The New Girl

Chapter 6

                           Elizabeth

I feel like s**t. Waking up to a splitting headache, hacking cough and running nose isn't exactly the way you'd want your morning to begin. I force myself out of bed and into the bathroom to look at myself. Jeez, if I thought I felt like s**t, I looked even worse. My face looked pale pronouncing my red nose. Missing school isn't an option though. I grab some Advil from my cabinet and suck it up. I decide to stay in the long tee shirt and spandex I wore to bed and throwing my hair in a messy bun to hide my greasy hair. I look disapprovingly in the mirror but honestly I can't do better in my current state.

Slipping out the window I see Tristan waiting at the end of the driveway just as he did yesterday. I walk up to him and smile, doing my best to conceal the fact I'm dying. "Hey Tristan" I croak. Dammit. My voice sounds like I smoke 8 packs a day. He looks at me with a concerned face.

"Are you okay?"

"No I feel like shit." I mentally kick myself. The truth always seems to slip out of me before I can stop myself.

"You should stay home then."

"Can't."

"Why?" I let out a frustrated sigh. I know he's just trying to help, but I wish he'd just let me go.

"Cause I need to do well." trying to keep it vague so he wouldn't ask any questions. Of course I knew him well enough to know that would never be the case.

"Your parents are okay with you going to school sick?"

"They aren't home." Which isn't a lie. My dad went back to his friends for the week and my mom's still gone until tomorrow. He raises his eyebrow at me. "Can I just go? If it gets too much I'll leave."

"Okay. Get in the car and I'll take you. But if you start feeling worse, go to the nurse." I nod thankful the argument is over. I get into his black Maserati. I admire the interior. He gets in and picks up his phone. "What kind of music you like?"

"Anything is fine. I'm not really picky." Even though I don't own any kind of device, I listen to all kinds of music at work.

     The flips through his playlist before selecting a song. After the first beats I recognize it as Get Right Witcha by the Migos. I sing along to the music.

     "Hold up, hold up. Get right witcha, I'm a get right witcha. Bad bitches f**k em then dismiss em, bad woo. I ain't really here to take no pictures, flash. Middle finger up f**k the system, f**k em." At the stop light I see him look at me with amusement. "What?"

    "You're just something else, Elizabeth." I blush and thank God that the light turns green.

      I get out of the car and suddenly feel uneasy. And this time, it wasn't because of my headache. Tristan comes up next to me. "People are staring" I say quietly to him.

      "Let them. It doesn't matter what they think. Come on." I follow him into the school avoiding everyone's gaze. Once inside I see Natalia who looks just as confused as everyone else.

     "I'm gonna go talk to Nat. I'll see you later." He smiles and nods and I take off towards Natalia.

      "What is that?" She asks immediately.

   "Good morning to you too." I can't help but be a smart-ass.

      "Good morning, now tell me why you came with Tristan Blake."

      "Long story short were friends. He drive me to school. That's about it." J can tell she doesn't buy it.

     "Then why are you dressed like you've just crawled out of bed?"

      "Because of you haven't noticed my shitty voice I'm sick and didn't want to change out of my pajamas or brush my hair."

      "So you didn't...?" I stare at her. Holy s**t. Everyone thinks we've had s*x.

      "Oh my God no we didn't sleep together!" I can't help keeping the exasperation out of my voice.

      She studies me before saying, "I believe you."  Now it's my turn to study her.  She looks sincere. Trust me, I can spot bullshit from a mile away.

      "Good."

      "So why'd you become friends with him?"

      "You remember what he did at the party for me?"

      "You mean when he staked that guy for groping you?"

      "Yeah. After that we talked and I figured he was a decent person disputed our first interaction."

      "You know what's weird though?"

      "What?"

      "Before you, he never really put in effort for girls. He never stopped another guy from having fun with a girl, he never talked to a girl a second time for anything but s*x and he most certainly never became friends with any of them. I guess it's just weird to see him spend so much time with one girl." Wow. I never actually thought of what he did or didn't do before we met. That's kind of. Crazy how much he's changed. 

      "Wow." is all I can manage to say.

      "Wow is right, and you know what, I think this change is for the better. He's starting to act like a true gentleman."

      That was the last thing said before the bell rings.

     End of the day

      I walk to my locker surprised to see Tristan waiting for me.

      "You feel any better?"

      "Yeah, I feel fine. Just a sore throat now."

      "I'll be waiting in the car."

      "Actually I don't need a ride. Im just going to the library."

      He gives me a look before saying, "I'll go with you. Practice doesn't start for another 2 hours."

      I really don't feel like arguing so I just say, "Okay."

      "Yo, Tristan!" I turn around to see a a blonde kid running toward us. "Hey Tris, what's up man?"

