°Present
The building loomed before me, its modern infrastructure had always surprised me, its large windows gave the school elegance, not to mention the green areas that its students could have if they decided to explore the surroundings, which invited them the tranquility and to rest peacefully on the lawn.
Its interior was not far behind, I liked to joke with my friends, about the extravagant design that the place where we spent most of our time had, I would even swear that the floor we walked on was marble of the highest quality although that was just my inexperienced perception about it.
I did not have time to admire my surroundings as I normally do and decided to rush in, inadvertently pushing several students who were wandering around in no hurry.
'I'm late for class. I'm late for class'.
I repeated it like a mantra as I walked anguished through the school corridor, which was surrounded by students, I already imagined the faces of the pain of some when receiving my elbows and shoves, I offered them a smile as an apology.
I sighed wearily. I hadn't heard the alarm or well I did, but it seemed like a good idea to put off getting up for five minutes. Therefore, it was a mess, the puzzled or confused faces of some people showed it perfectly. None had the subtlety to hide the disapproval of their faces for my appearance, I'm afraid that a wrinkled shirt and the poorly tied knot of my tie did not make me look exactly decent.
Turn right down the hall, following the same pace. I wanted to arrive before Mr. Sellers, the literature teacher, who hated the lateness of the students, even for a few minutes, if you were late, he would close the door in your face and incidentally, you had to bring a report of what they did in class, not counting the assignments for the next day.
Anxiety invaded me when I looked at the clock, a minute, only that remained. My feet moved so fast, as if it were an emergency, this occasion could be considered as one.
I entered the classroom suddenly opening the door with an abrupt movement, so much that it hit the wall causing a thunderous sound. I closed my eyes from the shock, praying to heaven I hadn't blushed with embarrassment.
Some of those who were present stopped what they were doing to look at me, I cringed mentally, put on my face an expression of feigned indifference to the obvious observation, saving myself from Sellers' reprimand for delaying me, it was a great relief that I pondered over any other thing right now.
I leaned down looking at the ground taking a breath with my arms resting on my knees.
'Shit, how embarrassing, this is a good beginning to the week, Amanda'.
My friend Sarah, looking at me with concern, got up from her seat, and then pulled my arm leading me to my place.
"Amanda." Sitting on my left side, she tilted her head, her long straight black hair forming a curtain. "How subtlety, I didn't even hear you arrive". She smiled softly.
I gasped loudly, taking a deep breath, exhausted from the effort. "I know, what a disaster. Tell me, was I at least on time?"
She straightened her head and focused on Anne, who came over to greet me, and then on Camille who ended her talk with some classmates and patted my arm in a friendly way. Sarah looked at me again.
"I don't know if I should worry that you don't remember. You're always informed of everything, Mandy."
I gave her a worried look. "Don't tell me I forgot something? I had a mishap with Green last night, and I was until dawn drying my agenda, I felt like I was going to go crazy, luckily it was just water."
Anne laughed out loud. "Again? Was he trying to escape again?"
"Hey, if anyone listens to you, that person will think that my cat hates me. And for your information that happened when he climbed up on my desk looking for attention and ended up throwing the glass."
"What you call love is mere interest, I bet he was asking for food."
I opened and closed my mouth offended. "That's so rude What if he doesn't love me? I have enough love for both of us."
"I hope that doesn't apply to your love relationships or you're going to end up suffering," Camille said, she took a position in front of my line and opened a book. "Ah, by the way ... -she added turning her back on me.- Sellers is not going to come today for personal matters, he mentioned it, last class."
I looked at them slapping my forehead, brushing some strands from my face, aware of my stupidity. "Damn, it's true. How could I forget it? I didn't even get to eat breakfast."
"Thanks for yesterday". Jean pulled up a chair and sat turning it over, putting one leg on each side with her arms crossed over the back. "It's nice to know that I can count on you unconditionally." His gray eyes watched me as he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"I told you yesterday was not a good day" I touched his forehead with my index finger. "Unlike you, my mother does not allow me to go out so late, especially when I have to study the next day."
"As if I did not know that you took care of calling her to pick you up at the party and to top it off you asked her to feign anger at the time when we both know that Denise loves that you have fun." He ruffled her red curls. Sarah patted her on the shoulder in support, pulling out a packet of cookies and offering her one of her own.
"Did she leave you alone again?" Camille asked with a mocking tone. The gray-eyed young man shook his head affirmatively, chewing on the cookie.
"And if that wasn't enough, I had to put up with Charm clinging to my arm all night." He wiped the corners of his mouth, paying close attention to Anne's movements.
"Poor, how can you endure so much suffering?" Camille commented causing him to stiffen as he shot a glance at Anne, who was studying the window with interest.
Jean sighed tiredly. "I can assure you that I have been clear with her and that I only went to Britt's house to clear up a bit." He swallowed, throwing a regrettable look at the brunette, she didn't even flinch. "I'll just have to put up with this situation for a while." He sighed again ruffling his hair.
"Does that mean your parents keep insisting?" I opened my school bag, rummaging through my things, finally pulling out my notebook, which contained an envelope with several photos. I handed it to the redhead who looked at them interested.
"Yes, it is not as if that changes what decisions I am going to make, I am not going to allow them to tell me what career to study and much less with whom I am going to start a family." He firmly affirmed, keeping the envelope inside his sack.