A loud slap on the board woke me from another daydream, and I saw Mr. Smithson glaring daggers at me through his rounded black glasses with his thinning hair just about at his eyes. The class's eyes begin to turn my way, and in a panic, I blurt out,
"May 22, 1863, and only lasted for six weeks, ending in surrender."
I hear some kids in the class begin to laugh and snicker. Mr. Smithson clears his throat, glances at the textbook at the desk, and sheepishly starts writing down the next subject. I try to avoid these interactions, as it's not an "average" thing to blurt out the correct answer after being asleep for the whole class.
I glance over to the clock just above Erica. As my eyes passed her, I could have sworn I saw a slight smirk directed at me before she turned her head. My thought was interrupted by the jolting Buzz of the school "bell" and the frantic scraping of chairs as the students attempting to leave as fast as possible, and Mr. Smithson tried to remind them of the assignments.
As I leisurely walk out of the classroom, thinking about what I should do for the extra long weekend, I smell a unique, sweet, floral scent approaching me. I keep walking, still thinking, but to my surprise, I hear a perky voice say,
"Hey, Chase!"
to my left, I jolted my head and staggered back in surprise. Before I can say anything,
"Oh, that's my bad. Sorry for startling you. I noticed you got that pop question right. and well…" She starts staggering off to a quieter voice, like the one when we met.
"I was having a hard time with this subject, so I was thinking. Maybe we could study together over the weekend."
I just about opened my mouth to say yes, but if I started dating her, my average life would surely be over.
"Sorry, but I've got a pretty packed weekend,"
I kick myself for turning her down, but I think she's only doing it for free help and to get me to do her schoolwork. I hear a solum.
"Oh, ok."
Then her voice picks back up to her usual tone
"You could help me over a call, or we can have another weekend."
As she starts pulling out her phone.
I open the doors outside the school, holding them open for her, too, as she is still following me.
"I don't have a phone," I say, only realizing what I told her, that my plan was starting to crumble.
"Oh, you. Everyone has a phone nowadays. Come on, I want your help,"
Erica says with an exaggerated pouty face.
"OK," I say, defeated.
I reach into my pocket to grab my phone. Erica jogs up before me, smiles, and says,
"Thanks!"
As Erica turns around, her shoe catches on a pebble, and she falls over. I lunge forward to grab her and feel her soft skin against my arms and her warm smile looking back at me. But all that is ejected from my mind when I realize my foot hasn't touched the ground yet.