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Chapter 4 - An Awfully Pleasant Monday

9:33 am - 13th Monday

Juliette sat there quietly, drumming her fingers to a beat only she could hear. Her notebook rested in front of her, drawings of mushrooms till every edge and corner of the cover. She smiled, it was all Elijah's fault, although who could blame him, the drawings looked magnificent. Class as usual on a Monday morning started late, her mentor never spoke a word regarding being late since she herself was late half of the time to class.

She had her earplugs in, watching students entering the building through the window. With one hand holding her rested head, she flitted her eyes around looking at the different students. Some girls had their shirts tucked in others had loosely fitted sweatpants and an oversized formal shirt, at least the school didn't forbid any individual from wearing an opposite sex uniform. There were days when even she would have to wear sweatpants because it's just that kind of day.

"Julie," a voice echoed into her consciousness. "Juliette?" It continued as she paid no attention to her own surrounding but rather to the world outside her classroom window. "Juliette Smith!"

She snapped back to reality when her friend half-softly smacked the back of her shoulder. "What?" She murmured looking in front of her. She was greeted by the stunning sapphire blue eyes of her best friend, immediately her mouth twisted upwards and she giggled. "Hey, you."

"Really?" her best friend retorted. "Do you know how long it took to get your attention, Julie?" Her friend raised one eyebrow, teasing her. "Don't you ever learn?"

"How long did it take, Mara?" Juliette smirked, leaning in. "I never do learn, maybe you could teach me how to," ever since the two of them got into high school together, flirting was an everyday part of a normal conversation. Some people even believed at some point that they were together, but alas after their first year being friends Mara finally got herself a boyfriend, and the rumors faded.

"Knuckleheads," chuckled a voice not too far from Mara's seat.

"Hi Darling," Mara smiled as her boyfriend sat in the seat next to her. "Missed me?"

"You know it," he attempted to hide his laughter as Mara gave him a morning kiss on the forehead. "What have the both of you been up to all morning?"

"Oh, the usual," Juliette spoke, she let one of her earplugs fall onto her shoulder. "Your girlfriend won't stop flirting with me," she laughed and continued drumming her fingers on the wooden table.

"Is that so?" he grinned watching his girlfriend playfully rolling her eyes at him.

"C'mon darling, you know better than that," she winked at him, Juliette might be completely obsessed with romance novels but watching the romance unfold in real life made her happier, maybe because it was real since it was something that could happen multiple times, rather than believing the writing on a page.

"With runaway fathers and mothers who drank 

A tale old as time, you don't las for life"

She shook her head in response to the verse, it might last though, her parents are still acting like a newly-wed couple yet they have been married for quite a while now. The classroom finally calmed down when their mentor walked in. "Hello everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful break!" She paused meaningfully, everyone waited, they knew what she was going to say, but still, they waited. "I think the lot of you have finished your summer homework, correct?"

Just then as if the class had rehearsed this, they all groaned, Mara, throwing a fist or two in the air as Juliette turned to the window to let out a smile. "Has anyone done it?" The mentor asked, waiting for a response. Juliette casually lifted her hand, she put it down after earning a huge smile from the teacher. "Oh, Juliette! Just what I expected! I'd like you to drop by my office to hand it in when you have time today," she waved then dismissed the class and walked out

"What a mentor time, am I right?" Mara's boyfriend asked kissing Mara's forehead before waving goodbye.

"Woman obviously has her priorities set straight," Mara mentioned, waving him off.

"And clearly, our class isn't one of them?" Juliette stifled a laugh, finishing her friend's sentence.

"Damn right you are," they headed to their next period, something neither of them appreciated... Math.

Entering the classroom for Math was never the problem for Juliette, it was the looks she got for answering all the questions correctly. Sometimes she would get carried away because of her studying but the majority of the time her older brother Carter would be the reason. Today, she decided to sit and watch others, even knowing the answers some people choose to act dumb. She didn't see what benefit it gave them, but then again, it didn't benefit her so she proceeded to ignore it.

"From far away, I wish I'd stayed with you

But here, face to face, a stranger that I once knew"

As they took their seats, Mara, right behind her, as Juliette claimed the window seat in the first row, began setting up for the lesson. "Well, looky-looky what I found," a slick female voice cackled behind Juliette. "How's your boyfriend doing?" She sneered at Mara, her friends laughing like annoying seagulls.

"I'm sorry ma'am, this is McDonald's drive-thru," Juliette shot back turning, her torso to face her. The girl frowned, her eyebrows sloped upwards in disgust.

"Really? I didn't ask, idiot," she replied, raising her eyebrows in a rude manner.

"Oh my, really? Because I wasn't talking to you," Juliette saved herself quickly, her eyes looked up and down at her and frowned. "Was I now?"

"Yeah, she was talking to me, not everything is about you, Mickaela," Mara burst out laughing.

"Ugh," she backed up and then sat down next to Mara without uttering another word. A rather bad seating plan, but alas teachers will remain teachers. Juliette rubbed her temple, then ran her fingers through her mouse-brown hair before leaning into her chair.

Class finally started, but the presence of the class was definitely anywhere but that classroom. She watched the teacher talk about algorithms and patterns, everyone was slowly drifting into the very matter of space at this rate, and she could feel herself slipping. Juliette wriggled in her seat, Mara coughed loudly, Mickaela groaned constantly and the rest of the class was either gossiping in the back or passing notes back and forth.

She raised her hand. "Yes, Juliette," he replied turning himself to face the class once again."May I go to the bathroom?" She questioned getting up and he nodded. With no moment to waste she was out the door rushing to the nearest restroom. Once she got there, she noticed the theatre group sitting by the steps to the Aula, they looked cool, if she was honest, but they were their own people.

She walked into the girls' bathroom and noticed two girls fixing their makeup. They obviously looked good even without, but she passed them without mentioning anything. After that Juliette trudged down the hallway to her lesson, instead of going directly to that, she took a shortcut, it passed the Aula of course and she stood there, by the door, reading what were the next upcoming events that the Theatre Club had in stock for the whole school.