritation surge through me as I steadied myself, creating as much distance as I could between us.

"I already answered that question in French and I still have the same answer: Not. With. You."

Pushing past him, I slowly walked ahead of him but could feel his presence behind me.

"You still have no idea where you're going though May," he whispered into my ear, causing it to tickle slightly.

Swatting his face away with the back of my hand, I replied, "I'm pretty sure I can ask someone else. You're not the only 'friendly' person in this school. If not that, I can guess my way around."

"Turn right here," he said, laughter so evident in his voice. Glaring at him over my shoulder, I sharply swerved to the direction he'd indicated and started ascending the stairs. One question bothered me so much, the question that caused the revulsion I had towards this hormonal teenage boy.

"Why do you even like me?" I hissed, frustration leaking into my voice. Damien smiled and shrugged, now appearing by my side as he tried to lead the way through the twists and turns of the staircase.

"You're different," he answered, simply.

Snorting, I thought to myself: what a typical reply.

But Damien's line had no effect on me. I'd heard it so much in the movies, read it in melodramatic teenage love stories. Everytime, the heroine would just swoon so easily for the protagonist saying it. But it never worked with me.

Seeing this though, Damien's grin widened. "Why do you ask?"

"Any girl, stuck with a pest like you, would," I spat back. His smile didn't falter as his expression stayed glued to his face, joyful as ever. Lightly holding my elbow, he steered me to the left as we entered a new hallway. Only two doors away, a plate stuck to the door read: French

We were here. Finally, some peace. Or so I thought...

--------------------CHAPTER END---------------------

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