Bubble Gum Kisses

**Kapittel 22** ***Vanessa***

**"There's no need to offer a trade you know, "** I whispered and she made a bewildered expression as if I was telling the truth.

I sighed and ripped a part of my notebook then took my sight off the blackboard for a second to write that it was for real and if she'd like, I could help her understand the lesson during lunchtime. I swiped it in her direction, my eyes back to the front, and took notes when Mr. Boro finished explaining. Much to my irritation, he began erasing the contents on the board. From my peripheral vision, several students groaned, others clenched their jaws and some sighed in disappointment. Georgia was right, he immediately erased what he wrote on the board after discussing. He then discussed having a quiz at the next meeting as the bell rang on time.

"Goodbye, class," Mr. Boro bid goodbye and he dashed out of the classroom in thin air and everyone began packing up and left the classroom, probably heading to the cafeteria for some snacks or to their next class.

I remained in the classroom, taking note of the upcoming quiz happening at the next meeting on my organizer. I tend to be forgetful of reminders and stuff that were about to come, so living without my organizer was another definition of death to me. As I finished making my notes, I noticed that there was a hand holding my shoulder all this time. I looked up and saw Georgia staring down at me with gratified eyes.

"Yes?" I asked and flipped my organizer close.

"About the note that you swiped..." she trailed off, seeming to be shy, and took her hand off my shoulder, like she touched something hot.

I stood up and began packing my things. "Oh, that? I meant it and it's actually no problem."

I heard her gasp audibly while I was in the middle of clearing my table. Was it really that surprising to agree on exchanging notes and studying together? "Really?! Thanks, totes! Can I have your number?" then a scratch paper was handed to me by her two fingers. "Here's my number and please text me which part of the cafeteria do we meet for lunch."

I took the offered scratch and stared at it, pretending that I was reading what was written. "Sure. Thanks." I then stepped away from my spot and put my chair back into place, Georgia then came to my side next, her high-heeled black school shoes creating clicking sounds on the shiny floor. We both simultaneously went out of the classroom and walked down the hall together.

"So..." I heard her trail off. "Where's your next class?" she asked, waving her silky, black hair. It was glistening and satiny even when under a shaded area and its color changed to chocolate brown when it got stricken by the sunrays.

I nonchalantly pulled my phone out from my skirt's pocket and turned it on to see my new wallpaper, which was a photograph of my daily class schedule handed by the registrar from earlier. "Physics in a room just by the floor above," I answered her question.

"Lucky you." She groaned but sounded more like a whine to me. "I got my next class in the other building. See ya!" she then took faster steps ahead of me and bid me goodbye, walking down the staircase.

I gave her a smile in return and a small wave. It seemed that my plan of making friends and going well and smoothly, like my next class schedule. A smooth route of mental torture.

**"That's all and don't forget** your assignment that should be passed next week. An essay about any small thing you like that you can relate to English Literature, to be passed on Thursday!" Mrs. Beloy, the English instructor reminded all of us as the others packed their bags and went out of the room. Meanwhile, I swiped my organizer from my left to the center then opened it and took notes about the assignment.

While writing, I heard the echoing sound of heels clicking on the ground and I heard Mrs. Beloy's voice that sounded like a 50's Marilyn Monroe-like ask: "Oh, Vanessa, why are you still here, my darling?"

I looked up at her with a small smile. "I'm just taking notes about the assignment, Mrs. Beloy," I answered and proceeded back to scribbling. Physics earlier was pretty much more draining than Math, good thing English was the last subject for this morning and my next stop was lunch at the cafeteria. I could finally regain my energy for the afternoon classes, at least. I thought I was going to die with all the mental exercise I had to do with the lectures earlier.

"A diligent student, I see." I saw her nod approvingly at the reflection of the lustrous table. "Very well, good luck on your first assignment in my class, and please do turn the lights off when you leave." She then went on towards the exit, and the exorbitantly clicking of heels echoed, reverberating to my ears until the door clicked close. *She didn't even wait for me to say yes*, I thought while writing.

I finished writing a few moments after she left. I packed my stuff like how I usually did and turned the lights out before leaving the classroom, following Mrs. Beloy's instructions. My English class happened in the Marshal building which was approximately beside the cafeteria so it wouldn't be another tiring walk or run like what happened earlier this morning. I pulled out my phone to text Georgia who I promised to meet with at lunch. **To:** ***Georgia***

* Hey, it's me, Vanessa. Shall we meet at the cafeteria's 1st floor?*

A beep then came in a nanosecond with Georgia's reply popping out.

**From:** ***Georgia***

* Hi, Van gurl! Am already here*

**From:** ***Georgia***

* Am sitting by the spot near Santino's! See ya! xx*

I sent her another text saying okay before heading down the staircase and walking to my next destination.

Though the cafeteria was spacious, it was also crowded. Every space was jam-packed with both students queueing on the counters, talking to the staff about their orders, while the others were sitting on table sets while eating food. I looked around, observing each group at a different table set in the area.

As per usual, I saw groups and cliques that I could easily identify and label. One table had students with greatly built bodies and balls on hand, they were talking, laughing, and having fun with each other, I could bet my money that they were the jock. The nerds were all noisy discussing light being a particle and wave with books on hand, probably for references, while completely forgetting their uneaten lunch, same with the geeks who were busy discussing about games, instead of science while stuffing fatty food in their mouths. There were also the trendy girls who were busy tapping on their phones and taking pictures of their veggie lunch before eating them.

I stopped my observation and went ahead to the Santino's stand to find Georgia but I saw no familiar face, so I fished out my phone in an attempt to call her when I heard a voice calling for my name: "Vanessa!"

I turned on my heels and finally, I found her. She was waving at me at an empty set with only her bag on top. That was unexpected. I initially thought that she'd be with her squad since that was how cheerleaders in my former school do during lunch time, gather at one table, and gossip. But nevermind. I shook my head, erasing my thoughts because looking at her with a small smile in response, and took steps towards her when a red fabric with letters engraved suddenly came into my sight as my nose crashed into a huge wall.

"Oof " I groaned and touched my aching nose, taking a small step back. I apologized to the person I crashed into without looking at him. "I am so sorry. I wasn't looking at where I was walking." It seemed that I hurled myself into them too much that my nose hurt and my vision was a little swirly.

I heard a small chuckle along with a deep voice that said, "No, it's fine. I wasn't looking at where I was walking too."

Wait, that voice sounded kind of familiar. "Lazarus?" I said the name of my long-time friend in middle school as I slowly look up to see the face of the person I crashed into and much to my anticipation it was indeed Lazarus! "Oh, you!" I puffed.

He just chuckled loudly and latched an arm around my shoulder in response. Immediately, the loud noise slowly dissipated, and the attention of half of the population in the area we were at was solely on us, much to my embarrassment and disdain. Everyone's eyes were staring at us like we were abominable creatures or aliens. Oh boy, it seemed to me that he was a school celebrity here.

He stopped laughing and turned his head, looking at the people around us who were staring at us with eyes wide, starstruck. "What are y'all looking at?" he asked and they immediately looked away, everything then went back to normal, awkwardly.

"Hey there, my homegirl."

**

Thank you for reading Bubble Gum Kisses! To keep up with my works, future works, and endless frustrations on Twitter: https://twitter.org/RiosMorpheus**