Witness: A Bad-Boy Romance

A Jerk With A Bad Attitude

I couldn’t take my eyes off Blake as he rode away from the school. I was left standing by the entrance feeling like I really didn’t belong there and for some reason, I was actually disappointed in myself for the fact I hadn’t just pretended I was skipping class to be rebellious.

It’s not like I could have been convincing if I did lie about it. I had never actually missed a class intentionally before. I was always scared I would get in trouble, and I never saw the point in skipping classes when I actually used to enjoy school. If I ever had skipped a class I would probably have ended up feeling so bad about it that I would just show up late and pretend something happened to hold me up.

I pulled out my phone and checked the time - there was about an hour until Brooke was done, so I found the car and was grateful that my own set of keys included a car key so I could at least wait in the car rather than standing in the cold.

Far from being a rebel, I used the time to read through my notes from the computer science class. Java and Python and running scripts and fixing bugs… I might as well have been taking advanced French. I didn’t understand a word of this stuff, even after one lesson.

I pulled the file that the principal had given me out to see when my next class was so I knew how long I had to try and make sense of it all, but before I looked at the timetable I checked what else was in the file. The grades from my previous school - but it wasn’t my grades or my old school.

Apparently, Victoria was a fairly average student. I guess they didn’t want me to stand out. It hurt to see so many Cs on the page with only the occasional B. I had worked so hard for years to achieve good grades and my straight A record had been taken from me through no fault of my own. It just didn’t seem fair.

I closed the folder without bothering to look at the timetable and read through my notes from the computer science class again. There were tears in my eyes this time.

Had they put me in this class because they knew I wouldn’t be able to pull my grades up?

As I read the same few pages over and over again I couldn’t stop thinking about the day I had just had. I had made a terrible impression on the principal, and I was not going to enjoy most of my classes, but more than anything I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Blake.

He had taken an instant dislike to me, and I didn’t understand what I had done. I kept on replaying the way he had kicked my book so casually when I went to pick it up, even though there was no one there to impress or to embarrass me in front of. It was nothing more than a game to him.

By the time Brooke got to the car I had nearly memorized the notes, but they still didn’t make a lot of sense to me. She smiled brightly as she opened the door and climbed in beside me.

“Good day?”

I slid the notes back into my bag and put it down on the floor at my feet.

“Not bad.”

“Not bad?” Brooke pressed me for an answer as she started up the car-

“It turns out I was supposed to meet people outside the front entrance. The principal was kind of mad at me for missing the tour.”

“For real? It was definitely not the front entrance. I was told to take you to the office like four times. I even wrote it down in my planner. I can’t believe he’s mad at you for that. I will definitely bring it up next time I see that guy, that is so not fair of him.”

“Please don’t, it’s not a big deal. Mistakes happen.”

“I do not make mistakes like that.”

I looked over at Brooke, wondering whether she was telling me that as my supposed older sister or as US Marshall Lisa Bennett.

She seemed to believe so sincerely that she wouldn’t have made the mistake that I found myself wondering whether she had been given the wrong information for some reason, though there was no logical reason I could think of to do that.

It didn’t really matter anyway. The result was the same. I missed the tour, and I looked like an i***t.

“So, how was your first day as a gym teacher?”

“Fine. It was fine.”

Brooke sounded distracted and irritated. I guessed that she was still bothered about getting the information wrong about where I had to meet people, but I didn’t think I should say anything to her about it.

When we got back I went straight to my room to try and make sense of my notes from class. Brooke knocked on my door after a while - I had no idea how long it had been - and told me she had made us food. I left the confusing and frustratingly difficult notes in the room and went to eat with her, hoping she was less annoyed now than she had been in the car.

I picked at my meal, and she picked at hers, but the cheerful act crept back in as we were sat together and she started to ask me about my day again.

I answered politely without giving away much information. I didn’t want to admit that I had not had a good day. I just wanted to forget it all and start fresh tomorrow.

“Did you make any new friends?”

That question hit a little differently. Blake’s image flashed immediately through my mind when she asked it.

“Not yet.”

“Meet anyone interesting, at least?”

I bit my lip a little shyly and blushed, but I shook my head.

“No, I don’t think so. Just some jerk with a bad attitude.”