Chapter Four

Wednesday

"Everyone now!" Mrs. Greene proclaimed.

"La la la la la la la." Everyone sang in tune. The period was first which was chorus for Peyton and me. We were warming up our voices before we began singing the next new song.

"Good, good!" Mrs. Greene praised. "Now, is everyone ready to start the new song?" The class groaned, "yes". Mrs. Greene smiled brightly and clapped her hands together in enthusiasm.

 "Alright! This song is a duet, so I need two volunteers..." She looked around the classroom and her deep green eyes landed on Peyton. "Peyton and..." She searched again. "Martin! Come on up!" Peyton and Martin walked to the front in idle and stood next to each other. "Great. You two don't mind, do you?"

"Actually, I-" Martin began.

"Of course you don't!"

No one can say that Mrs. Greene isn't spunky, because she is. She can't wait for anything. She needs to have it now. I do like her, but I think she needs to lay off the extra coffee and energy drinks before school.

 "Okay, okay! You all want to know the song, don't you?" Some nodded while others sighed from boredom. "It's called, 'Why Don't You Love Me?' by Hot Chelle Rae and Demi Lovato." Peyton and Martin looked at each other.

"Great." Peyton muttered. Mrs. Greene handed them two lyric sheets.

 "First, you're just going to listen, then you're going to sing the second time. Got it?" Peyton and Martin nodded. She played the song. Once the song was over, she played it another time. Martin sang and when it was Peyton's turn, she sang. Mrs. Greene was right to put them together because they actually did sound pretty superior. The song ended. "You two were amazing!" She clapped.

"Thank you." They both said at the same time.

"Want to do it again?!"

"No!" Martin and Peyton shrieked at the same time.

 

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"Oh, my God! That was so funny!" I laughed. Peyton rolled her blue eyes.

"Oh, shut up." She snapped. I was laughing. "Okay, it was pretty funny, but not that funny, Sam!"

"Hey, at least it wasn't Carl. That would've been nightmare." I shrugged.

"Well, Mrs. Greene never picks him for anything, so why would she pick him for that song?"

"Yeah, the kid can't sing."

"No, really?" Peyton laughed. We reached algebra and went inside. "Morning, Ms. Ross."

 "Hello, Peyton and Sam." She greeted back. We walked to our usual seats, but someone was sitting in mine. I gave Peyton a look. I didn't even recognize the kid and I know everyone in the school because of how small it is. He had short brown messy hair. He wore a light brown jacket with the zipper up and his collar was up, covering his neck, dark denim jeans, and black sneakers. He was staring down at the book that enclosed his face, obviously too into it to notice Peyton and me in front of him. Peyton cleared her throat and he looked up, startled. He gave us a slight smile.

"Hey," He responded quietly.

"Hello, are you new or something?" Peyton asked, raising her eyebrows. He looked at me, then back at Peyton.

"Yes, I am." He closed the book and placed it on the corner of my desk.

 "Sorry, we didn't introduce ourselves. I'm Peyton and this is Sam." Peyton gestured over to me when she said my name. "You?" He was staring at me with a blank expression, making me feel a little uncomfortable. "You?" Peyton repeated again, a little louder. He flinched.

"Oh, I'm Felix."

 "Hmm, Felix. Interesting name you have." She said, stroking her chin like she had a idea. Felix looked around as if he was embarressed. I don't blame him.

"Um, yeah."

 "Okay, well we should go now. Come on, Sam." She grabbed my wrist and pulled me near a empty desk near hers in the front of the classroom. "I think he likes you." She whispered to me once we sat down.

"No way. He does not." I whispered back, rolling my eyes.

"He was staring at you, Sam." I shook my head and looked at Ms. Ross.

 "Good morning class! I would like to announce some news. We have a new student named Felix Carson." Everyone turned their heads to look at him. "So, if you can make him feel welcomed and accepted that would be appreciated." Ms. Ross grinned. Some kids were still staring at Felix when Ms. Ross began the lesson. "Okay class, please take out your notebooks. We will be taking notes on lesson three." Carl raised his hand in the air, shaking it franticly. I swore I saw Ms. Ross roll her eyes slightly. "Yes, Carl?"

