Fiction/Drama
Assumptions — Senior Year — Chapter Fifteen
Connor Smith
Brady and I followed the same path Tabby and Ayma took a few minutes ago, back to the courtyard where everyone congregated before the first bell. Other students, some I knew and some I’d rather not, walked about looking at schedules and whatnot. I saw Tabby and Ayma further ahead talking with Aiden.
And then, the noise level went down to about a two. Everyone was hushed in whispers like the air had been sucked out of the courtyard. Both Brady and I glanced back and saw what all the commotion, or lack of it, was all about. Reagan was making her grand appearance.
She. Was. Beautiful.
Picture Selena Gomez in her teenage years, then intensify her perfection tenfold. There you had it, Reagan.
Girls were jealous. Guys were speechless. And everyone stepped aside to let her through. She was missing Ash, her boyfriend, the quarterback for the football team. The usual gorgeous couple everyone expected to be together in movies and books—yep, that was them.
Following behind were Levi and Stark, two other NFL wannabes, and ones who loved to harass me for some unknown reason. Oh yeah, they thought I was gay.
Hmm, imagine that.
I wouldn’t say gay, maybe not even bi, perhaps curious. I mean, I’d experienced it all, and either sex was fine by me.
Behind the torturing duo was Josh. He was the brooding wide receiver on the team. Tall, dark, extremely handsome, and model-worthy. His father, a local small-time weed dealer in our community that everyone knew about, was dating Reagan’s mother.
Maybe Josh’s dad was her supplier?
I mean, I heard he tried to take a straight path after his last stint in prison, but we all knew how that went, most of the time, they went back to their old ways.
And walking with Josh was Jackson. Today was the first time I’d seen him since the fishing trip two months ago.
No calls.
No texts.
No emails.
No, hey, what’s up.
Nope, nothing. But that was okay. We all had our secrets, and the one between us would go with us to our graves.
He looked rather fine this morning—new cargo shorts, a football jersey proudly displaying his name and number, and overly priced two-hundred-dollar Nike shoes. The way he held his backpack, one-shouldered, and even though the damn thing was probably filled to the max and heavy, he carried it with ease. His eyes locked on me, and then, without even a small nod of recognition, he looked away.
“What you looking at?” Levi was always looking to start trouble.
I shook my head and looked the other way—no need to fight what couldn’t be beaten.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, faggot.” Levi moved past me with Stark at his side. Those two were loose cannons just waiting to go off.
Jackson stepped closer in my direction. My heart picked up a pace. Was he acknowledging our friendship?
Nope, I got shoulder-checked with a full backpack, and I stumbled off the pavement into the grass.
Jackson pulled a random girl to his side. She was walking with her friends and going the opposite way, but she didn’t put up a fight to get away from the player. I watched until the crowd swallowed them up.
Everyone wanted to be near the ‘elite’ of our school. Yeah, that was what we all called them. The football players and the cheer and dance team were known as the ‘elites.’ They were the privileged ones in school.
“What was that all about?” Brady's talking brought me out of my frozen trance state of self-pity and dislike for a particular group of individuals within our society.
“What was what all about?” I didn’t mean to sound like a dick, but damn, I just got stomped on physically and emotionally.
“The look Jackson gave you. It was like he wanted to beat the crap out of you or something. I didn’t even know you guys knew each other.”
“Not really. Our dads know each other. We hung out at the lake this summer. That’s about it.” I turned away, signaling my end of talking about Jackson.
“Yeah, that’s right, y’all better walk away.” Brady went all gangsta-like, pretending he could take on the entire team.
Nah, sorry, that wouldn’t be happening. Jackson alone had about sixty pounds of solid muscle on Brady, who was one hundred and thirty pounds on a well-fed day.
The guys didn’t even turn around to give him the time of day. Not that they were scared, shit, a fluffy lap dog was more ferocious than Brady. But they probably felt he wasn’t even worth their effort to confront.
Anyway, the less I thought about Jackson, the better the day would be. Plus, Brady had known me since preschool days and would know by looking at me if there was more to the story. Good thing he was preoccupied with Tabby. I didn’t understand why. Since we were four years old, she’d been like a sister to us, but I’d noticed both of them giving subtle hints they wanted more from one another. Too bad both were so naive and couldn’t pick up on the tell-tell signs of a lifelong, blossoming romance.
We finally ran into Tabby and Ayma, who were still in the same place on the sidewalk. I guess they were waiting for us.
“Hey, guys,” Tabby spoke to both of us, but her gaze was on Brady. She twirled the ends of her hair with her fingers, bit down on her lower lip, and looked at him through heavy lashes. Yeah, right, like she wasn’t interested.
Brady shuffled his feet around, looking awkward as hell. “Hey. What’s up?”
Oh, so smooth. Brady was acting like he’d never spoken to this girl in his life.
“Ayma has to go to the main office for her schedule. They never sent it to her.”
Ayma did a fake cough. “More like my mother probably threw it out just so my first day would be even more f’d up.”
Just then, a loud screech from the intercom signaled across the courtyard, making everyone cover their ears.
“Ayma Kuntz, please report to the registration office. Ayma Kuntz, please come pick up your class schedule.”
We heard Ms. Harris’s creaky voice sound out through the static. She’d been in the main office for a hundred years, like even when our parents went to Bayshore. Another loud screech and Ms. Harris spoke once again. This time it was more of a whispered talk with whoever was in the room with her. “I hate calling that poor girl’s name for the entire school to hear.”
Unbeknownst to her, the intercom was still on for everyone to listen in on the conversation. We all heard fumbling with buttons and then another loud screech. “Now, how do I turn this thing off?"
And then it went silent. Someone must’ve helped poor Ms. Harris turn off the intercom.
All eyes were now on Ayma. A few chuckles and smirks were sent her way.
Ayma threw her hands up into the air. “Why? Why me on the first day?”
Tabby took her by the hand. “C’mon, I’ll walk with you.” She turned to Brady. “Wait for us.” It was more of a suggestion than a question.
Brady nodded, a little bit of drool spilling over his lip. He looked like a puppy dog. He should have his tongue hanging out to make it all the better.
Tabby smiled and only directed it toward Brady. “Cool. See you in a bit.” She and Ayma wiggled their way through the crowd of students that had grown in the past couple of minutes.
“Why don’t you two just fuck and get it over with?" I was tired of seeing all this pre-pre foreplay shit between the two of them.
“Wha…What?” Brady looked all flabbergasted at such a thought. “Nah, it’s not like that with us. We’re just friends.” His voice trailed off at the end.
“But you want more.”
Brady shrugged. He didn’t answer either way.
My eyes found where Jackson and the rest of the elites had set up camp—the center of attention at the water fountain. I wasn’t expecting him to be staring back at me, but he was. A girl, some cheer-whore and not the girl earlier from the sidewalk, stepped in between our line of vision with one another. Jackson pulled her tight against his body as he kept our lockdown eye-fucking one another. His hands automatically went to her ass as his lips found hers. His eyes kept with mine the whole time.
So this was the game he wanted to play. Well, fuck him. I didn’t need all the drama, especially not from the entourage he carried around with him.
Yes, I was the first one to look away. Hopefully, it sent the signal that he didn’t matter.
What happened between us didn’t matter.
My life would go on without him showing me any recognition.
Okay, one last look.
I rubbed my hand over my face, pretending to be scouting the courtyard. And the girl was gone. Jackson stood alone with only the elites.
Hmm, maybe what he did was for show only.
