Episode 7
Today was supposed to be a good day.
Yasmin and I would tag along with Noah and Connor to the fair and we’d have a pretty fun time, until the sun set and we went back home.
That was the plan.
The same plan that didn’t include Lilly coming with us.
“I thought you said it was only going to be the four of us!” I whisper-shouted to Noah, who was seated next to me in the backseat while Yasmin was on my right, and Connor was driving with Lilly in the passenger seat.
“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” he muttered back. “I didn’t want her to join either, but my mom forced me to bring her with.
Don’t worry, she won’t be annoying.”
“Wanna bet?” I grumbled, and sat back, my arms crossed over my chest as I sighed with irritation. “How long till we get there?”
“About 10 more minutes,” Connor replied, glancing at me with his piercing blue eyes in the rear view mirror. “Why the sour mood?”
“No reason.”
Lilly turned in her seat, her brow cocked up in a way that was a bit too smug. “You know, I hope I’m not intruding in anything that was just supposed to be for you guys here.”
“You are,” Noah and I replied at the same time, and Yasmin reached over to punch us both in the shoulder. “Ow!”
“Be nice,” she chastised, before turning with a smile towards Lilly. “No, you’re not intruding in anything. We’re happy to have you.”
“Said no one ever,” I muttered, and Connor snorted in amusement, causing Lilly to flush red with anger.
“Kiara,” Yasmin warned, but before she could scold me, or worse, make me apologize, Connor grinned.
“And we have arrived!” he announced dramatically, and immediately we all wore matching smiles.
“Yes!” Noah pumped his fist in the air as Connor parked the car. “Fucking finally!”
We all scrambled to get out of the car and once we were out, Connor handed us our tickets.
“Here you go. Don’t lose it until we’ve gotten past the entrance.” He gave Noah a pointed look, who held up his hands in surrender.
“I am offended!”.
“Good, that was the point. Let’s go, everyone.”
I laughed at Noah’s pouty expression before falling into step with Connor, who was walking silently with Lilly by his side when he spoke up, quietly so that only I could hear.
“My dad used to come here with me,” he said, softly. “When I was a little kid, it was our way of bonding and we’d get excited every time the fair was around.”
I furrowed my brows, “What about now?”
“He got rich,” he responded, and that was that.
We reached the entrance and quickly handed our tickets in before entering the fair, immediately hit by the scent of popcorn and the sound of excited screams echoing in the air around us as roller coasters fell and rose.
“So, which ride first?” Yasmin asked, and Noah automatically pointed to a tall ride with a grin.
“Titan’s Invasion. That roller coaster’s my shit.”
I rolled my eyes at his choice of words and glanced at Connor, who I was surprised to see was already looking at me. When I cocked a brow, his cheeks flushed slightly and he glanced away.
“Yeah, let’s go on that,” he agreed, and avoided my gaze as we got into the line.
Lilly immediately started chatting with him while Noah pulled out his phone and scrolled through his feed, and that left me to talk with Yasmin, whom I was about to ask could sleep over when a voice cut through.
“Oh my God, aren’t you Connor Blake?!”
Connor turned to see a group of girls gawking at him, the one even snapping a pic and quickly posting it on Snapchat before squealing.
“Please delete that,” he calmly ordered.
She completely ignored him, “You’re the son of Edward Blake, right? His company’s the richest of our area!”
Connor winced as more people started to turn in his direction, curious stares and unheard whispers passing through the line. I saw his uneasy expression and decided to politely intervene.
“Hey, I understand you’re a…fan,” I winced at the awkward way I spoke, “but Connor’s a bit uncomfortable at the moment. Maybe you can talk to him some other time?”
“No! No! I just have a question…” She blinked with wide eyes at Connor, who gestured for her to continue, “Are you single?”
Thankfully, the ride chose that exact moment for it to be our turn to go on and to say that Connor was relieved to not have to answer the question was an understatement.
He sat down in the cart quicker than anyone else and when I beat Lilly to the seat next to him and joined him, he grinned.
“Thanks for trying to help me. It just gets annoying having to deal with so many people questioning me all the time.”
I waved it off, “Don’t worry about it. I saw how uncomfortable you were and decided that enough was enough.”
I also remembered how the topic of your dad was untouched for you so I wanted to steer clear of that train wreck before Blondie over there said anything.
