WHO'S HOT?

CAMILLA'S P O V

It was lunchtime when I passed by the bulletin board and I stopped to check for any reminders and announcements. A poster about a free trip to Italy for top students caught my attention. I was reading it when someone stood beside me—it was Kiefer Sanchez, the President of the Student’s Council. He posted a list of Top Ten students of “Who’s hot and Who’s not,” covering the announcement I was reading.

“Oh no, not again.” I squeezed my eyes shit, not wanting to see my name at the top of the list of who’s not. This has become my concern every school year. Cole started bullying me because of this list.

I can still vividly remember my first year here. I was so excited to see my name on the list of who’s hot. I thought everyone was busy and minding their own business. I thought no one was looking at the bulletin board, so I excitedly went and read the list one by one and even ran my fingers over it so that I wouldn’t miss my name.

I smiled, biting my lower lip when I saw Cole Lewis' name as number one on the list. Well, it was expected though, because he was hot, literally hot that I would burn if I touched him. I scanned the list down until I reached number ten, and I felt a sense of disappointment when my name wasn’t on the list.

I was about to look for my name in the list of who’s not when I saw a big palm covering it. And when I looked up, I was met by Cole’s signature smirk and emerald orbs. I swallowed hard when I noticed that he was staring down at me. “Do you really think that you’re in the list of the top ten who’s hot? Dream on, nerd!” he spat out and left laughing.

Now that I was standing here once more, I realized that after contemplating it for four years, I had learned to look at it in a positive way. Who cares? It was just a list made by student activists who asked the student council to post it for fun. Sarcastically speaking, I should be flattered because I went down in the ranking from first to third. Hah! So, I was no longer at the top of the list of people who aren't hot! That was an achievement!

But still, I checked the list of who’s hot, and as expected, Cole was at the top of who’s hot, as always followed by Mark, then Cole’s friends. His girlfriend Maxine was also included, but my stepsister Monique was gone from the list.

“As expected, dude!” I heard a familiar voice behind me and I froze. It was Cole’s. I slowly stepped to my side to escape because I didn't want him to see me, but then I was stunned when I felt a big hand on my shoulder.

“Miss, you dropped your pen.” A short guy told me, handing me my pen.

“Thank you…” The tiniest smile appeared on my face before I snatched the pen from his hold, but before I could take a step to leave, a voice stopped me.

“Hey, nerd!” I heard Cole, referring to me, of course.

As soon as I turned around, I was taken aback, since he was so close that my face almost collided with his hard chest. I could smell his scent, a combination of lemon soap and musk cologne, and the warmth of his body vibrated through me, like a current. I had never been this close to him ever, and the feeling was so intense that I almost trembled.

I stepped back, but he grabbed my arm, stopping me from moving. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Still checking if you’re on the list of who’s hot?” he smirked, his dark eyes were sharp and assessing, holding my eyes still. Nevertheless, I was unable to keep gazing at him because his gaze and proximity caused my knees to become so weak. It would be embarrassing if I fell down at his feet. “Dream on, nerd!”

He released my arm and pushed me, making me stumble back a little. Then he was gone in the blink of an eye.

I looked down, ignoring the glances of those who were staring in my direction as I continued to move away from the bulletin board. I saw that everyone was gazing in my direction. Suddenly, a loud sound rang throughout the whole school for a few seconds, causing everyone to quickly shuffle around me. I tried to move out of their way, but it was not working, since I was in the middle of the hallway and everyone was rushing to class.

A boy ran towards me with determination in his eyes—determination to get to class on time. He quickly ran past me, shoveling me out of his way, causing me to lose my balance, which resulted in my ass landing straight on the floor along with the announcement I was holding in my hand.

A whimper escaped my mouth as the pain hit my butt. I looked around me to see if anyone saw me landing on the floor. To my luck, no one was in sight. I mean no one. Not even a single fly. The hallways were deserted and quiet. I was the only one here while everyone was in class already.

Sighing, I got on my knees and picked up the paper on the floor. Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared above me, causing me to tilt my head up to see who it was.

Standing in front of me was a guy with light brown hair that looked so soft. His hazel eyes that were covered with thick glasses stared directly at me, amused.

I avoided his eye contact, and before I could reach for the paper in front of me, the guy picked it up and handed it to me. “H-hi…” he stuttered.

“Hi…” I gave him a small smile as I stood up, then left immediately.

“Miss, wait!” he called out. “Miss, I’m new here. I just want to make friends.” with what he just said, I made a halt.

I didn’t have any friends here on the campus. I don’t want to be friends with anyone anymore. Because the last and only friend I had left me because they hurt him. He left me and I don’t know where he'd been, but the last time I heard was that he moved out of the country with his parents. I don’t want another person to suffer because of me, resulting in them leaving me.

As I walked further away from the new student, I could still hear him calling me. And while I continued walking away, I couldn’t help but remember the past.