"What do you want, Taine?" Rocksyn asked and rolled her eyes. Jane glanced up at me then looked back down at her textbook.
"Hello to you too, Rocksyn. I was wondering if we could swap desks?" I sweetly stated, and Cameron nudged my side. He was probably wondering what was going on.
"So, you can sit next to Jane? Hell no. Nope, na huh. She doesn't want to sit next to you. Right, Jane?"
"I don't mind." She softly replied and looked up at me. Jane had such an innocent look about her. I wanted to pull her to one side and demand her to tell me her darkest secret. It would probably be something like, she stole a sweet before supper and lied about it to her mom. Or that she copied homework from someone else that one time because she stayed up all night reading a book. I diverted my gaze from Jane and looked back at Rocksyn.
"No, you got me wrong. I don't want to sit next to Jane." I stated a bit more sternly than I intended. Saying her name reminded me of a feather softly floating down to the ground. I repeated it again in my head. Jane. "I have this thing, where I feel anxious if I don't sit by the wall." I quickly added. It was true because I always needed to be aware of my surroundings. If I didn't sit at the very back of a classroom, I couldn't observe the people behind me.
"Yeah, like Taine really can't sit without his back to the wall." Cameron piped up.
"Well then, why did you choose this desk?" Rocksyn asked and gestured to my seat.
"The other desks at the back were already taken," I responded.
"Fine, whatever. Cameron, you're also swapping. Jane and I don't leave each other's side, you got that?"
"Yes, sir." I nodded, and we swapped seats. Cameron nudged me and gestured for me to look at his exam pad.
Why did we swap? He wrote. This way, you can see Rocksyn. I wrote back. He smiled, gave me a thumbs up, then wrote: She knows my name!
I smirked and nodded my head. Jane had very messy handwriting, and she annoyingly wrote every letter as capitals. It was like she left caps-lock on and forgot how to switch it off. She also drew a flower in the corner of every single page before she started taking down notes. I noticed she was easily frightened as she slightly jumped from every noise; even a cough scared her. Rocksyn saw it too and touched her arm every time to let her know she was okay. There were things about Jane that irritated me, but then, on the other hand, I was curious.
Why was this girl so crucial to D.T.A?
The bell rang for the end of school, and Cameron begged to come to pick me up before the social later tonight. I was hesitant as a slight bit of shame crept into my mind for living at an orphanage. I shook it off and told him where I stayed. He didn't seem to mind that I stayed there but did ask if I was an orphan. I then explained the situation of my parents.
"Don't worry, dude. My mom left when I was 4 and ran off with some other guy. They have their own family now, but it was always just my dad and myself." He stated, then walked off as a bakkie hooted for him.
I watched Jane walk across the street and stopped as a red Ferrari hooted for her to get in. That cleared up one thing; she was defiantly from a wealthy family. I waited a bit after school since the bus would pick me up last because I was the oldest. I went into the notes on my phone and typed out all I had learnt about Jane. Peanut didn't say whether I had to forward information or just get to know her to figure out if anything suspicious was going on. I wrote down the details I collected just encase.
***
A car hooted around 5a.m. later that day. I walked outside, and Cameron waved at me from his dad's bakkie. I basically had on the same outfit as before, without the plaid jacket. Cameron wanted me to wear a similar rugby jacket to him, which he threw at me when I climbed in.
"Thank you for picking me up, sir," I said to Cameron's dad.
"No stress, my boy. If you ever need a lift, just let Cameron know, and we'll come to pick you up." He smiled. His dad had a broad Afrikaans accent when he spoke.
"Dude, I was thinking I pick you up and take you home every day. That way we can go to rugby practice together. It's on the way to and from my house, so we drive past here all the time." Cameron added.
"Sounds great, thanks." I nodded. Maybe they just took pity on me since I lived in an orphanage. Oh well, it was better than taking the crowded bus with noisy children.
The chairs in the hall had been taken out, and a few were moved against the walls. Music played, and everyone split into groups to chat. We walked over to the group of guys from lunch; all of them had rugby jackets on. I guess Cameron wanted us all to match.
"Sweet dude. Check out all the fine chika's." This guy in the group cheered and winked at a bunch of girls that walked past. They giggled and walked away. His name was Jarrod, and he always made inappropriate jokes, which I found hilarious. "Wow, oh wow, I think I just found myself a Mammie." He panted and walked towards Gale.
"Wait, Jarrod…" I started to warn him, but Cameron pulled him back.
"Let him learn," Cameron stated. We watched Jarrod attempt to talk to Gale, but she ignored him and walked away.
