Senior year

I run a comb through my tangled mass of hair. The first day of school is what I dread the most,it was unreasonably stressful. Senior year was a big deal to everyone being the last year of high school. I was not particularly excited about it.

I put on my uniform, grab my bag pack and head for the dining table.

"Good morning Mom"I greet

"Elizabeth,you are late for breakfast"she said ,totally ignoring my greeting.

"Sorry,"I mutter, seating to my breakfast of pancakes and orange juice.

"I'll be traveling to Peru today"she says, watching me closely as I gulp my juice.

I almost choke on my juice. What did she mean she was traveling?

"Why mom?"I ask,my appetite disappeared and I pushed the plate away from me.

"Business my dear" she said, gesturing with perfectly maincured finger.

I glared at her,my insides burning with rage.

"Mom,you were at Atlanta just two days ago"

"Honey,I have to work,I know you will miss me but you have Nathan".

I roll my eyes,of course I had Nathan,my mom's boyfriend who was way younger than her,that was what she said Everytime she wanted to travel for her so called business meetings.

"Why mom?"I ask,my voice now high pitched"why do you do this every freaking time"

"Don't raise your voice at me!"she yells, standing to her feet.

The air between us was tense. I could hear the heavy breathing of my mother as we glared at each other. This was not new to me,we quarrelled every single week. All I wanted was her attention and maybe a little care if she could offer that.

"Nathan would be here for you if you need anything"she says, finally breaking the silence.

"I don't want Nathan mom"I said defiantly.

"Remember everything I have ever done was for you,"she said through gritted teeth"we have a new life now and you must not ruin it".

I knew better than to argue further. Mom meant everything to me even though she was now distant recently. Asides that we had actually been through a lot,a whole lot of things that was kept locked away and never spoken of. This 'new life' meant not talking about our past and focusing on the future.

The sound of Nathan's footstep was a signal for us to end our bickering.

Nathan walks into the room, dressed in a well tailored suit.

A fake smile plastered on my mom's face

"Morning babe"he said, sharing a kiss with my mom.

Ewwww!

He glanced at me and nodded his head in greeting. There was something about the way Nathan looked at me,I really dislike him. We barely spoke and he was really nice to me but I still hated him.

"Bye Mom"I said, leaving the table.

"You barely ate your food"he said, shooting me a questioning look.

"I'm not hungry"I said, avoiding his gaze.

He shrugged his shoulders and began eating his breakfast and discussing business matters with my mother.

I slipped out of the house quietly before anyone began to ask me any stupid questions.

I prefer walking to school rather than taking the bus,there was no way I was going to be sandwiched in between teenagers and high schoolers who cared about themselves only.

The walk to my school was just fifteen minutes,I plugged in my headphones. Few feets away from me was Jake,he lived few blocks from my house.

We had been neighbours for five months and still hadn't said a word to each other. I take a slower pace,not wanting to catch up with him.

As if reading my mind,he turned back and waited. I pretend like I didn't see him. I really was not in the mood to talk.

I saw his mouth move and I took out my headphones to hear him better.

"Elizabeth right?"he asked.

It was the first time I looked at him properly. I always thought he was cute and all but boy this guy is drop dead gorgeous no wonder he had all the girls drooling over him.

"Yes"I answered in my supposed to be sexy voice. I was really the worst at doing this. I remember a time during freshman year that a senior asked me my name,I kept twirling my hair with my fingers, thinking it was cute meanwhile I had a fat booger in my nose.

The senior told me I had a booger and all my confidence melted away and somehow it didn't solidify since then.

"Do you want to walk together?"his blue eyes bold and shining.

"Uhhn"I managed to say. I didn't want to say the wrong things or show him how much of an idiot I can be.

"It's funny how we've have been neighbours for month and we haven't spoken to each other"he said and we began walking.

I wanted to tell him we didn't talk because he was really popular and I belong to the group of nerds and dorks no one cared about.

"Is that so?"

My stupid mouth didn't know when to shut up or say the right thing at all.

I was really conscious of how close our bodies were and how our arms brushed slightly.

He laughed lightly.

"Is that so?"he asked, repeating what I just said"really?"

"Well,I'm quite busy,I really don't have time to make friends and all of that"I lied. For some sort of reason that I couldn't figure out,I wanted to give home the impression of a very busy person.

He arched his eyebrow, questioningly.

"What else do you have to do other than filling out college applications?"he asked with a cocky grin

Lie,lie. That was all that rang in my head.

"I work at a pub"

I was so stupid,of all the lies in the world,that is what I could come up with.

"We both know that's not true Elizabeth"

I blinked,how did he figure out I lied. Of course anyone could tell I lied.

"You don't work at a pub,if you did,I would have seen you around,I only see you on weekdays in school"

Oh he had been checking me out in school huh?

"I really don't just go out"I said, dropping the unnecessary lies.

"I'll see you tomorrow at five o'clock in the evening,don't keep me waiting"he smiled and walked away to his class.

I stare at his retreating figure in awe. Who the hell was he?

The bell rang and I went for first period.

"Miss Patel"Mrs Smith the English teacher,a fat pudgy woman called my name.

I sighed.

"Can you tell me what I've been teaching since the beginning of the class?"she asked,her hands placed on her hips.

Of course I wasn't listening to her blabber about nouns. I stared at her with a blank expression.

"Miss Patel kindly take the gum out of your mouth"she said sternly.

As much as I loved listening in classes and getting perfect grades,Mrs smith's class was a total bore. I could never focus in her class when all u thought about was sleeping or doing something else.

I slowly took the gum out of my mouth,I could feel everyone stare at me.

"I have been watching you closely and I noticed you pay no attention when I was teaching"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes,it was tiring,her teachingsl bored the hell out of me,I had to deal with annoying teachers and preppy rich kids who never knew what it like to suffer.

"I'm sorry ma'am"I apologized quickly, bowing my head. If there was anything I always avoided,it was detention,they made us remove gum from beneath the table which I found really disgusting.

"Take your seat,if I have to warn you again,you'll have detention for two weeks!"she said she began teaching again.

I kept an innocent and remorseful face,I sat down and pretended to be taking notes.

"Hey"Jake called quietly"way to go bad bitch"

I heard a few snickers from the kids who sat at the back.

I turned my head sharply to him, glaring holes into his handsome face.

"Aww don't twist your pretty face like that"he laughed.

I was supposed to be mad at him instead could feel the blush on my cheeks,did he just call me pretty?

OMG!

"Miss Patel"

This time I knew I was screwed and was definitely getting detention. I turned to a fuming Mrs Smith.

"I- I...."I tried to explain

"See you in detention"she cut me off sharply.

How rude of her!

I wanted to slap the sly look off Jake's perfect face.

Thankfully,the bell rang for the next period.