CHAPTER 4 | Jaida

(^ A pic of Zack's beautiful friend: Jaida <3)

I woke up from the sound of my phone's alarm, the tune increasing in volume with each passing second. I groaned and grabbed it to shut the alarm.

I didn't want to get up from my bed. It was so warm and comfortable. The day outside looked blueish and it was so cold that my windows were sweating. I fought to keep my eyes open and not fall asleep again.

I checked my phone to see I had some unread messages. I remembered the group where Vincent added us.

Amber: Wake up, u lazy asses!!😂

Vincent: Nah, just let me sleep a while longer

Amber: Zacky, u there??👀
Amber: u won't want to miss ur first day with u know who 😅

Damn, I almost forgot that today I had chemistry class with my worst enemy, the one who hates me, the one I like.

Me: Don't even remind me ;-;

I wish this was some kind of joke. I thought they weren't serious, but judging by the surprised looks on their faces yesterday, I guess they were.

I got up from my bed and changed into something warm. I put on a hoodie and a pair of fingerless gloves.
I grabbed my backpack and went down the stairs to the hall. I went to the kitchen to look for something to eat. I just found some cereal so that's what I had for breakfast.

After I finished, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and fix my hair. I waited for a while until I heard a car approaching. I walked to the door and opened it to see my aunt getting out of the car.

"Good morning, Zack." She greeted rubbing her hands against each other and trembling slightly.

"Morning." I replied yawning.

"Quite a cold day, isn't it?" She asked and I nodded. "You already had breakfast?"

"Yeah, some cereal."

"I was going to prepare some pancakes."

"Maybe another time. Today I don't feel like eating pancakes."

"Ok, so you're ready to go?"

"Yes."

I walked out, closing the door behind me and walking towards the car.

I caught a glimpse of someone walking down the street and I looked to see a very familiar figure. A girl with blue hair and she had her earbuds on. I instantly recognized her.

Her eyes landed on my direction and they widened at the sight of me. She took one earbud out and approached me.

"Zack?"

"Hey, Amber." I greeted with a small smile.

"Hey. You live here?" She asked looking around my house.

"Yeah."

"Wow, my house is just 5 blocks away from yours!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, isn't that great?" She said excited.

I laughed a little. "Yes. I'll see if I can visit you sometime."

"Oh, that would be lovely."

I had almost forgotten my aunt was right at my side until she spoke. "Is she your friend you were talking to yesterday?"

"Yeah, she is." I guess I had to introduce them to each other. "Amber, she is my aunt, Christine."

"Hi, miss." Amber waved her hand with a grin and then they shook hands.

"Hi, Amber. That hair color looks pretty nice." My aunt commented.

"Oh, thank you. By the way, I love your coat! Where did you get it?"

They continued complimenting each other, and it seemed like they would get along. Until I realized it was getting late for school.

"Ok, it's getting late. We better get going."

"Oh, right. I should get moving now. I'll see you at school, Zack. See you, miss Chris."

"Wait, Amber. Would you like a ride?" I said gesturing to the car.

"Oh, would you really take me?"

"Of course, I can take you both. I don't see a problem." My aunt replied.

Amber smiled. "Thank you so much."

My aunt returned the smile and went to the other side of the car.

"You can have the front seat, if you want." I offered.

"Aaaw." She pinched at one of my cheeks like she usually does. Surprisingly, her hands were warm compared to mine. "You cute little thing."

"Yeah, yeah, just get in." I said while she opened the door and I opened the back one. "And I'm not little. I'm 17."

"As you say, little thing." She winked and giggled. I just rolled my eyes and entered the car.

================

I was now standing in front of classroom D4 with Amber and Vincent behind me. The classroom was half empty and the teacher hadn't arrived yet. Mark and his minions were nowhere to be seen.

"You better get in before he arrives." Amber said.

"Right. So I'll see you once this torture ends."

Vincent chuckled. "It's only two hours, man. You can handle it." He patted my shoulder with a reassuring smile. "We'll go to the cafeteria at lunch, ok?"

We agreed.

"Good luck, Zacky." Amber said before she left.

"Thanks." I muttered while feeling anxious inside. They went to their respective classes and I entered the classroom.

I sat at the far right corner beside the window and started fiddling with my fingers, waiting for everybody to arrive. But especially, waiting for Mark.

Not that I was waiting excitedly for him, I was waiting fearfully at the thought of what he might do when he noticed me.

