Forgetting to Breathe

Chapter 3-2

“Okay, class, we are partnering up for this assignment,” Mr. Dunphy said and I wondered why we needed to partner up so much in a math class. I pushed that thought aside, though. My excitement was building, hoping Keira and I would be partnered up again.

He rattled on with the pairings and my heart dropped whenever he said my and Sadie’s name together. I looked towards her and my new love interest, and she was staring at me. I used to think that Keira’s stares made me uncomfortable, but this was a whole new level.

She smoothly slid into the seat next to me. The seat that Keira used to occupy. She gave me a cold smile.

“Hey, Ashley.”

“Hey,” I muttered. I tried avoiding eye contact with her, but her stare was magnetic. She was like a Disney villain who had a hold over me.

“So, you’re into girls, huh?” She didn’t give me a chance to reply. “I knew it. I knew Keira was lying to me,” she said, with a bitter look on her face.

“Wait, no. I told her I was straight. I didn’t want to cause problems between you two,” I quickly defended her.

“Cause problems between us? Why would you cause problems between us?” The blonde snipped at me.

“No, I’m not saying that I would. It’s just that I didn’t want you thinking there was anything to feel jealous of, you know?” I fumbled over my words like an i***t. She was so intimidating and cold. What did Keira see in her?

“Jealous? And what would there be to be jealous of?” she asked, her voice raising. She was offending me, but I was too much of a chicken to defend myself.

“Nothing. I didn’t mean it like that, I—”

“I’m just f*****g with you,” she cut me off, thankfully. I was tired of making a fool of myself. She had a cold smile on her face still. Despite her words, I could tell she wasn’t just messing with me. “So, I’m not good with math. Can I just copy your work? Thanks,” she stated and pulled out her phone, scrolling through f*******: and not waiting on a response from me.

She was so rude and unpleasant. I really couldn’t see why someone as sweet and as funny as Keira would be with her.

“How long have you and your girlfriend been together?” she asked, not looking up from her phone.

“Oh, umm. Just a couple of months,” I replied. Jennifer and I didn’t go over this part of our plan. I hope that my answer was acceptable.

“A couple months, huh? You two seem very…passionate,” she said and almost sounded disgusted. She was really starting to rub me the wrong way.

“Is there a problem with that?” I said, a little angrily.

“No,” She quickly responded, raising an eyebrow at me and there was that stare again. She was sizing me up.

“My girlfriend and I were thinking it would be cool to have a double date with you two,” I blurted out the suggestion. I was impressed that I actually did it. Jennifer would be, too. I mentally high fived myself.

Sadie continued staring at me for a moment before reply. “Sure.”

“Cool,” I responded. And those were the last words we spoke for the rest of the class.

* * * *

“So, you know when you’re dreaming and you’re having a nightmare and you wake up before you die?” Jennifer asked us all and we nodded, motioning for her to continue. “Well, it’s because our brain has no knowledge of what happens after death,” She finished, looking at us, expectantly.

“What kind of mumbo bumbo s**t is that?” Johnny asked, not believing her.

“It’s mumbo jumbo, jackass,” I replied and laughed at him. “I think that is really cool, J. I love your little fun facts,” I replied, smiling at her, and she beamed.

“Thank you, girlfriend,” she said and winked at me.

“How long are you two going to pretend to be dating?” Ariel asked, amused at the fact that Jenny was in my lap, just in view of Keira.

“Well, we have a date this weekend, so at least until then,” Jennifer replied, grabbing a fry off of my tray and feeding it to me.

“Well, I think you two should take as long as you have to. You two are hot together,” Jacob joined the conversation, grinning.

“Normally, I would call you a perv, but in this case, I agree with you. Right, honey?” She looked at me and I nodded, laughing.

“Hey, Engles. Jennifer. Gang,” I heard her smooth voice. I looked up at her and couldn’t help but grin. She was dressed casually today—no golf polo. She wore a simple band t shirt and jeans with her signature UnderArmour sneakers on. That seemed to be her favorite brand, I noticed.

“Mitchell, hey,” I replied and loosened my arms around my girlfriend’s waist. Jennifer then grabbed my hands and returned them to their previous position.

Keira’s eyes glanced down to our hands and looked back up to me, immediately. “So, we are still on for Friday, right?” Her smile had faltered a bit.

“Yes,” I answered a little too quickly. A smile was growing on her face and I knew she wanted to make fun of me, but she held back.

“Cool, so just text me later and we will figure out where we are going, okay?” She grabbed a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to me. Jennifer grabbed it, though. I looked at her with a frown on my face, which she ignored. Keira’s eyes flittered to the note, then back to me before saying her goodbyes and going back over to her table.

“What was that about?” I asked, annoyed with my fake girlfriend.

“Hello, I’m not going to let my girlfriend get someone’s number in front of me,” she said. She handed me the paper, but continued. “You can have it now that I’ve maintained my self-respect, however.”

I stuck my tongue out at her and unfolded the paper and smiled when I read it.

Hey Engles,

Text me sometime, would ya?

(480) 555-0000

X Mitchell

“Did she write you a love letter?” Ariel cooed, snatching the paper from my hands. She looked disappointed with the letter. “Oh my God, how boring.” She threw it back to me.

I continued smiling. I had her number. I looked over in her direction and saw that she was looking at me. We both quickly averted the eye contact.