Just then, Lilly’s head popped through the small space between Conmor and I’s seats, “Wait, Connor, are you single though?”
Before he could respond, the ride started and Lilly was forced to sit back in her seat, huffing in irritation as the operators quickly checked the seatbelts before giving the thumbs-up to go.
As the cart started moving, I found myself glancing at Connor, who was starting to laugh as the wind ruffled his hair.
Was he single?
I didn’t want to go to school.
After having such a great weekend, school seemed like an absolute pain in the ass and I was not ready to face another day of dealing with Layla and Hunter.
For a minute, I almost thought of pretending to be sick but as soon as the thought crossed my mind, my father came yelling through my bedroom door, “Don’t you dare think of calling sick, young lady!”
I groaned, “I wasn’t even–”
“No excuses! Hurry up, now.”
Sighing, I got out of bed and quickly got dressed into my uniform, brushing my hair down so that it would look a little bit tamed before grabbing my phone and my backpack. I ran down the stairs and found my dad in the kitchen with a bag of Dunkin’ Donuts bagels in one hand and an iced coffee in the other..
My expression lit up, “Is that for me?”
He laughed and handed me the coffee, “The coffee’s for you but the bagels are mine. You don’t really eat breakfast in the morning so I don’t think this’ll be a problem.”
I nodded and gave him a kiss on the cheek before shouting goodbye and exiting
the house, my feet steadily making their way down the sidewalk until the large school building came into view.
When I reached the front lawn, I saw Connor
Yasmin, and Noah all crowded at the steps, laughing at a joke they made until Noah caught my eye and waved.
I smiled and waved back before walking over to them, standing next to Yasmin when I reached.
“Hey,” I chirped, taking a sip of my coffee when Connor snatched it from my hand and took a sip himself.
He scrunched his nose in disgust, “Yuck.”
I rolled my eyes and snatched my coffee back, “Don’t drink my coffee.”
“Believe me, I won’t ever again.”
“What’s that suppo–”
“You guys do realize you just indirectly kissed, right?” Noah questioned, his eyes wide as he pointed between the two of us.
Well, considering the fact that we’ve already kissed, that’s not really a big deal, now is it?
But instead, I said, “Shut up.”
Yasmin laughed at Noah’s childish expression before she was interrupted by an announcement.
“All students, please report to the gymnasium,” the headmistress’s voice echoed around the school grounds as she spoke. “I repeat, all students please report to the gymnasium. Thank you.”
My brows furrowed as everyone started heading for the front doors, “What’s in the gymnasium?”
Connor shrugged, “It’s probably an assembly or something. We have one every year.”
“It’s not this early though,” Yasmin pointed out, and my curiosity deepened.
The four of us walked into the gymnasium and immediately struggled to find a seat, until Connor sighed and smiled sweetly at a girl.
“Hey, could you move over a bit?”
She blushed and instantly scooted over to make space for us, and Connor thanked her in response before sitting down.
“Rich people,” I scoffed, but he didn’t respond.
Once everyone was seated, the headmistress came to the center of the gym, a microphone in her hand which she tapped a few times to gain everyone’s attention before speaking.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am terribly sorry for the short notice for you all to rush here but I have some exciting news.” Immediately, a smile formed on her lips and she glanced to her side, where a group of about 15 kids stood, all looking bored and annoyed.
“Thorne Academy has had the pleasure of being asked by Loland Institute for a little trip at our school. The headmaster, Mr. Adams, contacted me the other day and asked if we could schedule a of switch of students from both schools to check out the different curriculums, and I, of course, thought it was a fantastic idea.”
“Oh, no,” Connor muttered.
“So, without further ado, let me introduce to you all the students from Loland that will be touring our school for a span of 4 weeks…” She walked over to the students at her side and slowly started gesturing to each one, “Matthew Aswold…Jasmine Haines…George Jacobs…” The list went on and eventually when she was done, she gave another excited smile. “And now for the students that will be going from here to Loland…”
“Shit,” Noah cursed under his breath when the headmistress pulled out a piece of paper.
“Layla Benson…Raymond Hart…Devon Coleman…Yasmin Jabour…Noah Waters…Kiara Collins…Hunter Anderson…Venessa Thompson…” She continued to rattle off names until finally reaching the last one, her expression lighting up even more as she scanned the students seated in the bleachers of the gym, “And last but not least, our school’s number one supporter’s son…Connor Blake!
