Chapter 9

Assignment Partner with Mr. Player

ALEX

I am still pushed up against the lockers when the bell rings. All the students rush out of the class and instantly freeze when their eyes fall on me and Dylan, and the compromising position we stand in; his face inches from mines, our lips almost touching. Do we look innocent? No, definitely not. So when our teacher comes outside and glares at us, I have a very guilty expression etched on my face as if I have committed a hideous crime. And I might as well have, kissing Dylan Kennedy in the middle of the classroom, in front of everyone should definitely be a crime. But did I want to kiss him? No, not at all.

Okay, maybe a little.

Wait, I want to do what?! I want to kiss him? Mr. Player? God, I'm going crazy!

Dylan’s hands are firmly planted on my hips making it impossible for me to move. Everyone around us is staring and whispering. I want to personally slap all of them and tell them to get lost. But most of all, I want to really, and I mean really, beat the hell out of Dylan. Everything had been so simple yesterday, no one even knew about my existence; no one paid me any attention. And now, probably everyone in the school will know who I am, and what’s more, all they’re going to do is saying nasty things about me, that are probably not true.

I glance at Mr. McAllister who has just stepped out of the classroom. I almost flinch because of the anger plastered onto his face. I’ve never seen him this angry—never. I silently pray to god that he’ll walk away and not take us to the headmaster. God hears my pray, because a second later, Mr. McAllister gives out an audible sigh and walks away, looking grim. I’m sure even he realizes that nothing he’ll do will change the way Dylan is.

It’s really crazy, but Dylan gets really good grades, not top-of-the-class A plus grades, but compared to all the time he wastes and loiters around, that is a big accomplishment. The only thing that bothers the teachers sometimes is the way that he’s too carefree; the only thing that’s keeping him in school is that he’s in the swim team and the basket ball team, thanks to which the school has seen many victories, and of course his parent’s money (they’re always gifting things to school, last year they ‘gifted’ the school a brand new science laboratory)

I sigh with relief as I see the teacher leaving and then turn to face Dylan. Most of the kids around us have started to leave, seeing they’ll get late for the next class. “You can leave me, you know?” I say, not bothering to hide the annoyance in my voice.

He slowly drops his hand from their initial position, and gently tugs my body towards his, but instead of crashing into him, I only end up standing upright and not pushed up against the lockers. Dylan flashes me his gorgeous but oh-so-annoying smirk and then turns around and walks away. I can’t help but stare after him as he does. The jeans he’s wearing are snug around his hips, and that butt is, let me tell you, really, really sexy. I look away instantly, realizing what I was just doing and silently pray no one saw me ogling Dylan’s butt in the hallway. My cheeks burn with embarrassment and I quickly rush out of there.

Everyone around me shifts immediately, looking at me awkwardly, some having the guts to whisper to each other about me. But I pay them no attention and keep walking away. Who cares what they think? Who cares what anybody thinks? For the next couple of hours I pretend to not care. I pretend that the kids talking among themselves, gossiping to each other, aren’t gossiping about me. I pretend. But I wish it was as easy as it seems. Every now and then I’d catch some stranger from school staring at me, and then instantly turning away before I can react. Many people don’t meet my eye in the hallway, even though I know as soon as I’ll look away they’ll instantly started talking about me.

But I’m strong, and I’m used to this—being talked about. When I was in middle school, which wasn’t in this town, but the neighboring one, I’d been bullied and teased a lot. The main reason was my dad leaving my mom. Kids didn’t realize how heartless and cruel their words could be. Something which just seemed harmless teasing to them, actually hurt like a bitch. And there was nothing I could do to change it, their words, and their attitudes. I just took it all in. I silently blamed my father for it all. If only he hadn’t left, I could have had a normal family and a normal childhood.

As soon as I finished eighth grade, we shifted towns and came here. No one knew me here and no one knew about my messed up family. I did a very good job of remaining under everyone’s radar and became the invisible girl I am now. And that’s how I met Tia, another invisible girl like me, and we instantly hit it off, and became friends. She’s really different from me, she’s more outgoing and girly, but it didn’t matter that time. All I craved for was a friend, and I found one in her. And ever since freshman year we’ve been together. She’s the only one who knows about my dad, and I’ve kept it that way. My dad is a very touchy topic for me, and I never talk about him—never.

