The next day, a Tuesday, I walked into my tutor group classroom, Room 56, in the maths block. I was very late, and chatting to Laura (who was also very late). Mr Williams, our tutor, looked at us, but didn’t say anything. I smiled innocently up at him, and he rolled his eyes. I turned around to take my seat, to find Jack Brown in my chair. Next to him, my normal partner, Will, was looking terrified out of his skin. He knew about Jack’s reputation. I went over to him, every eye in the class on me.
“That’s my seat.” I said to Jack. He looked up at me, blank.
“So?” He asked. I looked over at Laura, and I could see that she was trying not to laugh at the situation.
“So, I need to sit down. So move.” I spelt it out, like he was four years old. He looked up at me innocently, eyes wide.
“Get this guy to move, Jen. Then you can sit there.” He was trying to win. Will was terrified, and I could see it on his face. I could feel myself going red with anger.
“My name is Jenni.” I said, and Jack’s innocent smile disappeared, replaced by a smirk.
“Will, move.” I added, turning to him. Will, scared, gathered all his stuff, and got up, letting me sit down next to Jack. Frantically, Will ran to a spare seat on the other side of the classroom. I took his seat, dropping my handbag (which, against the rules, I was using as a school bag) on the floor next to me. Paying no attention to Jack, I got out my phone, and began to text Laura, who immediately got out her phone and started typing. I was painfully aware of the whole class staring at Jack and me, but I carried on ignoring the elephant in the room.
Minutes passed with the whole class in utter silence. Eventually, they got bored, and began to quietly chatting between themselves. Jack turned to me, and broke the silence between us.
“Jenni? You gonna even speak to me?” I put my phone down on the table, and turned to him.
“What are you doing here? Why are you in my seat? What did Belle say to you? Why do you hate me?” I shot at him, rapidly. I turned back to my phone. Laura had texted me.
‘Nice.’ I glanced across at her, and she was sat a sarcastic expression on her face. Jack turned to me.
“Number One, I have to come here in the mornings because I got kicked out of my tutor. Number Two, I thought no-one was sat here, since you were so late. Number Three, Belle told me that you were taking our seats on the bus, and that you were flirting with Benjie, and that I should stay right away from you. Number Four, I don’t hate you. Not at all.” For a couple of seconds, we just stared at each other. I was trying to retain all the information he had given me.
“I’ll try and remember that.” I grinned; we had a truce, an unspoken truce.
At break time that day, Jack arrived while I was in the middle of talking to Benjie and Laura. He joined our little group and smiled at me. Laura looked on, confused; Benjie looked amused, but still wary.
“Hey, Jenni.” Jack put emphasis on my name, referencing our argument earlier. I smiled, and stuck my tongue out at him. Benjie grinned and carried on our conversation.
“Now, Laura, what were you saying?” Laura wasn’t listening, though, she was staring at Jack. I looked at Jack, and he was staring at me.
“What?” I asked. He shook his head, dismissively.
Jack showed up almost every morning in tutor, and Will always got kicked out of his seat. Everyone could tell that Mr Williams wasn’t best pleased, but he didn’t do anything about it. Laura had taken the seat in front of us, along with another of our friends, Charlie. The kids in front of us moved without a murmur. We ruled the place. When Jack wasn’t there, Will plagued me with questions like: “Why’s he here? Why are you friends with him? Why do I have to move? Why doesn’t he wear a blazer like normal people? Why don’t you wear your blazer? Why does Laura have to sit right near us?” At the end of his torrent of questions, I told him to shut his blabbering mouth or I would tear his lips off his face. He didn’t say another word. I wonder why.
A few weeks passed, and every day, Jack and I became closer. He would always laugh at my jokes, and would sometimes meet me outside my classes. I found that I had a slight crush on him. Every time he was around, I was constantly fiddling with my hair, and fluttering my eyelashes. I don’t know if Jack noticed, but Laure and Benjie definitely did, and they confronted me about it one lunchtime, when Jack was in a detention. Apparently, he threw a book at his French teacher! I found it hilarious (his French teacher did not).
