The Quarterback Likes Me?

Chapter 3

Vanessa's POV

"Time to get up, Vanessa. You don't want to be late for school," Mom says.

"Why, Mom? I don’t like school," I groan.

"You only have seven months until you graduate," she replies.

"Seven months is a long time," I complain.

"Get out of bed now or you won't have your phone for a week," she warns.

A week? I can barely survive four hours.

"Fine, I'm up, geesh," I say, getting out of bed.

"Watch that attitude, young lady," she snaps.

I get ready for school, putting on skinny jeans, a crop top, a jacket, and Converse shoes. I tie my hair in a high ponytail and apply some makeup.

"Mom, when will I get my own car?" I ask as I walk into the kitchen.

"For college. Now hurry up and eat," she says, gesturing to the pancakes.

When I arrive at school, I see Dianne talking to Kevin.

"Morning, Vanessa," Jake greets as he steps out of his new car with Ashley.

"Hi," I reply quietly, spotting Heidi by the school building with her friends.

"Vanessa, you're okay!" Dianne shrieks, hugging me.

"Yeah," I chuckle.

"Kevin asked me on a date. What should I do?" she whispers.

"Go. It's just one date," I advise before walking toward school.

"Whore."

"Bitch."

"Slut."

As I approach my locker, those are the names every girl is calling me.

"What's their problem?" Dianne asks.

I shrug and open my locker, noticing Heidi and Brenda approaching.

"Do you want me to handle it?" Dianne offers.

I see Jake by his locker, but his attention is on Heidi.

"Hey, b***h," Heidi smirks at me.

"Call me that one more time," I growl.

"b***h," she retorts.

"That's right, because bitches always do what they're told," I say, slamming my locker and striding away confidently.

"Slay, girl," Dianne laughs as we head to class.

"See you at lunchtime," I say as I enter the lab.

I sit down, and Jake takes a seat in front of me, at least we’re not sitting together in this class.

"Today I'll be assigned groups, and you'll be graded," the teacher announces.

Brenda raises her hand.

"Why can't we choose our own partners?" she asks.

"Because some of you would just end up making out. I'm not naming names," the teacher replies, and Brenda scoffs.

"Vanessa and Jake."

Jake turns around and smiles at me.

"Lucky b***h," someone mumbles.

I glance back at Heidi, surprised to see her in this class. Maybe she’s here because she’s failing all her other subjects.

"I am lucky, but I’m not a b***h, unlike some people," I hiss.

"Heidi and Cody."

The class snickers at the pairing of popular Heidi and nerdy Cody.

"What?! I can’t! That’ll ruin my reputation!" she whines.

"If you want to pass chemistry, you’ll do as I say. This is the only subject willing to take girls like you," the teacher snaps.

She scoffs and sits next to Cody.

"Don’t talk to me, look at me, or breathe in my direction," she tells him, and he shyly focuses on his book.

"My rule: talk to me, look at me, and breathe in my direction," Jake says to me, making me laugh.

"Turn to chapter 5, read it, and take the test with your partner. You have one hour," the teacher instructs before turning to her laptop.

15 Minutes Later

"I said don’t talk to me!" Heidi snaps at Cody, poor guy.

"How do you expect us to do the test if you won’t cooperate?" he retorts.

"Sorry, I don’t speak nerd," she replies, and a few people snicker.

"And I don’t speak b***h either," he hisses, working on the assignment alone.

"We’ll need sodium chloride for sure," Jake says, reading the book and taking notes.

____

45 Minutes Later

"Heidi, what are you doing?" Cody panics.

I look over and see their experiment bubbling dangerously.

"Clearly an experiment," she dismisses.

"You added too much aluminum!" he snaps.

"Well, sorry if you didn’t give me the book, then I’d know what I was doing," she shoots back.

"Guys!"

"Well, you told me not to talk to you!"

"Um, guys?"

"So it's my fault?!"

"Guys!"

"What?!"

BOOM!

All the chemicals explode everywhere, and Jake shields me as I scream.

"Heidi and Cody, office now!" the teacher says, clearly annoyed.

"My dress is ruined," a girl cries.

"Forget your stupid dress! Watch my hair; it takes ages to clean," Kevin complains.

"Everyone go clean up before the next class," the teacher orders as the janitor enters.

I don’t have any extra clothes.

"Hey, I have a spare shirt in my locker," Jake offers as we walk out.

"Okay," I reply.

"My f*cking hair! Heidi will pay dearly for this," Kevin whines, his hair covered in chemical goo.

____________________________

Jake's POV

I walk into the locker room to grab my spare shirt for Vanessa. She’ll look cute in it.

"Hey, Kevin, do you have Dianne's number?" I ask.

"Yeah, check my contacts," he replies as he turns on the shower.

I get the number and leave.

"Here you go," I say to Vanessa as she waits by the door.

"Thanks, you’re a lifesaver," she smiles, taking it and leaving.

I text Dianne.

Me: Hi Dianne, it’s Jake. Can I get Vanessa's number?

Dianne: Sure. Are you asking her out?

Me: No, I just want to invite her to a party this Friday. I can bring one guest.

Dianne: Okay, maybe Kevin will take me.

Me: Here’s the deal: you give me the number, and I’ll convince Kevin to invite you.

Dianne: Deal.

I got the number.

"Kevin, how about taking Dianne to the party this Friday?" I suggest as I change clothes.

"Good idea. Then people will see we're dating," he responds from the shower.

"Dude, Heidi ruined my favorite shirt. If she'd just listened to that nerd, I wouldn't be complaining," a guy grumbles from the other side of the locker room.

"Yeah, she's a pain; no wonder Jake doesn't like her," Tyrell chuckles, likely skipping class.

I leave the locker room and head to English class.

Vanessa is already in her seat, looking stunning in my shirt.

"Looking good, Vanessa," I flirt.

"You too," she replies.

I’m in sweatpants, a white T-shirt, and my Letterman jacket.

I sit down and pull out my book.

"Dianne, there’s a party Friday, and I’d love for you to come with me," Kevin says to her.

"I’d love to," she smiles at him, then winks at me.

"Okay class, pop quiz," Mr. Dickerson announces.

"Sir, that’s not fair," Brenda whines.

"Life isn’t fair either, but you don’t see me complaining," he replies while passing out the quizzes.

"I’m going to fail this," Vanessa murmurs.

"No, you won’t. You can copy from me," I whisper.

"Thanks, but no thanks," she sighs.

She’ll pass because she’s smart; I’ll fail because I can’t stop thinking about that shirt on her and how good it looks.

In the end, I copied from Logan, who sits to my left.

______________