      "I'm just going to the library with Elizabeth."

      "Hi Elizabeth, I'm Ryan Anderson and I've got to say you've made quite a name for yourself your first weeks here."

I smile. I think I'm going to like this kid. "Hi Ryan, what can I say? This schools got some trashy people in it."

He laughs. "You're a cool chick."

"I'm glad you approve."

"So is there room for another person to come with?"

"I mean is couldn't stop you, so yeah, there's room."

"Cool. I'll meet you there. Is there anyone else joining us?"

"Yeah Natalia always comes after. She didn't get last periods free."

"K"

We drive to the library which only takes a total of 30 seconds.

There we do homework. Well I do homework. Ryan and Tristan are too busy talking about their next game. An hour later I can't take it anymore. "You know if you do t do your homework you're not going to be able to play football?"

That shuts them up. "What are you talking about?" Ryan gapes.

"You know such thing as athletic eligibility? The thing where you have to be passing all your classes to do a sport?"

"I'm doing great in all my classes." Tristan counters. I narrow my eyes.

"So that's why you're already failing AP Biology?"

He squirms in his seat. "I'm 2 posts away from passing."

I give him an exasperated look. "Yeah and you know what would help your grade? If you actually did the assignments the teacher gives us."

"Dude you can't get kicked off. It's senior year and your the quarterback!" Ryan is practically in hysterics.

"I know, but it's so hard! Everything in that class makes no f**k g sense!"

"You could've asked me for help."

He looks at me before asking, "What's your grade in that class?"

I roll my eyes. "98."

His mouth drops open. "How the hell do you manage that?"

I hold up the textbook and homework for the day. "Now get out the paper." I demand. He digs through his messy backpack until he finds it. He drops a crumpled piece of paper on the desk and attempts to smooth it out.

"Okay so this is talking about macromolecules. All you have to do is write down the type, what they are made up of and an example. For instance, in is protein which is made up of amino acids and is found in things like skin and meat."

Both he and Ryan look at me like I have two heads.

"What?"

"How do you know all of that without opening the book?"

I shrug. "I read through the chapter before. It's not that hard to memorize."

      "Says you," Tristan breaths.

       At that exact moment Natalia comes through the doors. She looks at our table and stops, looking at me with a confused face. I wave her over and she slowly walks to the table. "Hey Nat, Ryan and Tristan decided to come along."

      She looks them up and down. "Actually we should be going now. Practice starts in a half hour."

        "Okay."

        "Come to our game tomorrow?" I raise my eyebrow at him."Please?" he fake begs jutting his bottom lip out for effect.

       I look over at Natalia and silently ask her. She nods in approval. "Sure. What time?"

        "Starts at 4, see you there!" They jog out of the library.

      Natalia gives me that what the f**k? look. I sigh. "I have no idea. I told Tristan I didn't need a ride and then Ryan came and tagged along, too."

      "There are just so many firsts with these guys its unbelievable." She shakes her head. "Not bad ones, but you always wonder about their motives, you know?"

      I did know. And it's not the first time I wondered why Tristan decides to spend so much time with me. Someone who is so utterly plain it hurts.

      We chat some more about whatever and I finish my homework. Natalia drops me home and I'm relieved to see no car in the driveway.

      That night in drift to sleep thinking about Tristan. Yeah. What have I gotten myself into?

___________________________

                          Tristan

      I wake up so happy. A little friendship with the girl you like stings a little bit, but it's one step closer to her. And like I said, I'll wait. It broke my heart when she said that she's been let down before by people she cared about. So it'll be my goal to make her feel like she's worth everything.

Waiting outside her house I watch the side of the house where she came out yesterday. Moments later, I see her long legs dangling out the window. I chuckle. She's not petite. She's only about 6 inches shorter than I am. And I'm 6'4". When she fully exits the window, I stop breathing for a few seconds. She's only wearing a big white tee shirt, barely coming to mid-thigh showing off her perfectly toned legs. I swallow hard.

She walks up to me and I look in her face and immediately see that she's sick. "Hey Tristan." Wow her usual soft, mellow voice is replaced by a small croak.

"Are you okay?"

      "No I feel like shit." I hold back a smile. I can always count on her to be honest.

      "You should stay home then."

      "Can't." What?

      "Why?" she exhales sharply. I know she's no push-over but I wish she would just take care of herself.

   "Cause I need to do well." Ookkaayyy. Her parents surly wouldn't want their sick daughter to go out.

      "Your parents are okay with you going to school sick?"

      "They aren't home." I raise my eyebrow. I notice this isn't the first time I didn't see a car here. On Friday night I didn't see anyone home either.

Seeing that her decision was final, I give in.