Time passed by and the classroom was filled by more students who occupied their seats, but still no Mark. I started to doubt if he really was in this group. The story of him failing chemistry II and repeating the year in this same classroom was quite absurd.

"Good morning, boys."

I looked to see a woman closing the door behind her and walking towards the desk with some books on her arm. Our teacher.

"Sorry for the delay, I was scolding some boys who were fighting outside. But it's okay now. Alright, let's start with today's lesson." She said taking out a marker and writing something on the board.

Heh. MARKer.

By the way, it looked like he wasn't coming anytime soon. Either my friends lied to me and everything was a joke after all, or he just gives a crap about his grades and skipped the class. I don't really know, but whatever is the reason, I felt a bit relieved. But also kinda... Disappointed for some reason.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Miss whatever-her-name-is went to open it and... talking about the devil. He was standing there.

Oh no.

He looked all calm and relaxed, despite he was late. His hands were inside his jacket's pockets and he even had a little smile on his face. He looked kinda... Cute.

"Morning." He said with that sexy and deep voice of his. "May I come in? Thank you." He didn't wait for a response as he entered the classroom.

"Wait, stop right there." She commanded and Mark rolled his eyes to look at her. "You must be the new boy."

"The hell? I'm not new." He said with confusion in his voice.

"But I just remembered we were expecting a new student in this group."

"Well, yes indeed, I'm sorta new, because I'm just here to pass chemistry once for all, I absolutely don't belong to this group." He made a face of clear disgust and started walking to his seat, which was located at the far left corner. Opposite of mine. "BUT this is not my first day in this hellhole, that's for sure."

"Ok, if you're not the new one, then who is it? Has he or she even arrived?"

I sighed. This was it. I had to let her and everybody know I was the new student.
I raised my hand shyly and this caught her attention.

"Oh, is it you?" She asked and everybody turned in their seats to look at me, making me uncomfortable.

Too many eyes on me and I don't doubt Mark's were on me as well. I was internally screaming: STOP LOOKING AT ME! Like, I'm not a celebrity.

I only nodded at her question.

"Ok, can you please stand up and introduce yourself to the class? You can come to the front or do it from your seat. Whatever you want."

I'd rather do it from my seat, thanks. Although either way it sucked.

I stood up. "Well... My name is Zack M-"

"Speak louder!" A boy shouted. I just glared at him. The typical deaf idiot who can't hear a damn and makes me speak louder.

"My name is Zack Miller. I'm 17 years old..."

Just then, I dared to look at Mark's direction for a brief moment. He was glaring at me with his eyes narrowed. I quickly averted my gaze. There was so much hate in that look, and I hadn't even done anything to him. That just made me more nervous. "I... um..." I didn't know how to continue.

"You can tell us your likes, dislikes..." The teacher said.

"...I like music, video games, movies, reading... I don't like getting up early." I said with a small chuckle and a few others did as well.

"Well, Zack, you'll have to get used to it. You can call me Ms. Wright. I'm here for anything you need. You can sit down now."

I nodded and sat down. Everybody returned their looks to the board or wherever else. But I still could feel Mark's piercing glare towards me. I didn't know why he looked at me like that. Maybe my presence or just seeing me pisses him off.

An hour and a half passed and I was getting bored. I just wanted this class to end and go to lunch with my friends.
When I finished copying down some formulas that Ms. Wright wrote on the board, I stretched a bit on my seat. My butt hurt from sitting for too long. I wonder if Mark was still looking at me.

Very slowly, I turned my head to his direction and he wasn't looking at me anymore. Instead, he was looking down at his notebook with a neutral face, making some lines with his pencil. Like he was making a doodle or a drawing, but I was sure there were no letters on his notebook.

Suddenly he turned to my direction, our eyes meeting for only a milisecond because I looked away instantly. Shit. I shouldn't have done that. I felt so embarrassed, and scared. He caught me looking at him, again...

What is he going to do to me? Is he angry? Did I bother him?

If I'm not wrong, he was also looking at me a while ago, more like glaring. Who's the one staring now, eh?

"Ok boys, that's all for today's lesson." Ms. Wright clapped her hands. "Now, before leaving, there's something else to do. There's a little project that needs to be done and finished by the end of this month. For that, the group must be divided in teams of 5 people."

I groaned and let my head hit the table. I hate working in teams! Nobody ever wants me to be in their team and I'm always left alone like the only one without a team. Besides, that meant interacting with people I don't know and that just sucked.

"But, I was thinking if I should make the teams with the people I choose, or if you make your own teams."