So the rest of the classes pass by without anything dramatic happening and I don’t see Dylan until lunch, which is actually a huge relief. It seems that all the glares and whispers are a lot less when he is not around, which only makes me wonder how he copes up with it—rumors, people talking behind his back, and every other thing every day. I mean let’s be honest; popularity is definitely not what it’s cut out to be, that’s why most of the drama takes place with the popular kids—backstabbing best friends, boyfriend/girlfriend stealing, getting into fights, cheating and well every other thing you read in those cliché teen fiction novels.

When the final bell rings, marking the start of Lunch, I quickly gather up my stuff and leave the class in a hurry. I don’t even care about where I’m going as long as I can get away from all those judgmental stares. I feel Tia’s hands on my shoulder as we meet at the lockers to go off together for the lunch. I know what she’s going to say before she says it.

“We have a lot to talk about Alex” she says. Her eyes stare down into mine intensely. She’s a little angry; she thinks I’m hiding something from her. Being friends with her for almost three years has its perks and I can identify her mood and her thoughts just by the expressions on her face.

“What?” I ask, as if I don’t already know what she is coming at. I try to sound innocent and clueless.

“What am I hearing about you and Dylan?” she inquires. Her eyebrows cock animatedly and her eyes bear a hole in my head.

“What?” I ask again, keeping up the I’m-so-clue-less-and-I-don’t-know-what-you’re-talking-about façade.

“I’ve heard that you and Dylan were busy making out during the homeroom, when Mr. McAllister caught you both and interrupted your passionate make-out session. But it didn’t end there because Dylan kissed you yet again, in front of everyone and you guys were really lost into each other’s eyes. To not get interrupted again because he wanted you really bad, he led you outside the classroom and you guys continued making-out for the rest of the time.” She says. She sounds so serious, I haven’t seen her this serious before, like she really believes every word she just uttered.

My mouth drops open in shock. “What!? Oh god, kids these days. They’re so good at making up stories” I exclaim angrily.

“Stories? Really Alex? Really? I didn’t expect you to lie to me. I never thought I’d hear about your involvement with a boy from other people—strangers, and not from you. How can you lie to me? We’re best friends, we’re practically sisters!” She retorts. She sounds really hurt, and it crumbles up my heart to see her like this.

“Hey, trust me. If there was something going on, I’d tell you, okay? But there’s nothing going on between I and Dylan, okay? If anything was, I would have told you. And nothing much happened in class. Dylan was just being his usual flirtatious and clingy self, Mr. McAllister saw us not focusing in class and he kicked us out, that’s it.”

“Are you sure that’s all that happened?”She quirks her eyebrows accordingly.

My face turns a tad bit red as she questions me like that. I instantly look away so she doesn’t notices it. “Yeah, I mean yes. Except just before we left class Dylan forcefully kissed me, it wasn’t even a kiss, it barely lasted a few seconds and then we left class. And no, before you ask, we did not spend the rest of the time kissing; we spent it having an argument. And now I’m sure my teacher hates me and he’s going to make sure that I fail in every single test I ever give in his class. And it’s all because of that jerk Dylan!”

“You kissed him again? Wow, that’s a first. You were the one who never got involved with anyone. And now you’re the one who’s getting kissed more than me. That’s not fair! Now calm down babe, forget it for now. C’mon lets go and just eat.” She says and pulls me with her towards the cafeteria.

“I’m not hungry.” I mumble. My appetite has completely vanished. There’s only so much whispering and stares a person can take. In the cafeteria it’ll increase by ten folds. Throughout the day that’s all I’ve seen people do whenever they’re around me. None of them even knew my name before this, and now they’re all discussing my life like they’ve always been a part of it.

“Fine then, I’ll have to eat those ice cream sandwiches alone today.” Tia says, grinning. She knows how much I love eating those, and I don’t think anyone can stop me from eating it.

