"halloween is coming up." i stated to gabriel and randy, both were eating a bag of chips. "so we have to think up some pranks to pull. i mean. halloween is this saturday. how come no one has mentioned it?"
"what are you talking about?" gabriel asked with a squint. "haven't you seen those dumb posters for the harvest dance? and those other dumb posters promoting the senior octoberfest."
"really?" i asked, looking at randy for approval.
randy nodded and shoved a few more chips into his mouth.
"how come i haven't seen them?" i asked, feeling a bit left out.
"probably been too high to read 'em." gabriel offered then laughed. "and besides, we're probably not going to those dumb things anyway. we can just hang out and egg stuff."
"egging is good." randy nodded.
"besides hasn't deb invited you to her stupid lame-ass party?" gabriel asked before gulping on his gatorade.
"deb's party?" randy echoed. "they're never lame. her parties are always the major ones. where have you been?"
"no. they're only lame-ass because she doesn't invite me to them," he explained. "but i'm surprised you haven't been invited yet jess."
"i haven't seen her all day." i shrugged and shoved a chip into my mouth.
they both shrugged then continued to eat. i was sorely confused, halloween is this saturday yet this is the first i've heard of it. i always know about halloween, there's free candy and chicks wearing provocative costumes. how could i forget? i looked around the senior lunchroom and saw pumpkins placed every so often and corn on some of the tables.
"damn. i'm slow." i sighed while rubbing my forehead.
"we already knew that." randy laughed and gabriel joined him.
i flicked them both off and continued to eat. we ate in silence for a few minutes then randy started up a conversation.
"halloween is saturday so maybe we can go to some of the freshmen houses and egg them." he offered with a shrug. "that's always fun."
"or we screw with the freshmen here." gabriel smirked. "that's even more fun."
we all glanced at each other, smirking, agreeing silently about what we'd do for halloween. lunch was over so we were all walking towards the exit, talking about what had happened throughout our days.
"so this chick was running down the hall and then tripped over her own shoelace." randy said, laughing while he said it. "she fell flat on her face. freakin' hilarious!"
gabriel and i laughed. we all walked into the building and said our good-byes before walking to our classes. i dozed through of all my classes and was prepping myself for psychology. one, i needed to get my phone back from mr.dulancey. and two, reese. i planned to talk to her today and make light conversation. so when i got to psychology, i got my usual greetings and saw that mr.dulancey was sitting at his desk, reading. i looked towards the back of the room, no sight of reese yet. so i decided to walk up to mr.dulancey.
"hi mr.dulancey." i smiled sweetly at him while tapping my fingers on the edge of his desk.
"hello mr.sterling. you need something?"
"yeah. my cell phone." i nodded. "you took it yesterday and never gave it back."
"probably there was a reason for that." he shrugged, looking down at his book.
"like what?" i asked eyeing him.
"mr.sterling," he started, looking up from his book. "you were texting someone in the middle of my class. why would i give it back to you so you can do the same thing over again?"
"i wouldn't do it again." i argued. i was lying through my teeth and we both knew it. "i'm not like that."
he smiled at me then went back to reading his book.
"so will i get it back?" i asked slowly while extending my hand to him.
"at the end of class." he said. "now sit down before the bell rings or you'll be tardy."
i turned around to sit in my seat and ran into reese doing so. some laughed, others made comments. she dropped a notebook and i picked it up for her then stood up and handed it to her. she looked even more gorgeous than yesterday. she's wearing a yellow polo with a long-sleeve white shirt underneath and the sleeves were rolled up her arm, an angel necklace, a heart bracelet, faded blue jeans that had a few rips in them, dark brown birkenstocks, and her hair was down and wavy. she smelled like cotton candy again today.
"thanks." she smiled while taking the notebook back and placed it ontop of her books.
"after you." i smiled while motioning at the aisle.
she smiled sweetly then walked down the aisle and sat down in a seat next to mine. i walked back and sat down in my usual seat, next to the window.
"i didn't have to take your seat today." she whispered with a smile.
the late bell rang.
"hello. hello. hello. hello." mr.dulancey smiled while getting up and walked infront of his desk. "happy wednesday. take out your books."
i rummaged through my bag and took out my book then placed it on my desk. i glanced over at reese who was just sitting and looking around the room.
"wanna share?" i asked while motioning at my book.
