Story of My Life - Chapter 1

I walked through the school corridors. Senior year had just begun, and girls were already talking about the prom. Already! I tried not to roll my eyes in front of them, which was difficult.

So I just escaped from there.

It wasn't that I didn't like guys, it was just that they never really talked to me. I joined from a girls' school in junior year, so I wasn't used to them. Also, I don't have a brother.

Trust me, it's a real shocker to discover what guys do when you've never seen anything like it.

My parents were afraid that I'd get a boyfriend and stop studying - don't ask me why, so they were doubtful to put me in a co-ed school after we moved. It's really frustrating to think that your parents think that you're a 'only textbook' girl.

They had nothing to worry about, 'cause guys barely spoke a sentence to me, and it was mostly to ask me how to solve a math problem or whatever. Basically something lame.

A guy did indirectly ask me out, but I never spoke to him, so I was completely freaked out.

Monique and Savannah were my two best friends. The others were Anne, Ronnie and Naomi. But Monique and Savannah and me were as thick as thieves.

So I was pissed when even they started talking about prom and about a guy who had a crush on Monique. There was always someone like that.

"Pamela!" Called out Mrs. Harrison.

I groaned internally. The bad part of not having boys to occupy your mind - was that you studied. And when you studied, teachers targeted you.

I turned around and forced a smile on my face. It kinda hurt.
She had an identical smile on her face, except that hers wasn't fake.

"I'm so glad to see you! I have to give these to the office and could you please do it?"
Saying so, she dumped some five hundred papers on my hands and walked off, saying, "I'll ask your teacher to excuse you if you're late!"

I rolled my eyes. She didn't even know my first period. Physics with Mr. Long. Who never excused latecomer, good reason or not.

Sighing, I walked towards the office with those stupid papers. Man, they were really heavy!

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I tried opening the door of the main office. But I couldn't do it, not with those stupid things in my hands.

Even kicking the door wouldn't work.

Just then, somebody opened the door for me. At least, that's what I thought.
I walked straight and collided with the somebody. I managed to keep two or three sheets in my hands, the rest 498 flew off.

Cursing in my mind, I started gathering the sheets. A hand joined me.

That was surprising. Usually when I fell, nobody except my friends helped me.
I slowly looked up. A guy was stacking up my sheets and giving them to me. I mentally scratched my head. I'd seen him somewhere... hadn't I?

He gave them to me and I nodded my thanks. Then he just left.

I gave the sheets to the receptionist. The lady stared at me as if I was stupid. Then she kindly (not so) told me that they were the wrong ones and that I had to take them back to Mrs. H.

Cursing again in my head, I took them back to the frickin' staff room to tell her that.

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"Thank you for joining us so early, Ms. McKinley," said Mr. Long, dryly.

I was twenty minutes late for a forty-five minute period. I didn't care, but I was embarrassed.

With flaming cheeks, I searched for a seat. There was only one. Next to a guy. My heart started thudding. I'd never really sat next to guys either.

Telling myself to get a grip, I shot a poisonous look towards Anne, who was sitting next to her boyfriend.

But, having no choice, I plunked down next to the boy.

"Today you will be performing experiments from your textbook. From now onwards, the person sitting next to you will be your lab partner for the rest of the year."

I bet me and my new lab partner were the only ones who groaned internally.

I shot another poisonous look towards Anne. She shrugged apologetically, and was immediately distracted by Aaron, her boyfriend.

"Looks like we're stuck together." Said the boy.

I sighed. "Yeah." Thanks for stating the obvious.

"My name's Kevin. You are - ?"
"Pamela."

"Cool. You give those sheets okay?"
I looked at his face for the first time, shocked.
This was the same person I bumped into?

It was. I recognized him by his hoodie, which had lots of blue-black stripes on it.
"Hello?" He waved a hand in front of my face.
I snapped out of my trance.
"Um, no. Um, they weren't the right ones." Great. Now I was saying ums.

"Mrs. H gave 'em?"
I nodded. "Yeah." Wait a minute. "How'd you know?"

Kevin smiled. I felt as if someone had drained all the blood from my body, I felt that dizzy.

"She's sent me on pointless jobs, too."

"Uh-huh." I barely had the energy to talk. What was wrong with me? A boy smiled at me, and I lose control of all my senses. Pathetic.

"So what do we have to do?"
I grasped at this topic like a drowning man grasping a piece of grass.
Studying I could do. Very well, in fact.

Taking out my book, I explained how to arrange the glass of block to obtain the refracted rays from it.
He was struggling to keep his eyes open, I could see.

"Too boring for you?" I asked, politely, as I watched his head slump over the desk for the third time.
"Wha - ?" He got up suddenly, looking around him.
He seriously looked like a disheveled puppy not knowing its surroundings. I struggled to keep myself from laughing.

"Are you bored?" I asked him again.
He shook his head. "Nah, it's just that I'm not used to waking up so early."

I thought in my mind, eight o' clock is not such a late time. But maybe that was just me.

Clearing my throat to get his attention, I told him to do the experiment while I noted down the readings, just so that he wouldn't go off to La La Land again.

I shifted my chair slightly away from him, not able to overcome my awkwardness anymore.

When the period was over and I gave the result to Mr. Long, the first one as usual, I rushed out of that lab faster than you could say, 'jack-ass.'

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Breathing heavily, I caught my breath next to my locker.
Savannah saw me and came towards me, waving wildly.
"Did you see him? Did you see him?"

I stared at her. "Who?"

She looked at me as if I was dumb. "Kevin Sabados! He's, like, the hottest guy ever! And this year I've heard he's in our batch!"

There were two batches in our school - one in the morning and one in the evening.
Probably this Kevin went to the evening one, and now he's joined the morning one, just like the rest of us.

Then it hit me.
"Kevin, you say?" I asked.
"Yeah! Are you deaf? He's like really tall, and wears hoodies like all the time, and..."

I tuned her out. Great. The person who was my lab partner had to be the hottest guy ever, according to Savannah.
I wondered when I'd be bugged and/or dared to get his phone number.

So I just decided to keep it to myself, letting Savannah blab on and on about cheerleading practice (ugh, I hate dancing and/or cheering, let alone at the same time).

Its kind of hard to keep things like this a secret, though, especially when one of my friends knows it, and when the aforementioned hottest guy ever walks through the hallways, waves at you and says, "Hey, Pamela."