“Alright, maybe I am a little hungry” I say, giving in. I can’t help smiling back at her. I give Tia a tight squeeze and feel better instantly. “Love you best friend”

“Love you too babes!” Tia replies. I remember how different things used to be in the start, when we’d just started as friends. We just sat together at lunch, and even then, we didn’t talk much, just small mindless chatter. But everyone needs a best friend, don’t they? And the point came where we both needed one too. And so all we could do was to turn to each other and bear our hearts, and talk and share whatever we wanted to. And before we realized it, our friendship had deepened.

We grab our usual seat in the cafeteria, in the far left corner of the huge room, far away from the A-listers who always sit in the center, in the middle of all the hustle and bustle, where everyone can see them. “So anything new?” I ask, ignoring the few looks I’m getting from people.

“Oh nothing; just the usual. Oh except—remember Matt? The guy I met yesterday at the party? The one I made out in his car with?”

“Oh yeah, one of Dylan’s friends, right? What about him?”

“Oh well, he’s in my history class, I noticed. Mrs. Bowen was assigning partners for history project and I got assigned with this red-head Susie. So Matt especially requested Susie to exchange partners with him. He blinked his baby blues and flashed his pearly whites…and voila! He became my partner and we’re going on a study date tomorrow. Technically I’m going. I mean, we’re meeting up at his house.” She says. Her eyes sparkle with excitement as she does. It’s pretty clear that this boy means something to her. She may have her long list of crushes, but at the end of the day she’s a normal sixteen year girl and every once in a while she comes across a guy who captures her heart.

“Study-date? Are you serious?” I ask. This just sounds so sudden and out of the blue. Our love-life had been pretty non-existent for a while. Mine well, was always non-existent. But even Tia hadn’t come across any interesting guy. This was so sudden.

“Oh yeah, we’ll work on our projects—then make-out; then work on our project…and make-out some more!” she said giggling like a small girl, talking like it’s no big-deal. I mean she’s just met this guy, and he’s Dylan’s friend. You can only guess how he must be.

“Okay. Um…are you sure?”I ask her, sound skeptical. She’s so excited and talking about it like it’s no big deal when that’s clearly not the case. She simply looks at me pointedly, not replying. “I mean it’s Matt we’re talking about here. He’s a player, just like Dylan, we both know that.”

“What do you mean? Are you trying to say he’s being so sweet and all just to get into my pants?”

“You bet!”

“You’re wrong! He’s not like that. Besides players do change—and he’s not like that!” Somehow she doesn’t sounds very convinced when she says this herself. It’s like she’s trying to convince herself that Matt has taken this sudden interest in her because he genuinely likes her and not because he wants to have sex with her—the chances of which are highly low.

“That only happens in books Tia. We both know how teenage boys are. All they can think about are their raging hormones. We know about his reputation. He is not to be trusted” I say calmly.

“Oh yeah? You’re saying it as if you actually know him! You haven’t even personally met him and you’re already making assumption!”Tia accuses me, which is true. I am making assumptions but I have perfectly good reasons to make them. “Maybe he is sincerely interested in me. It’s not always you someone should be interested in, okay? Guys can be interested in me too!”

“Hey, that’s not what I meant!” I argue, surprised that Tia would think I would be implying something like this.

“No, that’s exactly what you meant!” she says, sounding hurt.

“Listen, I just don’t want to see my best friend getting hurt, okay? You sure mean a lot to me and, I  just don’t want your heart to get broken by anyone. Your romance life has always been a rocky one, you’re always getting hurt. But this time I see it’s much more different. You’ll be deeply hurt, I don’t want that.” I say. “Just promise me that you’ll be careful, okay?” She silently nods, looking deep in thought.

All of a sudden lots of whistles and hooting start. I and Tia look up at the same time to see Stacey sliding in Dylan’s lap and caressing his cheeks with her fingers. She leans closer to him and whispers something in his ears, causing him to smirk. The she grabs his chin, tilts it and begins kissing him shamelessly. Their lips move in perfect co-ordination, and before long their tongue are deep into each other’s throat.

“Can’t they get a room or something?” I mutter under my breath, feeling grossed out.

“We just saw Stacey making out with some other guy at the party yesterday, and now she is playing tonsil hockey with our very own Mr. Player. She’s such a slut, isn’t she?” Tia remarks, looking disgusted.

