08✧Mr. Moody

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"Roman, did you know that cotton candy was invented by dentists?"

I don't know what the fuck was up with her and the dumbass questions she keeps asking me. I give her a blank look. "Why do you keep asking me dumbass questions?" I voice my thoughts.

"They are not dumbass questions," she says, mocking my words. "They're fun facts. And because you won't talk to me so I'm always bored."

"I don't sit here to entertain you, I sit here to get my work done. You should do the same."

She puts her head down with a huff. "I do have my work done."

I look over at her notebook. She's a fast worker, I'll give her that. "So bring a damn crossword puzzle next time. You being bored isn't my problem."

She frowns at my words like a child, but she doesn't say anything further. I see her phone out on her desk but she's not using it. A normal student would be glued to that shit when they were done with their work.

"Don't you have any social media to scroll through?" I ask.

She looks around the room before considering my question. "I'm not really big on social media." I notice she looks back again, probably at that Naomi girl who seems to not like her.

"Same reason you're not really big on friends?" I find myself asking. I don't know why I bothered, it just slipped out and now I'm going with it.

My question makes her frown again. "I do have friends. I have Val."

"Val's one friend."

"Well, what's your excuse Mr. Moody? It's not like you have people surrounding your table at lunch either."

That's probably because I don't eat lunch in the cafeteria, but I don't say this out loud. I won't answer her question if she won't answer mine. Instead, I go back to my work without saying anything else.

We sit like that for a long time. Briar occasionally twirls the little rings on her fingers, or doodles in her notebook, or drags her untied shoelaces against the carpet while I work.

Her skin was soft. She wouldn't stop bouncing her damn knee the other day, so I stopped her myself. She's wearing jeans today, but I still remember. I shook my head at the observation and thought of something else.

"It makes sense," I say after a while when I'm done. I meant to keep the thought in my head but the words seemed to slip out on their own.

"What makes sense?" She looks at me with her big blue eyes.

"Your dumbass question about the dentist. Candy makes cavities, cavities bring customers. It makes sense."

Within the second or so she takes to process my words, she gives me a single heavy blink before her entire face lights up with a smile.

Now it's my turn to frown. Her expression seems hopeful, so I shut that shit down. "I still don't like your dumbass questions."

"Not yet you don't," she replies in a sing-song tone that makes me regret saying anything in the first place.

>><<>><<>><<>><<

I don't usually see her outside of the class we have together. Then earlier today, I saw her in the library during lunch and wondered why she wasn't in the cafeteria like the majority of the other seniors. I still didn't talk to her though and she didn't see me, so I left it that way.

Tryouts were three days the first week and boys were already getting cut little by little. Those days started off with mostly running and basic drills, like layups from the right and left sides of the court. The rest of the week was focused more on drills that tested ball handling, shooting, and one on one drills.

The next week was three more days of tryouts. Myles seemed to hang around me most often. I didn't know why, it was clear he had other friends in the group. He still wasn't cut, and I took notice of his basketball skills. Maybe he wasn't lying about practically being the team captain.

Axel tried talking to me today, but I had even less interest in becoming his friend than I did with Myles. I ignored him as I did with almost everyone else.

When I was at my locker later in the week, Val stops to talk to me as I put my things together.

"I know how you are," She says.

"Of course you do. I'm an open book," I say without looking up at her.

She slammed my locker shut before I was done using it. "Very funny," she says.

"What is it you want, Valentina? Say it and get lost."

"You sit with my best friend Briar and you're an asshole by default. Don't be. Not with her, she's been through plenty enough without you being a dick to her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask her with a half shrug from one shoulder.

"It means if I ever catch her upset over you, Julius will have to look for a new roomie because you'll be dead in a ditch somewhere."

I roll my eyes. "Wow, you're a good friend Val. Is that why your bestie always sits by herself in the library?"

She blinks, momentarily caught off guard. "She likes to study by herself. And that's not the point you dumbass, be nice or be deceased. Your choice."

She gives my arm a sturdy punch before walking off. I don't acknowledge her last words, I've heard it all before.

She's been through plenty enough. Those ones stuck with me because I still didn't know what the hell that was supposed to mean.

It's probably just some Valentina bullshit as usual.

A/N: Thanks for reading <3


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