Monday came and Westside High School was the same as ever, the brick buildings and sprawling lawns looking much the same as they had the previous week.
I made my way across campus, taking in the sights and sounds of students chatting and laughing as they rushed to their classes.
As I approached the bench where I know I'll meet Mia, I could see her sitting there with her headphones on, her eyes closed as she tapped her foot to the beat of the music. She was sitting beneath a tall oak tree, the branches providing a welcome respite from the scorching sun.
I walked up to her, the grass crunching under my shoes and the sun beating down on my back and shoulders.
I stopped in front of her, casting a shadow over her as she sat on the bench. She looked up at me with a bright smile, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight. She looked cheerful and relaxed. "Hey," she said cheerfully, removing her headphones and letting them hang around her neck.
I sat down beside her as we were a bit early. I reached out and collected the headphones from her, taking a quick peek at the screen to see what she was listening to. 'Yeah, I'm a music lover.'
"How are you doing?" I asked.
"Great." She replied. "I heard you had a huge hangover yesterday."
I laughed slightly.
"Yeah, it's been a while since I drank that much, and I'm definitely not doing that any time soon."
"Me too." She answered and we both laughed. I put on the headphones and listened to the rhythm.
"Jon Bellion?" I raised my brows and asked in shock.
"Yeah…?" She answered slowly, dragging the words.
"I love his songs in fact I'm obsessed with his music. I have all of his songs on my playlist." I said excitedly like a fan girl. "I mean, have you listened to all of his songs? They are always on point."
"Tell me about it." This was her reply as she looked at me from a different perspective.
"Well, asides from Sia and Tatiana, Jon Bellion is my next favorite artist. So you can say we have similar tastes in music."
" Yeah. You can say that again. " I said handing back her headphones to her.
Before we knew it, the bell rang signaling the beginning of lessons.
We stood up and Mia arranged her books. We started for the school hall together.
As we walked down the corridor, I noticed the sunlight streaming in through the windows, casting a warm glow on the tiles beneath our feet.
The air was filled with the sound of students chatting and laughing as they made their way to their first classes of the day.
Mia's hair was styled in loose waves that framed her face, and I could see a hint of eye makeup. She wore a pale blue sweater over a white blouse and a pair of dark jeans that hugged her curves.
I couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at how effortlessly stylish she always seemed to be.
I was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans that I had thrown on that morning, feeling too lazy to put in any extra effort. My hair was a mess of curls that I had tried to tame with some gel, but they had already started to frizz in the humidity.
"So which subject are you having first today?"
"Biology" She answered.
"That's what I'm having too. Let me grab my books and we can go together." I said heading to my locker with Mia beside me.
As we reached the Biology classroom, I could feel my nerves starting to kick in. Biology had always been one of my favorite subjects, even though I knew I wasn't going into anything medical.
We got to our classes, Mia sat in front, while I went to my usual seat at the back and settled in for what was sure to be an interesting lesson. Lily was also in my Biology class and I caught the scowl on her face as she saw me come in with Mia.
As I sat at my desk, eagerly waiting for Mr. Thomas to arrive, I just busied myself looking around. And then my eyes landed on Julius. He couldn't sit still. He fidgeted in his seat, bouncing his legs up and down and tapping his pen against his desk.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Without warning, Julius stood up on his desk and began to perform a series of acrobatics, much to the amusement of the rest of the class. He somersaulted over desks, walked on his hands, and even balanced a textbook on his head.
The whole class erupted into fits of laughter as we watched Julius's wild performance. But just as he was about to do a backflip off his desk, Mr. Thomas walked into the room.
"Julius, what on earth do you think you're doing?" Mr. Thomas asked, his arms crossed over his chest.
Julius sheepishly climbed down from his desk, apologizing profusely. "I'm sorry, Mr. Thomas. I was just trying to pass the time."
Mr. Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm glad you're having fun, but maybe try to find a less disruptive way to entertain yourself in the future."
Julius was a tall, lanky teenager with a wild mop of curly hair that always seemed to stick up in every direction. He had a long, thin nose and a wide grin that seemed to take up his entire face.
His deep brown eyes sparkled with mischief, hinting at the constant stream of pranks and practical jokes that seemed to follow him wherever he went.
Despite his constant antics, we all loved Julius, classmates, schoolmates, and even teachers alike, thanks to his good-natured personality and infectious sense of humor.
The class snickered as Julius slunk back to his seat, still looking embarrassed but also relieved that he hadn't gotten into more trouble. As Mr. Thomas began his lesson, we couldn't help but chuckle at the memory of Julius's antics.
He started by asking Fred to distribute the lesson outline for the semester. We went through it together for a few minutes before he announced it.
"There's a project I want all of you to work on," Mr. Thomas announced shortly after. "It's more of a research project, and it's going to make up about 40% of your CA."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "It's going to be a group project, with two people in each group. So go ahead and pair yourselves up with someone."
I watched as Lily quickly left her seat and came to sit at my table. "I'm your partner, Ray," she said with exaggerated enthusiasm. I didn't reply, instead looking over at Mia, who was still trying to find a partner.
"Em… Mr. Scott, I'll be pairing you with our new student," Mr. Thomas said suddenly.
"But he's already got me as his partner," Lily pouted.
"Lily, you and Ray are both 'A' students. Meanwhile, Mia is new, and we don't really know her capabilities. So I'd love someone to guide her just in case," Mr. Thomas explained to a now-annoyed Lily, who stood up from my table and stormed back to her seat.
"Each group should come and get one of these," Mr. Thomas added, holding up a stack of papers. "The deadline is next Friday. Good luck."
The bell signaled the end of the lesson, and Mia collected our papers as I gathered my things. I reached her and scanned through the project details as we left the classroom.
"We'll go over this during lunch," I said, handing the papers back to her. "I'm having Stat…"
"Okay, see you then," Mia replied as we went our separate ways.