The Bet - 03 - Mr. Neville’s English Class

1

Mr. Neville’s English Class2

I walked into my English class and stood at the door a moment. My other classmates ventured in from behind me, staring at me slightly with a laugh and small chatter. I assume I must have looked a bit odd standing here. I bowed my head slightly and began around to my seat. Our teacher, Mr. Neville, was a bit odd. He had science lab tables set up in a square around the room, and a very large desk chair in the middle of the square. This was where he sat and taught us. I wasn’t sure why he did it this way, but I had to admit, it was rather fun to be in his class. As I sat down, I looked up to see Blake come in the room, his backpack slung over his shoulder handing loosely and his cell phone pressed to his ear. He took his seat next to me and as I looked up at him again, I noticed he seemed a little aggravated. 3

Maybe today wouldn’t be the best day to start this. 4

I looked to my left as another one of my classmates sat down on the other side of me. Renee Sanders. She was the smartest in our grade and pretty much ignored me as much as possible. Apparently, in her mind, someone like me couldn’t possible be smart enough to hold a conversation with her. Maybe she was right. Half the time, I barely understood anything she said. I sighed and scooted my chair slightly closer to Blake. 5

I sat a moment, just staring off into space. 6

“Why did I even agree to this?” I asked myself. I looked over at Blake once more. He had put away his phone but still had that annoyed look on his face. “I could always put it off. I mean he said I had until his party to try, not that I had to spend every day dong it.” I sighed slightly. 7

My phone began to play Framing Hanley’s cover of Lollipop. I picked it up, slightly embarrassed that I left it that loud as the words, ‘call me so I can make it juicy for you’ blared from the small speakers. I heard Blake snicker slightly as I flipped it open to read the text message. At least he was laughing now. I went to my message inbox, expecting it to be Alice yelling at me for being stupid enough to agree to this. And indeed, it was Alice, but to my surprise she wasn’t texting to yell at me. 8

U want 2 go shopping later? 9

I looked at my phone, slightly confused. Alice hated shopping of any sort. She only went if there was something she absolutely needed. 10

What do you need? I replied quickly. 11

“Put it away Miss Walker!” I heard Mr. Neville voice in my ear. I jumped slightly at his sudden appearance in the class. He was good at that. I turned the volume off on my phone and slid it into my backpack as Mr. Neville made his way to his chair so he could begin class. I propped my head up on my hand as I began doodling in my notebook as Mr. Neville began speaking about what he thought were literary masterpieces. 12

War and Peace… Hamlet… The Great Gatsby… 13

Taking a look around at my class, I could tell you their greatest literary achievements where probably no more than beauty and sports magazines. I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt but the most I could offer them was that probably more than half the girls in class owned the Harry Potter series and/or the Twilight Saga. But I feared even that was giving them too much credit. 14

I bit down on my lip slightly as a sigh escaped my lips. I turned the page in my notebook, ready to destroy another piece of tree with ink. English was never my greatest subject and it was hard, even for the very quirky Mr. Neville, to keep my attention. 15

I felt a slight nudge on my arm and I looked up to Blake curious. He still had a rather annoyed look on his face as he handed me a piece of paper. I sighed. Everyday in English, Nathan Lane would pass down a note to me. He would always ask the same thing. ‘Will you go on a date with me?’ and everyday I would tell him no. 16

As I opened the paper and read the words: ‘Are you ok? You seem a bit odd today…’ I realized that this wasn’t from the never giving up Nathan Lane. I looked over to Blake a moment. He didn’t look at me, but this was definitely his handwriting. I scratched down a simple ‘yes’ and handed him the paper back. I heard him snicker again as he had done a lot already this class and he passed me the paper back. 17

Yes you’re ok? Or yes you’re a bit odd today? 18

I smiled slightly to myself. 19

A little of both.20

I passed him the paper back and heard him crumble it up and set it on the corner of the desk. For most of the rest of class he didn’t say or write another word to me. 21

As the hour was coming to a close I had only about ten minutes to make my move. I spent about five of those minutes fidgeting in my seat trying to come up with a clever excuse to talk to him. The ability to initiate conversation was never my forte. 22

“Just breathe, Keera. It’s not like you’ve never talked to him before.” I was beginning to argue with myself. That was never a good sign. It always meant I was nervous, but I couldn’t begin to tell you why the mere thought of talking to Blake made me nervous. What was I scared of? Then it hit me. 23

Rejection.24

I was afraid he was going to reject me. I should have been counting on him rejecting me, cause then it would prove my point and keep Jeremy from annoying the crap out of me for the rest of the year. But if he did reject me, that meant he didn’t like me and the thought of him not liking me, stung a little. 25

“Why wouldn’t he like me, I’m a nice person.” I protested in my head, and then I frowned, “why do I care?” 26

I reminded my self at that moment to kick Jeremy hard in the ball the next time I saw him. This whole thing was fucking up my head and frankly, I was ready for it.27

Boy was I not ready for it.28