The students that have all been listed will be expected to have their bags packed by Wednesday. You will be switching then. Thank you and have a good rest of your day!”
Connor, Yasmin, Noah and I all glanced at each other in horror. “Please tell me this is a joke.”
“It’s not.” We all looked up to see Layla standing over us, a hand on her hip as she checked out one manicured hand.
“Who asked you?” I sneered, and she rolled her eyes.
“For once, I’m not being a bitch, so you don’t have to act like one either. I’m just telling you that it’s not a joke. We have to do this.”
I watched her walk away and narrowed my eyes, “Something’s up with her.”
“Like what?” Yasmin asked.
“Like the fact that she didn’t say anything insulting to me today. You think she’s alright? Maybe she has a fever.”
Connor cocked a brow and stood up, leisurely stretching his arms over his head before stuffing his hands into his pockets, “She’s not all that bad. If you knew her well enough, then maybe you wouldn’t hate her as much.”
I blinked. “I thought you were my partner-in-crime.”
He chuckled, “I am, Clumsy. But I’m just saying that there’s always two sides to a story. Keep that in mind.”
I watched him step down the bleachers before he exited the gymnasium and for a minute, sat there in shock.
And then, I thought, maybe he was right.
Maybe Layla wasn’t who she was for no reason.
•-•-•
I was mentally exhausted.
Although the students from Thorne would be leaving Wednesday, the ones from Loland were starting at our school today and that meant I had to deal with more brats than usual.
So far, I’d met Linda Johnson in my AP Chem class who I’d immediately had an argument with once she refused to wear goggles for our lab, claiming that they would – and I quote – “tear her fake lashes out.”
Then, I’d had the pleasure of talking to George Jacobs who was a self-centered asshole and had tried to touch my ass more times than I could count. I’d given him a good hit to the face for that.
And finally, there was Jasmine Haines, who was apparently the class president for their grade and wasn’t as bad as I’d thought she would be.
She had been the only decent person I’d met from Loland, and to say I was relieved was an understatement. After having to deal with the other two, she was a good break for me.
So when lunch rolled around, I’d invited her to sit with us and when we joined the rest at our table, she immediately fit in.
I had noticed however, how many glances she had given Connor. He hadn’t seen any of them but judging from the way she’d immediately start blushing and giggling when he started talking was a dead giveaway that she had a mini crush on him.
Which I didn’t mind.
I mean, it was no big deal.
“I’m going to miss you guys when you go to Loland,” Jasmine sighed, and raised her big eyes in Connor’s direction again.
“It’s so nice having you all to talk to.”
“Yeah, trust me, we don’t want to go either but we have no choice,” Noah replied, and shrugged. “But it’s no biggie. We’ll be back soon enough.”
“I hope so. Then, maybe afterwards, we can make plans.” Again, another glance Connor.
“Works for me,” Yasmin chirped, and then turned, “Kiara, you in?”
I shrugged, “Sure.”
“If Clumsy’s in, then I’m in,” Kiara announced, and shot me a wink.
“Tone down the playboy part, buddy,” I said with a laugh.
He grinned, “I’m just adding on the charm. I have to live up to your standards, you know?”
“Kiara has standards?” Noah asked, feigning surprise.
I punched his arm with a grin, “Shut up.”
We continued to eat, joking around with Jasmine still giving longing glances to Connor before it was time for us to throw out our trash, to which when we went to the garbage bins, Connor commented, “Hey, Clumsy, look! This is where you belong!”
I had shoved him in response.
Eventually the bell rang and we all went our separate ways, but not before being stopped by Jasmine to make plans for the weekend.
She suggested that we all meet up at the local café and have a drink or two before leaving to go to the mall.
Noah immediately agreed, having heard the fact that he could get food, Yasmin tagged along simply because she had no other life, and Connor…well, he kept his word and looked to me to see if I was going and once I agreed, he threw his arm around my shoulder and gave a thumbs-up to Jasmine, who’d narrowed her eyes slightly at his gesture before asking for all of our numbers.
After creating a group chat and sending a million messages to make sure the numbers were right, Jasmine left and so did we, me leaving with one thought in mind.
Why had I agreed to go?
TBC……..