"uhmnhn....sure." she shrugged then slid her desk over towards mine.
i looked up and saw orlando looking at her with a smile then rolled his eyes at me. i couldn't supress my smile at his frustration then looked over at reese who was flipping through the pages of my book. she smelled so good, i closed my eyes and inhaled to get her scent. i imagined me hugging and kissing her then--
"uhmnhn...john?" she interrupted.
"john?" i echoed then looked over at her.
"isn't that your name?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows, her face was so gorgeous.
"no. it's jesse." i corrected with a smile and went back to looking at my book.
"oh geez. i'm so sorry, i'm horrible with names." she sighed with a guilty shrug. "i'm going to forget it. i always do."
i laughed lightly before flipping to another page in the book.
"what page?" i asked.
"three thirty-one i think?" she guessed while examining her fingernails. "i can't remember."
"he said it like two seconds ago." i laughed.
"i told you i have a horrible memory."
i smiled at her then glanced over the person infront of me shoulder and saw he was on page two fifty. i flipped to that page and acted as if i was reading it. i wasn't really that focused but who could blame me? i was sitting next to reese, the smokin hot new-girl who smelled like cotton candy. she's extremely gorgeous and i couldn't help but think about her.
"how can you have a horrible memory when you're seventeen?" i asked in a whisper.
"i'm not seventeen."
"eighteen?"
"sixteen." she corrected before licking her top lip, making my heart skip a beat. "i'm a year younger than everyone else." brief pause to let out a sigh. "i got skipped up a year."
"are you not happy about that?" i asked slowly while trying to look in her eyes.
she wouldn't make eye contact.
"i'm not happy about a lot of things." she said before pursing her lips then let out a heavy sigh. "but that's life. it screws you over."
"don't i know." i sighed, having my mom in mind.
she nodded then started tapping her nails on the desk and bit her lip.
"ms.howard." mr.dulancey said finally.
"yes?" reese asked and stopped tapping her fingernails.
"stop tapping your fingernails. pay attention."
"oh. right." she agreed. "sorry."
i snickered and she sighed then looked at me.
"you got in trouble." i sang in a whisper to her. "you got in trouble."
"yeah. that was major trouble." she said sarcastically with a roll of the eyes.
i smiled then we both laughed a little. we sat in the rest of the period, looking at the front of the room. my eyes kept wondering towards her and going over her extremely perfect body. when the bell rang, she scooted her desk back to its original row and gathered her things. i did the same and looked over at her, she was putting her hair into a neat ponytail
"where are you headed?" i asked while putting my backpack on.
"tennis." she replied while putting her backpack on as well. "i'm on the varsity squad."
"already? didn't you just come here yesterday?" i asked with raised eyebrows, impressed.
"yeah but my old school sent over my profile," she explained while touching the back of her head to make sure her ponytail was still in tact. "so they made me try-out yesterday after-school and then they put me on the varsity squad."
i thought of deb. she's on the varsity tennis team.
"do you know deb?"
"deb?" she repeated. "i don't think i know a deb."
"right." i nodded while pointing at her. "you're horrible with names."
she smiled then shrugged guiltily. "i am."
just then orlando walked up, completely disreguarding me.
"you coming to Hank's Hamburger Hut with me and the guys after-school?" he asked while looking over her body.
reese must've noticed because she folded her arms across her chest, an area that orlando's eyes were lingering on.
"so you in?" he asked finally.
"i have tennis practice after-school." she shrugged. "sorry."
i had a feeling she didn't mean it.
"well....maybe some other time." he sighed then backed up and walked out.
"jesse." mr.dulancey called out.
i looked to the front of the room and he was holding my cell phone out to me. i jogged to the front of the room to the front of his desk.
"thanks mr.dulancey." i said fakely.
"just don't let me catch you texting or instant messaging anymore." he warned then put the phone in my hand.
i looked at it, the battery died. damn. i looked at the back of the room and reese wasn't there anymore, i figured she left and i didn't even get to say bye. so i walked out and into the crowded hallway then looked around.
"j--jesse." a voice hesistated.
i turned to my left and saw reese walking towards me.
"there you are." i smiled. "thought i missed you."
"nope. here i am." she smiled back.
"hey. you remembered my name." i pointed at her. "see. you aren't so terrible."
she shrugged then looked over her shoulder. "look. i have to go to practice. nice talking to you."
"yeah. same--"
"reese." she finished for me.
"i knew your name."
"just making sure." she shrugged while backing up. "see ya tomorrow."
she turned around completely and walked off into the crowded hallway. she is beautiful and talented at sports. hello ms.perfect.
Thank you for the comments!