As soon as I got out of my lunchtime detention, Benjie and Laura grabbed me and took me aside. Laura looked me in the eye, and said
“Do you like Jack?” I stared at her, pretending to have no idea what she was talking about. I simply answered,
“He’s my friend.” Benjie rolled his eyes at me, and said,
“No, you idiot. Do you like Jack? All you ever do is flutter your eyelashes and twiddle your hair.” I stared at him, playing stupid.
“He’s my friend,” I repeated. Laura and Benjie exchanged a look. I sighed and said to them,
“I promised I would meet Jack outside his detention. It ends in five minutes. Bye guys.” I walked off. Outside Room 5, where I knew Jack was having his detention, I leant against the wall. After a couple of minutes, people started trickling out of the door. Jack was, of course, the last out. He saw me, and grinned. I blushed as he grabbed my hand and led me out of the building. Just outside the building, Laura and Benjie were waiting for us. We stopped dead as they stared at our interlocked hands. I thought that Jack would drop my hand as soon as they saw, but he didn’t. He just gave it a squeeze and started a conversation with Benjie. I literally couldn’t speak when he held my hand. Benjie was talking to Jack, and Laura kept staring at our hands. Jack was still holding my hand as the four of us walked over to where we usually sit. There were so many people sitting around our table, that I didn’t have a seat. Jack looked up and saw me stood awkwardly behind him. He took my hand again, and pulled me onto his lap. I sat there, his arms around my waist, holding me upright. Instead of eating the sandwich I had in my bag, I sat there, talking to Laura, who sat next to us. This time, it was Laura who carried on talking while Benjie sat there, staring. I saw him staring, and merely shrugged in his direction.
It didn’t take long for the bell to ring. Laura and I began to walk away, but Jack wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me back against him.
“Where you going?” he whispered in my ear. I shivered, and said,
“Math?” There was a questioning note in my voice.
“Not yet you’re not.” He held me tightly against him. I was left breathless.
“Where am I going, then?” I asked him, spinning around in his grasp. My movement brought our faces just inches apart. I gazed up into his eyes, and he gazed down into mine.
“Why are all of you still out here?!” a voice interrupted from behind me. Jack wouldn’t let go, so I had to manoeuvre to turn around. It was our head teacher. Jack still wouldn’t let go of my waist. I could see the head taking in the image of a Year 10 with his arms wrapped around a Year 8. It wasn’t the first time that the absurdity of my situation hit me. Suddenly, I so badly wanted to laugh, but I knew that that wouldn’t go down well. Our head teacher looked at the group of us, obviously expecting us to go to class. I expect I would have, if Jack wasn’t still wrapped around me. Instead, I stood there, protected by Jack, and biting the inside of my cheeks to stop from laughing.
Our head teacher had us all put in a lunch time detention the next day, and told us all to get to class. Even after getting caught and told off, Jack still escorted me to my math class. I went in, and I was really late. Laura wasn’t in my class, so I had no-one to hide behind. My teacher just looked at me, and I grinned back at her.
“Where have you been?” she asked. Jack appeared behind me, and said,
“With me.” Something about the look on his face must have scared her. Jack’s tall, and broad. I must have looked tiny in front of him, but I kept a straight face, and innocently looked up at my teacher. She backed away, and Jack whispered to me.
“Go and sit down. Call me if she says anything.” With that, he slipped a piece of paper into my back pocket and left the room. I looked around. Everyone was staring. I slipped into my seat in the back corner, and decided I didn’t care if everyone stared. I just sat there while my teacher blabbered on about something about algebra. I remembered the paper in my back pocket. Discreetly, I pulled it out and unfolded it. It said,
“Text me, we’ll go out sometime.” I blushed, and folded it back up again. The girl next to me was staring at me and the folded note in my hand.