"No, we want to make our own teams!" Yelled a girl from among the students and I just glared at her.

"Ok, look for your partners, then."

Great. Now I need to find, not only a partner, but four of them. I saw that many others started moving their chairs and sitting with their partners. I needed to try and ask someone if I could be in their team.

There was a boy at my side, calmly closing his books and saving them in his backpack. He seemed like a nice boy, so I breathed in deeply and cleared my throat before asking him.

"Hey..."

I said in a very low voice. He didn't hear me. So, I leaned in closer and tapped his shoulder. He turned his head to me.

"Hey, um... I was wondering if I can be in your team?" I asked, louder this time.

"Sorry, we're full." He said bluntly and turned to look back at his books.

"Oh, ok." I muttered, turning back to my seat and feeling rejected. I shouldn't have asked him.

I rested my hand on my chin and looked through the window. That's it, I'm not trying anymore. They would reject me again like he did. I'll just wait to tell Ms. Wright so she can add me to a team or whatever.

"Hey."

A sweet feminine voice called. I turned to see a girl looking at me with a small smile. She was the one sitting in front of me.

"Huh?"

"Do you have a team?"

"Um, no..."

"We can make one if you want."

"...Yes, of course."

She smiled and I returned the smile. She was gorgeous. She had a pair of beautiful hazel eyes, her short curly hair reached her shoulders, and her lips shone with a red lipstick color.

"You must be Zack, right?" She asked.

"Yes. And what's your name?"

"I'm Jaida."

"Oh... Nice name." I said sheepishly.

"Thank you." She said smiling again, showing her perfect white teeth. "Now I'll see if I can find some kids to join our team ok?"

I nodded and she went to talk to some people. I felt relieved now that I had a team and I wouldn't be left alone.
Once again, I turned slowly to see Mark. I had done this several times, I just couldn't stop looking at him.

He had stopped doing whatever he was doing on his notebook. Now it was closed and he was resting his cheek on his hand. It looked as if he was in deep thought, or simply bored.
Nobody talked to him and he didn't talk to anybody. He only did that with his friends, and I see he has no friends in this group.

I looked away before he would turn his head and catch me staring. For some reason it was difficult to keep my eyes off him.

"Hey Zack, I found two partners, come on." Jaida returned and gestured for me to follow her.

I stood up and carried my chair with a bit of difficulty, since I wasn't that strong. I placed it beside a boy and Jaida placed hers beside a girl, so we made a little circle, or a square.

"Well, we're only four. But that should do it." Jaida commented as she sat down.

We waited and talked for a while, especially Jaida and me. Until finally we heard Ms. Wright instructions.

"Ok, everybody is in a team now?" She asked.

"Yes." They all responded in unison.

"No."

A voice said separately. Everybody turned to look at the owner of that voice, but I already knew who it was. Mark.

He sat on his chair calmly, tapping his fingers on the table.

"You don't have a team?" Ms. Wright asked.

"Nope. Can I work alone?" He replied casually.

"Uh, I'm afraid you can't. You need to be in a team." She placed a hand on her chin and looked around. "It's odd, I divided the group so there would be six teams of five people each."

Dammit. We were only four in our team. That meant... no. He can't be here! No way!

"Well, you must have calculated wrong." Mark said. Woah, he didn't think twice before speaking.

"I didn't calculate wrong." She just said and then her eyes landed on our team. Oh no... "Hey, there are only four members in this team."

I'm screwed.

"Come join this one." She said pointing to our tables and I heard him groan.
I groaned too. He didn't want to be here and I didn't want him to be here either. Just my damn luck...

I watched him as he stood up and took the chair, lifting it over his head with his strong arms. Wow, he was so strong...

He started walking towards us and I didn't even feel scared. His lifted arms made his shirt lift up a bit too, revealing a little portion of his stomach.
My heart started pounding rapidly just at the sight of that.

"You two make some space." Jaida whispered pointing to the boy and the girl. They obeyed and separated their chairs, leaving a space between them.

She looked at me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry. I won't let him bother you." She said softly.

Wait... how does she know about him bothering me?

Mark placed his chair on that space, right in front of me. And then he let himself fall on it carelessly. He stretched his legs and his shoes almost touched mine. I backed away slightly.

"What's up?" He said and they just chuckled.

Then he yawned, stretching both arms and curling his fingers into a fist, not even bothering to cover his mouth.

Why is it that I like every action or movement he makes? Why does he look so cute doing this? What the hell am I even saying?

Same school, same classroom, same team. Could this get any worse?