"Can we use pen?" He sniffed in air through his nose and it made a gross sound like what you do when you're sick. Ms. Ross crossed her arms.

"For the millionth time, Carl, yes." She responded, sounding annoyed.

"Okay, I was just making sure because whenever I use pen and make a mistake, I can't erase, so I thought you would-" Ms. Ross cut him off.

"Let's begin the lesson, shall we?"

 

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 "Good morning, girls." Mr. Rogers greeted us with a warm smile. We greeted him back and walked off towards our seats. While I was preparing for class, I noticed a shadow appear over me. I looked up to see Spencer. Our eyes met.

"Can we just talk?" He asked, sternly.

"When?"

"Lunch. I can't stand arguing with you, Sam." His eyes pleaded me. I gave in.

 "Okay, I can do that." He smiled. "But it doesn't mean I forgive you." His smile quickly faded and I bit my lip to not laugh. Spencer nodded, then walked away. Don't get me wrong; I do feel bad that I had that outburst on him, but he was pushing me over the edge. Spencer being my best friend, should respect and understand my decisions. If I did tell him that night, there was no guessing how upset he would be about me not telling him any sooner. I know that I should've. It was just hard to come out with it.

 Mr. Rogers instructed us to take out our homework so we could go over the answers together. While we were doing that, a folded up piece of pink paper landed on my desk. What's this? I picked it up and unfolded it. The note was written in perfect cursive and it said,

Samantha Parker, you better WATCH your back 'cause we don't take no crap. You tell the teacher about this note, I will make sure you get what you deserve. Got that, loser? I thought so.

 Even though the note didn't say who it was from, I had a pretty good guess-Trinity. I turned around and she was giving me a malicious glare, then looked away. I ignored the note, crumpled it up, and tossed it on the floor away from me. What was the worst she could do? Lipstick me to death? Smiling to myself, I took out my homework and corrected my answers.

 

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 I was sitting in Chemistry, waiting for the bell to ring for lunch. It seemed like it was taking forever even though there were only two minutes left of class. Mr. Gale was still going on about how to measure mass, but almost no one was paying attention. He didn't care. He always says, "If you're not looking at me while I'm teaching, you still have ears which you can hear out of." I agree that was true, but most of the time, my mind was somewhere else other than here, in reality.

 The bell rang and everyone sprang out of their seats like kangaroos, scampering to the door. Normally, I waited until everyone was out the door so I wouldn't get squished and bumped. I went to my locker, got my lunch, and headed to the cafeteria. Spencer was standing near the entrance, obviously waiting for me. Once I was in his sight, he gestured for me to follow him over to a non-crowded lunch table. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what he had to say.

"I don't really know what to say, Sam." He began, fishing out his sandwich from his solid blue lunchbox. "I'm just sorry." I took a gulp of my water.

 "I know." He looked at me as if telling me to go on, but I honestly didn't know what else to say. This was awkward. Spencer let out a breath.

 "Okay, let me just say it. I shouldn't have pushed you to tell me. That was wrong of me to do and I'm sorry. I want you to forgive me so that we can talk again like we use to everyday. Please, Sam?" My lips curved up into a smile.

 "Yeah, it's okay." His eyes widened and he hugged me softly. I laughed. "Just don't do it again, okay? I will tell you when I'm ready." He nodded slowly.

"Here, have my pickle as an apology gift."

"I don't want it."

"Take it."

"No," We laughed, pushing the pickle back and forth. "See if Peyton wants it."

"Wants what?" Peyton sat down next to me. I was now in the middle between Spencer and her.

"The pickle."

"Ew, if it's Spencer's, I'm not touching that damn thing." She whined.

"Relax. You can just eat it." Spencer smirked. Peyton wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Even grosser."