“Are you going out with him?” She asked. I shook my head, and then started to think about it. The note was, essentially, asking me out. Discreetly, I got my phone out under the table. I
entered the number and sent Jack a text. He texted straight back.
“That’s my seat.” I said to Jack. He looked up at me, blank.
“So?” He asked. I looked over at Laura, and I could see that she was trying not to laugh at the situation.
“So, I need to sit down. So move.” I spelt it out, like he was four years old. He looked up at me innocently, eyes wide.
“Get this guy to move, Jen. Then you can sit there.” He was trying to win. Will was terrified, and I could see it on his face. I could feel myself going red with anger.
“My name is Jenni.” I said, and Jack’s innocent smile disappeared, replaced by a smirk.
“Will, move.” I added, turning to him. Will, scared, gathered all his stuff, and got up, letting me sit down next to Jack. Frantically, Will ran to a spare seat on the other side of the classroom. I took his seat, dropping my handbag (which, against the rules, I was using as a school bag) on the floor next to me. Paying no attention to Jack, I got out my phone, and began to text Laura, who immediately got out her phone and started typing. I was painfully aware of the whole class staring at Jack and me, but I carried on ignoring the elephant in the room.
Minutes passed with the whole class in utter silence. Eventually, they got bored, and began to quietly chatting between themselves. Jack turned to me, and broke the silence between us.
“Jenni? You gonna even speak to me?” I put my phone down on the table, and turned to him.
“What are you doing here? Why are you in my seat? What did Belle say to you? Why do you hate me?” I shot at him, rapidly. I turned back to my phone. Laura had texted me.
‘Nice.’ I glanced across at her, and she was sat a sarcastic expression on her face. Jack turned to me.
“Number One, I have to come here in the mornings because I got kicked out of my tutor. Number Two, I thought no-one was sat here, since you were so late. Number Three, Belle told me that you were taking our seats on the bus, and that you were flirting with Benjie, and that I should stay right away from you. Number Four, I don’t hate you. Not at all.” For a couple of seconds, we just stared at each other. I was trying to retain all the information he had given me.
“I’ll try and remember that.” I grinned; we had a truce, an unspoken truce.
At break time that day, Jack arrived while I was in the middle of talking to Benjie and Laura. He joined our little group and smiled at me. Laura looked on, confused; Benjie looked amused, but still wary.
“Hey, Jenni.” Jack put emphasis on my name, referencing our argument earlier. I smiled, and stuck my tongue out at him. Benjie grinned and carried on our conversation.
“Now, Laura, what were you saying?” Laura wasn’t listening, though, she was staring at Jack. I looked at Jack, and he was staring at me.
“What?” I asked. He shook his head, dismissively.
Jack showed up almost every morning in tutor, and Will always got kicked out of his seat. Everyone could tell that Mr Williams wasn’t best pleased, but he didn’t do anything about it. Laura had taken the seat in front of us, along with another of our friends, Charlie. The kids in front of us moved without a murmur. We ruled the place. When Jack wasn’t there, Will plagued me with questions like: “Why’s he here? Why are you friends with him? Why do I have to move? Why doesn’t he wear a blazer like normal people? Why don’t you wear your blazer? Why does Laura have to sit right near us?” At the end of his torrent of questions, I told him to shut his blabbering mouth or I would tear his lips off his face. He didn’t say another word. I wonder why.
A few weeks passed, and every day, Jack and I became closer. He would always laugh at my jokes, and would sometimes meet me outside my classes. I found that I had a slight crush on him. Every time he was around, I was constantly fiddling with my hair, and fluttering my eyelashes. I don’t know if Jack noticed, but Laure and Benjie definitely did, and they confronted me about it one lunchtime, when Jack was in a detention. Apparently, he threw a book at his French teacher! I found it hilarious (his French teacher did not).
