Love Story

The last period of the day had finally arrived. I made my way to Biology with a weary mind. There was no way Lucy would be sitting next to me in this class. She was headed for Art, which meant that I was in a world of trouble. As I entered the class, I glanced around the room and found a lonely table in the back.
The classroom slowly filled up and everyone seemed excited as they waited for the final bell. They were eager to see who they could partner up with. I wasn’t.
While I sat there alone, I looked around at those before me. A few girls propped themselves up on top of the tables and chatted with one another while they dug threw their purses. Some guys leaned against the walls and whispered, pointing from one girl to the next. The others mingled with one another. It was John Curry who sat alone in solitude. He was seated two tables in front of me and stared at the empty whiteboard at the front of the class. I had known him since freshmen year. He was always a loner, but a part of me felt sorry for him. I wondered if he knew the love and warmth a friendship could bring him and if anyone tried, would he let them in.
The final bell rang and brought me to reality. Unfortunately, I was still in hell.
“Okay class. My name is Ms. Johansen.” The teacher stood broad at the front of the class. Her shoulders straight, her lips tight and not even a hint of a smile. She looked very strict, maybe even a little mean. And I was absolutely sure that this would be the worst class of the day.
Before she could continue someone knocked loudly at the door. Ms. Johansen’s eyes tightened as she walked to the side of the room.
“You’re late.” She said with disapproving authority. “What is your name?”
“Dean McCray.” His tone was polite, even though it held annoyance.
“Well then, Mr. McCray, quickly find a seat.”
She stepped away from the door, allowing room for him to enter. He turned and walked down the row of tables. A few girls smiled at him and flipped their hair, hoping he would sit with them. I laughed on the inside as he walked past them. I caught him glance at the empty seat next to John and crossed my fingers that he would fill it.
Reason number one, John needed a friend or at least someone to talk to. And reason number two, he was running out of empty seats to choose from.
Out of discomfort, I reached over and pulled a notebook out of my backpack. When I sat up straight, the eyes of several girls were on me. Every one of them showed anger, envy, and pure teenage hatred.
“Hi.” He said as he sat down in the chair beside me.
I turned slowly to look at him. “Hi.”
Ms. Johansen cleared her throat at the front of the room, gaining our attention, once more. I gladly gave it. She went over a few class assignments that we would be covering this semester and began passing out papers.
I took that time to regain my composure. Dean sat still beside me. And no matter how much I hated having to share my desk, I was tickled by the fact that I managed to upset every girl in the class, without even saying one word.
The final paper Ms. Johansen passed out was her classroom rules. Dean picked it freely from my grasp, brushing his fingertips against the side of my hand. He rattled the paper and looked at me until my eyes met his face.
“I’m glad she made these rules, without them, I might always stay in trouble.” I could hear the sarcasm in his voice.
I shrugged, unsure of a proper response.
“Not funny, huh?” He frowned and looked at the paper in his hand.
“Are you new?” I asked, and then bit my lip in regret of asking such a personal first question. I was being rude.
“Yeah, I moved here over the summer.” He paused for a moment then smiled. “You must pay a lot of attention to the guys around here, huh?”
My face blushed. “No.” The defense in my voice was clear evidence.
“Well, you must or you wouldn’t have asked if I was new, because subconsciously you know that you would have remembered seeing me before if I wasn’t.”
I stared with my mouth slightly gapped open. Obviously I was right; this would be the worst class of the day. “Are you some kind of therapist?”
“No.”
“Then stop trying to act like one, because you don’t know what you’re talking about.” I looked away before he could see the truth in my eyes.
Dean McCray was right. If he weren’t new, I would have definitely remembered him. He had to be one of the most attractive guys in this school. Even better looking than the senior quarterback on the varsity football team, and that was saying a lot.
“So, what’s your name?” Dean asked.
“Chloe.” I nodded and focused on the nonsense papers below me. Ms. Johansen was in no way a tree-hugger.
“How was your first day?” He asked, nudging his elbow against mine across the tabletop.
“Good.” I mumbled, startled by his persisting interest.
“You’re not very talkative, are you?”
“Not if there isn’t anything to say.”
“Well, I’m not worried; we’ve got a whole semester together.”
I lifted my head at the end of his sentence. Once again he was right. We did have a whole semester. I had a whole semester to sit in this torture chamber of a room, next to a charismatic guy that would never have any real interest in me, while my best friend was off in art class. I could only hope that she was having a better time than I was.

When the bell finally rang for the end of the day, I stood up from my table and swung my backpack over my shoulder. Dean picked up his biology book and grabbed my arm with his free hand.
“You aren’t going to skip tomorrow, are you?” He asked.
“No. Are you?”
“No.”
“Then why ask?” I asked as I pulled my arm free and headed out the classroom door.
“Just cause.” He followed behind me.
I tried to ignore his presence and looked for Lucy. Her class was just down the hall from mine; she should be around her somewhere.
“Hey. How was biology?” Lucy asked, popping up beside me.
“Oh.” I jumped. “Great. No, it sucked. I wish you were in there. Better yet, I wish I had art.”
“I know.” Lucy sighed.
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Chloe.” Dean interrupted, brushing my shoulder with his as he walked past us.
“Who was that?” Lucy’s asked raising one brow. “I wish I had biology now.” She giggled.
“Dean McCray.” I tired to sound annoyed. “Apparently, he’s going to be my lab partner.”
“He’s gorgeous.”
“Please don’t start.”
“What? All I’m saying is…you know…” She nudged me with her elbow. “You should talk to him. It’s perfect really. He’s your lab partner right? Then that means you can talk to him everyday for like what…an hour and a half. That is great.”
“Lucy!” I looped my arm under hers and started walking her up the hallway. “Please, you mom is wait, we can talk about this tonight.”
“Deal?”
I sighed. “Deal.”
“You know I’ll hold you to it?”
Yes. So let’s just talk about something else…like art.”
“Much worse than biology.” She started, cutting her eyes at me. “The guys are repulsive.”
She made a gagging face and I laughed.
“However, the teacher is really nice and she is an amazing artist.”
We walked out the building door and cut across the school lawn to the parking lot where Mrs. Baker was parked and waiting. She popped the trunk and we tossed our backpacks in. As I shut the trunk and made my way to the side of the car, a vehicle was approaching; blaring loud music. I looked in its direction and suddenly regretted it. Dean McCray was seated in the passenger seat, smiling at me pompously.