      "Okay. Get in the car and I'll take you. But if you start feeling worse, go to the nurse." She nods and I take that small victory with me. I get into the car and flip through my music to find a song. What kind of stuff does this girl listen to? What kind of music do you like?"

      "Anything is fine. I'm not really picky." I smile and click Get Right Witcha. I wait for protest from her. Whenever I played this kind of stuff around Gianna, she would want me to change the song. Then I hear her start to sing along.

"Hold up, hold up. Get right witcha, I'm a get right witcha. Bad bitches f**k em then dismiss em, bad woo. I ain't really here to take no pictures, flash. Middle finger up f**k the system, f**k em." At a red light I can't help but look at her. She's so damn cute when she lets loose like this. "What?"

"You're just something else, Elizabeth." I turn back to the road.

I get out of the car and notice pretty much everyone is looking at Elizabeth get out of my car. I walk next to her. "People are staring" she whispers in my ear.

"Let them. It doesn't matter what they think. Come on." I lead the way into the school.

"I'm gonna go talk to Nat. I'll see you later." I smile at the fact that she wants to see me later. I nod and she takes off.

"So you finally did her?" I turn around to see Tyler smirking. "How was it?"

"We didn't do anything. I just drove her here."

"And that's why she's looking like she just got out of bed?"

My eyes widen. Holy s**t. Everyone's going to think that somethings going on. Even though I want something with her, I don't want her to think I told people we were together.

"We didn't sleep together." I hiss.

"Damn, okay I believe you. Besides, if you did, you'd be talking about it." he puts his hands up in surrender and the bell rings.

End of the day

I hurry to Elizabeth's locker before she gets there. She looks surprised to see me.

"You feel any better?" I ask. She looks better.

"Yeah, I feel fine. Just a sore throat now."

"I'll be waiting in the car."

"Actually I don't need a ride. I'm just going to the library."

I think before saying, "I'll go with you. Practice doesn't start for another 2 hours."

She raises her eyebrow and says, "Okay."

"Yo, Tristan!" I look up to see Ryan . "Hey Tris, what's up man?"

"I'm just going to the library with Elizabeth."

"Hi Elizabeth, I'm Ryan Anderson and I've got to say you've made quite a name for yourself your first weeks here."

     I smile as I watch them interact. "Hi Ryan, what can I say? This school's got some trashy people in it."

      He laughs. "You're a cool chick."

     "I'm glad you approve."

      "So is there room for another person to come with?"

Please say no

      "I mean is couldn't stop you, so yeah, there's room."

Damn it

      "Cool. I'll meet you there. Is there anyone else joining us?"

      "Yeah Natalia always comes after. She didn't get last periods free."

      "K"

Turns out she's right. We could have walked to the library.

      There we do homework. Well Elizabeth does homework. I swear this girl is perfect. Ryan and I are too busy talking about the game tomorrow next game. An hour later she speaks up. "You know if you do t do your homework you're not going to be able to play football?"

"What are you talking about?" Ryan gapes.

      "You know such thing as athletic eligibility? The thing where you have to be passing all your classes to do a sport?"

      "I'm doing great in all my classes." I lie. She narrows her eyes at me. Gulp.

      "So that's why you're already failing AP Biology?"

"I'm 2 posts away from passing."

      She gives me the look that says, really buddy? "Yeah and you know what would help your grade? If you actually did the assignments the teacher gives us."

       "Dude you can't get kicked off. It's senior year and your the quarterback!" Ryan is almost yelling.

       "I know, but it's so hard! Everything in that class makes no f*****g sense!"

      "You could've asked me for help."

I look at her. I know she's smart so I can't help asking her, "What's your grade in that class?"

She rolls her eyes. Gulp. "98."

My mouth actually drops open. "How the hell do you manage that?"

She holds up the textbook and homework for the day. "Now get out the paper." I dig through my backpack. Dang, no wonder I'm failing. I find it in a crumpled in a ball at the bottom. I do my best to smooth it out on the table.

      "Okay so this is talking about macromolecules. All you have to do is write down the type, what they are made up of and an example. For instance, in is protein which is made up of amino acids and is found in things like skin and meat." She speaks like she swallowed the textbook.

      We gape at her.

       "What?"

       "How do you know all of that without opening the book?"

She shrugs. "I read through the chapter before. It's not that hard to memorize."

"Says you," I say.

Natalia enters and stops giving Ryan and I a weird look. Elizabeth sees her and waves her over. She approaches slowly. "Hey Nat, Ryan and Tristan decided to come along."

She looks them up and down. "Actually we should be going now. Practice starts in a half hour."

"Okay."

"Come to our game tomorrow?" I ask."Please?" I stick out my lip in a pout.

She looks over at Natalia and she nods. Turning back to me she says "Sure. What time?"

"Starts at 4, see you there!" I run out of the library feeling light as air.