“Is there even a need to answer that? I don’t think so.” I reply. “C’mon, let’s go. I don’t want to feel like puking while I eat. I want to enjoy my sandwiches.” I say, getting up. But somehow, their gross kissing session isn’t the only thing that’s making my stay in the cafeteria unbearable. There’s something else too, something I can’t quite put my finger on.

“Hey, wait up!” Tia exclaims. But her voice seems miles away. I have already left the cafeteria

.

****

I take out my physics lab manual and file and set off for the physics lab. I want to be sure that I’m the first one to reach the laboratory. This is one of the classes I and Dylan share, and I in no way want a repeat telecast of what happened last time when Mr. Player sat next to me. So I’m here early to make sure I can secure a seat which is far, far away from Dylan. I have also heard Mrs. Shafer is going to assign an important project today to everyone and that we’re going to be assigned partners. And there is no way I want to do this project with him. It would be too much to handle; plus what about the gossip that would ensue?

Minutes pass by and soon students begin entering. So far so good, no one has sat beside me. Though I am half-wishing some nerd would come over here and sit so that—

a) Dylan can’t sit next to me.

b) I can get a straight A for my project without having to do much.

Bad luck, things don’t always work out the way I want them to in my life. Dylan smoothly takes the seat adjacent to mine, making my plan to get early to class fruitless. “Hey Alex!” he greets me, like we’re old friends. I ignore him, pretending to be busy reading the laboratory manual.

“Earth to Alex, earth to Alex!” he exclaims, moving his hands in front of my eyes to catch my attention. I continue to ignore him. I don’t want to have any conversation with him, whatsoever. I’ll just act as if I can’t see him. Which is kind of hard seeing he gave me my first, second, third and oh all the kisses I have had till now (which by the way were really hot)

“Hey Baby!” I hear Stacey’s girl-ish voice as she slides into the seat behind Dylan and I suddenly remember she is in my physics class too. Oh great! Now not only I have to bear the ultimate, pain-in-the-butt badass player—Dylan; I have to bear Barbie’s ultimate clone Stacey. And oh, her high-pitched shrill girl-ish voice. God spare me. Dylan ignores her and focuses his attention on me. Somehow, that makes me smile. Stacey pouts, but she doesn’t give-up. “Are you busy tonight babe?”

“I most probably am.” He says coldly, and that shuts her up. I can’t help the grin appearing on my face.

“Smiling, huh? Remembering our kiss are you?” Dylan jokes, his eyes fixed on me. I turned to him and give him my best can-you-ever-get-over-yourself look. It doesn’t really work, he smiles again. That is, genuinely smiles. It isn’t one of his annoying smirks. I turn back to my book, trying tot ignore the warm feeling that has suddenly erupted in my stomach.

By this time Stacey is sitting upright, her ears all perked up, listening in on our conversation. “What?! You kissed her? How could you?” she exclaims, sounding rather annoyed.

“What’s it to you Stace? It’s not that you and me are together or anything. We’re just friends with benefits.” He says it like it’s the most casual thing in the world. Stacey’s face crumbles up. Which, for the first time ever, makes me pity her. Maybe she genuinely likes Dylan—player or not.

“Whatever, just tell me—are you with her?” she says ‘her’ as if it is something disgusting.

Pity vanishing, I’m rather annoyed and all I want right now is some peace, not their blabber.“No, he is not, and never will be. You know, he isn’t really that lucky.” I snap all of a sudden and turn to look at her. “So your oh-so-precious Dylan is absolutely safe!” She doesn’t say anything in reply. Yes, she does open her mouth to say something but decides against it. “Good” I mumble and turn back to doing what I was doing earlier.  I catch Dylan rolling his eyes at me and simply ignore him. Few minutes later our teacher arrives and starts handing over sheets which have data related to our project. “You are assigned with the person sitting to your right. I repeat, with the person sitting to your right. Then one by one, I want you to stand up with your partner and tell each other’s name. Am I clear?” she says.

“Yes ma’am” our class says in a sing-song voice.

“Good.” She turns back to her work and begins going through some of her files.

“Hey Alex, if I’m not wrong, we’re together!” he exclaims. Mrs. Shafer” he says in his smooth, manly voice which immediately makes her look up.

“Yes dear?” she asks, a smile appearing on her face.

“You said we’re