"Don't let her get to you." Cameron laughed as Jarrod walked back to the group. "She's just some silly girl. There's a room full of girls dying to meet you."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right." Jarrod smiled and set off to talk to another girl.
The prefects called for our attention and explained the game we were about to play. It was like musical statues but with a partner. While the music was on, you had to find a partner to dance with, and when it ended, you and your partner would freeze in a pose together. If you didn't have a partner when the music stopped, then you were out. When it started again, you had to find a new partner. If a prefect notices you back with someone you danced with before, you are also out. Simple enough.
"Good luck, mate," I said to Cameron and set off to find myself a partner. I first danced with a petite-coloured girl who couldn't stop blushing; I had my hands on her waist and tried to make small talk which didn't turn out too well. Next, I danced with a gorgeous white girl who wouldn't shut up about global warming. I found that cute Indian from earlier that day. She smelled really lovely; we had a pleasant conversation about food. When the music started playing again, all the females around me had partners, except for Rocksyn. I rolled my eyes and pulled her closer before the music stopped.
"Taine! Urgh, lemme go." Rocksyn moaned and tried to pull away.
"There's no one else around without a partner. Do you want to be out of the game?" I asked and dipped her down. The music stopped, and I held the pose.
"You look … nice," I whispered while we were frozen. She had on a light blue summer dress with white sneakers and actually looked quite pretty.
"You look like an idiot. The jacket doesn't suit you." She said through her teeth. That was probably true. I even felt out of place in it. Rocksyn walked away as soon as the music started playing again. I gave up and went to sit down. I noticed Jane was in the corner by herself. It was an excellent opportunity to talk to her. I was about to get up when Freddy walked over to her, and they started chatting. Guess next time, then.
I watched the game go on, and more people were sent out. Gale and Jarrod won, which Gale did not seem happy about.
"Did you dance with Rocksyn?" I asked as Cameron walked over to me. I had taken off the rugby jacket and placed it on the chair.
"No." He sighed.
"Why don't you go talk to that girl over there? The one with the red shirt."
"I don't know, dude. I kind of just want to talk to Rocksyn." He shrugged.
"Don't tell me you are falling in love already." I joked.
"Nah. I think it's because she's the first girl that doesn't show any interest in me when I approach her." He laughed. Makes sense, she was a challenge, and Cameron wanted to prove he could get her.
The prefects then split us into males and females. The gay and non-binary kids were allowed to choose which group they wanted to be a part of. Everyone on the female's side was sent outside while they arranged the rest of us in the male group into rows. The girls were each given a sherbet sucker as they entered the hall and told to walk all the way down the row. They each filed in and stopped in front of a boy. Rocksyn gave me a disgusted look as she walked past and stopped in front of a guy next to me. Thankfully we weren't teamed up.
Jane walked in next and stopped in front of me. She has on a massive black hoody that looked like a dress on her with a pair of shorts underneath; you could barely see the shorts, though. She had her hair typed up in a high ponytail and had on a pair of black glasses. She surprisingly looked flippen adorable. For some reason, I preferred how she was dressed to most of the girls in the hall.
"Okay, girls, give your sucker to your partner." The head boy announced. I smirked as Jane's eye darted to the sucker then up at me. I felt like rejecting it just to see how she would react. Instead, she popped the sucker into her mouth and licked it to make sure I noticed how covered in spit it was. I was shocked, to say the least.
"You still want it?" Jane asked, and her eyes dared me to take it. Like a little spit would care me off. Ha! Challenge accepted.
I took the sucker from her and put it in my mouth. Her mouth flew open, and this sudden urge to kiss her erupted inside of me. I don't know whether it was the way she tested me or the sweet flavour of the sucker, but damn I wanted to kiss her. I stepped forward and pulled her closer to me. I placed my mouth against hers and stuck my tongue into her mouth to taste the sweet flavour of the sucker off her tongue.
Everything … everyone around me just seemed to fade away. My mind seemed to feel like it had been scrambled. Was this the same shy girl that could barely look at me for longer than 5 seconds? I had to make sure.
I stepped back from her and asked, "What's your name?"
"Jane and yours?" She quickly replied. There was that sense of utter calm I felt from her name. Jane.
"Taine Mecer." I smiled and kissed her again. Remember my name and know it well. It's what you'll call out one day when you're craving the taste of my lips against yours. I thought.
The prefects broke us up after that and gave us a warning. The rugby group ran over to me and blocked Jane from my view.
"I didn't know you were into that chick." Cameron gasped.
"I don't know what came over me," I muttered. I had just kissed the target.