Happy belated Australia Day 🇦🇺 Unfortunately my mind has been a little lost with everything transpiring today in LA, but let’s not forget our friends down under and the difficulties they been going through. . . . #happyaustraliaday #belatedpost #landdownunder🇦🇺 #LoveAUS #LandofOz #australia #Holden #aussiesdoingthings #aussies #aussies #jagsdownunder (at Jacksonville, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7z_RzIBVfL/?igshid=10ra6iix9117b
The teacher had barely finished writing on the blackboard when a rand was raised. Miss Glaser, who was still staring at the numbers on the board, asked:
"Yes, miss Blackbird?"
The ginger girl grinned and spoke almost automatically:
"The answer is 1652!"
"1652 times that I slept in this class." someone said and a group of students laughed. The Blackbird girl didn't even look behind. She knew exactly who mocked her favorite class. The boy who would always sit behind her. The "class clown", as he was known. Nick Taylor.
"1652 times you don't think before speaking, Nicholas." she replied in the same tone, and someone said: "Ooohh, she's all angry!"
She heard Nick's mocking laughter and felt when he leaned in and whispered in her ear:
"Calm down, beautiful." Lizzie held her breath as her cheeks reddened. She didn't know why, but that boy always had that effect over her. Everytime, since they first met. Lizzie couldn't control it. Whenever he was around, she would check her hair. She would get nervous whenever she had to look at him in the eyes, or when he got too close. She had a boyfriend, for God's sake! Or at least used to have one. Ian was ignoring her. "What have I done to you?"
"Nothing," she could barely speak. She grabbed her pencil and started to write down the numbers in her notebook. She needed a distraction. "Please, I wanna pay attention."
Elizabeth Blackbird didn't say "please", but she just did. They were in New Mexico. She basically ruled the school, but she didn't like it. She had the prettiest boyfriends and the fancier clothes. Elizabeth Blackbird never said "please". But she did. There was something wrong with her.
Nick stood quiet for the rest of the class, what was a miracle. Lizzie was the first one to leave the classroom, and walked straight to her locker. Ian was there, his arms crossed, apparently waiting for someone. He also made Lizzie nervous, but not in a good way. "Not like Nick..." She realized she said it out loud and looked around, nervous. The girl threw her hair over her shoulder and walked to the locker, where she started to take her books like Ian wasn't there.
"Lizzie", he started, but she didn't look at him. She was grabbing her advanced physics book and arched her eyebrows.
"Oh, so you remember my name now? Or did you think I was invisible?"
Ian sighed deeply and leaned his blonde head against another locker. He kept his arms crossed, which meant he wouldn't hug her and make sure they were going to be okay. At that point, Lizzie just didn't care about it anymore.
"Listen, babe, you're making things between us way too complicated, y'know? And I think we should..."
And before he could finish the phrase and break up with her officially, she raised a finger and interrupted him. She was the one who would break up with people. She said:
"There's no 'things between us' anymore, Ian. From the moment you decided to act like a jerk, we were no longer a couple. Now, please, I need to head back to my class."
A "Yes!" was heard and Liz looked behind. She saw Nick Taylor staring at them, a smile crossing his face. He turned his head fastly, but not fast enough to prevent Lizzie from seeing it. That boy could drive her insane sometimes.
"Listen up. Stop spying on me, alright? That's stupid and pathetic." and she walked away and didn't look back. If she did, maybe things would've ended up differently. But destiny had other plans.
At the end of the day the girl lost the bus and her phone had no signal. The more she walked around school, the less signal she had. She was about to throw her phone on the wall when she heard a sniffle coming from the male toilet.
She stopped at the door and listened. Clearly the other person heard her steps and tried to lower the sniffles, but it wasn't working. Unfortunately for them, Lizzie decided to walk in. She was alone at school anyway, or at least almost. There was someone else, and this someone else was crying.
It was Nick. He was looking at himself in the mirror, and Lizzie realized his messy hair was messier than ever. There were some hair on the floor. She never saw him so vulnerable. She suddenly felt bad for all the years she treated him like trash. When he saw her, he threw some water on his face and faked a smile, but Lizzie put her bagpack on the floor and walked to him.
"The queen herself, I'm glad!"
"Drop it, Nick. What happended?" she asked sincerely and he shrugged.
"I don't know what you're talkin' about."
"Seriously?" She pointed to his face. "I recognize a red eye when I see one. Trust me, I do."
She looked at her feet, unsure of what to do. Then she finally spoke.
"Look, I'm sorry. If it's because the way I treated you, I..."
"It wasn't about that." Nick said, and Lizzie was surprised when she heard him speak in a serious tone for the first time. When he hesitated, she noticed he wouldn't open up to her. He smiled. "But thanks anyway."
The two of them sat down and talked for a long time. About school, about people, about things they liked and things they disliked. And when they noticed, they were kissing right there. And Lizzie thanked heavens for making the bus go away earlier.