As soon as I got out of my lunchtime detention, Benjie and Laura grabbed me and took me aside. Laura looked me in the eye, and said
“Do you like Jack?” I stared at her, pretending to have no idea what she was talking about. I simply answered,
“He’s my friend.” Benjie rolled his eyes at me, and said,
“No, you idiot. Do you like Jack? All you ever do is flutter your eyelashes and twiddle your hair.” I stared at him, playing stupid.
“He’s my friend,” I repeated. Laura and Benjie exchanged a look. I sighed and said to them,
“I promised I would meet Jack outside his detention. It ends in five minutes. Bye guys.” I walked off. Outside Room 5, where I knew Jack was having his detention, I leant against the wall. After a couple of minutes, people started trickling out of the door. Jack was, of course, the last out. He saw me, and grinned. I blushed as he grabbed my hand and led me out of the building. Just outside the building, Laura and Benjie were waiting for us. We stopped dead as they stared at our interlocked hands. I thought that Jack would drop my hand as soon as they saw, but he didn’t. He just gave it a squeeze and started a conversation with Benjie. I literally couldn’t speak when he held my hand. Benjie was talking to Jack, and Laura kept staring at our hands. Jack was still holding my hand as the four of us walked over to where we usually sit. There were so many people sitting around our table, that I didn’t have a seat. Jack looked up and saw me stood awkwardly behind him. He took my hand again, and pulled me onto his lap. I sat there, his arms around my waist, holding me upright. Instead of eating the sandwich I had in my bag, I sat there, talking to Laura, who sat next to us. This time, it was Laura who carried on talking while Benjie sat there, staring. I saw him staring, and merely shrugged in his direction.
It didn’t take long for the bell to ring. Laura and I began to walk away, but Jack wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me back against him.
“Where you going?” he whispered in my ear. I shivered, and said,
“Math?” There was a questioning note in my voice.
“Not yet you’re not.” He held me tightly against him. I was left breathless.
“Where am I going, then?” I asked him, spinning around in his grasp. My movement brought our faces just inches apart. I gazed up into his eyes, and he gazed down into mine.
“Why are all of you still out here?!” a voice interrupted from behind me. Jack wouldn’t let go, so I had to manoeuvre to turn around. It was our head teacher. Jack still wouldn’t let go of my waist. I could see the head taking in the image of a Year 10 with his arms wrapped around a Year 8. It wasn’t the first time that the absurdity of my situation hit me. Suddenly, I so badly wanted to laugh, but I knew that that wouldn’t go down well. Our head teacher looked at the group of us, obviously expecting us to go to class. I expect I would have, if Jack wasn’t still wrapped around me. Instead, I stood there, protected by Jack, and biting the inside of my cheeks to stop from laughing.
Our head teacher had us all put in a lunch time detention the next day, and told us all to get to class. Even after getting caught and told off, Jack still escorted me to my math class. I went in, and I was really late. Laura wasn’t in my class, so I had no-one to hide behind. My teacher just looked at me, and I grinned back at her.
“Where have you been?” she asked. Jack appeared behind me, and said,
“With me.” Something about the look on his face must have scared her. Jack’s tall, and broad. I must have looked tiny in front of him, but I kept a straight face, and innocently looked up at my teacher. She backed away, and Jack whispered to me.
“Go and sit down. Call me if she says anything.” With that, he slipped a piece of paper into my back pocket and left the room. I looked around. Everyone was staring. I slipped into my seat in the back corner, and decided I didn’t care if everyone stared. I just sat there while my teacher blabbered on about something about algebra. I remembered the paper in my back pocket. Discreetly, I pulled it out and unfolded it. It said,
“Text me, we’ll go out sometime.” I blushed, and folded it back up again. The girl next to me was staring at me and the folded note in my hand.
“Are you going out with him?” She asked. I shook my head, and then started to think about it. The note was, essentially, asking me out. Discreetly, I got my phone out under the table. I
entered the number and sent Jack a text. He texted straight back.
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