Chapter Three
MANDY
Mandy held Alex's hand while
Luci walked next to them as they headed across campus during nutrition break.
She didn't think being a senior would seem like such a big deal, but she really
did feel different this morning. No doubt part of it was her schedule; she,
Alex, and Luci had just finished their first Home Economics class, or, as
everyone called it, the Easy-A Cooking and Eating class. Mrs. Farrell, the
teacher, confirmed this. Show up, do what's asked, and you'll get an A. That was
quite a difference from what she was used to in all her other years of school.
She still had tough classes to come, including Honors Language Arts, which she
heard consisted of a ton of reading, and Pre-Calculus/Trigonometry, which she
was dreading but knew it would look great on her transcripts for college. Not
that she needed it, as Alex's dad pulled plenty of strings to get her into
Michigan with a full scholarship. Being the girlfriend of the biggest football
recruit of the year definitely had its advantages.
They rounded the corner of the
science building on the way to the senior quad. That part was no big deal.
Seniors usually kept any non-seniors out, but Alex had been welcomed since he
led the football team to the CIF championship his sophomore year. That meant
she and Luci were allowed in, too.
After a few steps, she saw Wyatt
and his best friend, Kareem Reynolds, walking nearby. As always happened when
she saw Wyatt, her heart skipped a beat. And, again, as always, she didn't know
why. Yes, she had crushed on him since they were 8 years old, but she had Alex,
the perfect boyfriend. Besides, she and Wyatt had barely talked since before
junior high. The last time they'd even been alone together was in eighth grade,
right before Alex asked her out for the first time, and that had only been for
a few seconds.
So why could she never get him
out of her mind? He couldn't compete with Alex in the looks department. Not to
say he wasn't good looking, with his stylishly-messy brown hair, cute face with
very few blemishes (he had a face full of pimples their freshman and sophomore
years, but his mom had taken him to a dermatologist, who cleared him up), and
his tall, lanky frame. He didn't have much in the way of muscle tone, but
despite dating Alex, a bona fide hunk, she didn't care about that. Wyatt's eyes
were one of the main things that melted her — soft brown that she'd stare into
forever if she could. He dressed like a total geek, but she meant that as a
compliment, as she loved seeing what shirt he'd wear each day. Her favorites
were a tie between his Mister Incognito shirts, a sci-fi spy series which was
her absolute favorite TV show ever, and his shirt which read, "Total
Geek." That one made her see that if he embraced the word, she should,
too.
Of course, most girls would call
her crazy for lusting after Wyatt when she already had Alex, who had the face
and body of a model. He spent plenty of time in the gym lifting weights, and it
showed. He wasn't overly muscular, as that would hamper his ability to play
quarterback, but he had the right amount of muscle which made his body look,
well, perfect, as so many girls in school liked to tell her when they exclaimed
how lucky she was. Honestly, she didn't think of herself as lucky; she merely
thought of Alex as her boyfriend. Of course, she could see why they said it.
Not only was he smoking hot, but next year she got to go to Michigan for
college. Sure, it was too far away from her family, and, in the winter, way too
cold for her Southern Californian tastes, but a good school for free was
nothing to sneeze at. No doubt she could get scholarships to other schools, but
probably not the entire cost, including living expenses, like she was now.
Plus, this way she and Alex could stay together.
"Hey, Wyatt, wait up,"
Alex said. Mandy gave a double take. She knew they'd shared a couple of classes
in the past, and Alex often nodded hello to Wyatt and Kareem when he saw them,
but he never stopped to talk.
"Hi, Alex," Wyatt
said.
Kareem said, "What's
up?" to Alex, and tipped an imaginary cap to her and Luci.
"Ladies."
"Always the smooth one,
Kareem," Luci said. "Haven't seen you since first period. And hi,
Wyatt. An actual long time no see."
"Yeah. Hi, Luci." He
then turned to her and gave a smile and a slight blush. "Hi, Mandy."
She suppressed a giggle and
hoped she didn't blush, too. No one else but Luci would notice, but she'd pick
on her later. "Hi, Wyatt. Hi, Kareem."
"Did you read all of the
instructions for the author report in Language Arts?" Alex asked Wyatt.
"I stuffed mine into my folder."
"You need to ask?"
Luci said. "There's a reason he gets better grades than you."
"Hey, I bet our grades are
pretty similar." He gave Wyatt a friendly punch to the shoulder. "His
classes are just harder than mine."
Wyatt shrugged. "Yeah, I
read it. Looks like it's going to be a fun project."
"It does, but is it only
classic authors, or can we choose anyone? My uncle is a Stephen King junkie,
and he has all of his books. He'd even walk me through some of them. It would
make my semester easier."
"Your semester doesn't need
to be any easier," Mandy said, giving him a nudge.
"Whatever."
"You might want to ask Mrs.
Anderson," Wyatt said, "but as far as I could tell, it could be
anyone."
"If I was in that class,
I'd do the Harry Potter lady," Luci said. "Those movies were awesome,
and Harry Potter is such a hottie."
"Ugh, those damn
movies," Kareem said. "Maybe I'll choose Rowling just so I can call
B.S. on how different the movies were from the books. No doubt Mrs. Anderson
will give me extra credit. She eats that kind of stuff up."
"I hate that magic
crap," Alex said. "But Emma Watson made those things worth it, at
least in the last few. Smokin' hot."
Mandy groaned and smacked his
shoulder, Luci rolled her eyes, and Kareem laughed and said, "Too true,
too true." Wyatt only looked at her, and they shared another smile.
"Speaking of magic and
other speculative arts, Miss Incognito," Kareem said, looking at her,
"are you taking the Comic Book Pop Culture class?"
"Yeah. I'd hoped you guys
were, too. These two wouldn't join." She pointed at Alex and Luci.
"Boring," Luci said in
a sing-song voice, while Alex said, "No way."
"Their loss," Kareem
said. "We'll take care of you."
"I know some stuff, Harry
Potter, for instance, and Mister Incognito, of course, but not much else. I
thought it would be a blast, though. Kind of like a college course."
"That's how Mr. Yong plans
to teach it," Wyatt said. She had to suppress another giggle at how much
effort he had to put into speaking up. She heard it in the strain of his voice.
Too cute!
"Anyway," Alex said,
"have fun in nerd class."
"Geek class, dude,"
Kareem said, getting everyone to laugh, and earning a fist-bump from Alex.
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