3 Is A Douche Bag

I couldn’t get away quick enough, but as luck would have it, as soon as I turned away from the door, I ran into someone else. I was nearly bodied to the ground.

Seriously, if I bump into anyone else again, I might need to get a helmet.

“I understand running in the hallway, but do students close their eyes when they walk now?”

I managed to catch myself. Looking up, I found myself staring at a middle – aged man with wire-rimmed glasses resting on a beak nose. He peeked over it at me.

“Well? Cat got your tongue, young lady? Are you aware that it's time for the morning assembly?”

“I uh… I was just going to change into my new uniform.”

He squinted down his nose at me. Dark eyes soon widened. “You are the new student, aren’t you? Jade Adams?”

“Yes…sir?”

“That is Principal Houston to you, young lady. You look different without the heavy eye makeup.”

Was I supposed to say thank you?

He looked from me to the door, then back again, narrowing his eyes when he took in my hoodie and black jeans. 

“You said you were going to get changed?”

“Yes, sir, I was, but then I…” It would have been so easy to give that blonde girl and my neighbour up, but as I said, I make it my business to stay out of everyone’s business when I am directly affected. Principal Houston was waiting patiently for a response, and I was fumbling, so I smiled. “This one is occupied.”

He raised a brow. “There are 6 stalls in each toilet. The assembly bell went off 3 minutes ago, and every student knows what that means.”

Every student except Blondie and my neighbour, obviously.

“Uh…”

It would have been icing on the cake if I gave them up, but for some reason, the reason being my interest in my neighbour, I didn’t want to report them. But standing here in front of the principal, unable to come up with a good enough lie, was drawing too much attention to myself on my first day.

I thought about taking a line from those old Disney sitcoms where characters would throw their stuff and run in the opposite direction when they got into trouble. Not that it would help my situation in any way.

Just as I was warming up to that crazy thought, the toilet door swung open, and blondie walked out.

She looked up, blue eyes wide with theatrical surprise. “Oh, Principal Houston! I didn’t know you were here.”

Wow, this girl would do great on a TV show.

“Kendall,” Principal Houston cocked a brow. “And why are you not in the assembly hall?”

“Oh,” she said softly as her hand cradled her lower belly. “I had lady issues.”

The look on Principal Houston’s face was almost comical. His eyes bulged, and he blinked rapidly, looking away.

Seriously, what year is this that a man is still fluttered at the mention of period, i.e., ‘lady issues’?

“I – I see. Well, hurry up now.”

“Yes, Principal Houston,” Kendall said sweetly. She swung blonde hair in my face as she walked off, and for a split second, her eyes caught mine as she passed by me, shooting daggers at me.

Thankfully, her little performance took the edge off the principal. Clearly, anything lady – like was too delicate for him to even consider. He was red in the face when he turned to me.

“D-don’t just stand there, Jade Adams. Hurry up and get dressed…” he sputtered. “Uh…yes…uhm.”

I didn’t want to go back to the bathroom, not when my neighbour was still in there, but I didn’t want to waste the advantage Kendall had just given me, so I opened the door with a smile on my face for Principal Houston’s benefit.

As soon as I shut the door, my heart began to thud in my chest.

Standing in front of the last stall was my neighbour. He had put his clothes in order and regained some of his composure, though his eyes swung to the door and back to mine.

I held my hand to my lip.

“Did you tell him you saw me here?” he asked.

His voice was perfect for his face, deep and low.

“I don’t even know your name,” I laughed, but he didn’t find my joke funny, so I stopped and cleared my throat. “Anyway, your girlfriend told a good lie, so I don’t think Mr. Houston would be coming into the girls’ toilet for the rest of his life.”

He nodded, then leaned back against the wall, his eyes never leaving my face.

I fought the urge to raise my hand to my cheek.

“You look familiar,” he said suddenly.

Uh… there was no way he saw me watching the argument between him and his Dad. I ducked before he could. Even if he had seen me, he wouldn’t have seen my face because I was backing the light.

“There’s no way I look familiar. I’m new in school. New in town, in fact.” Then it hit me. “Wait, was that a punchline for you? Is that how you get your girls?”

He smiled suddenly, and I nearly swooned when dimples appeared in his cheeks. “It must be a good line if it’s worked on every girl I have ever dated,” he shrugged.

It wasn’t the line but his eyes and his smile that worked for me. Closer now, I could see that he had a lovely shade of green – hazel eyes. Hooded by his lashes, they looked like a darker green hue. Beautiful and soft.

I cleared my throat again.

He was clearly a flirt, but he was also taken. I told you, I hate attention; the last thing I wasn’t supposed to do was draw Blondie’s attention to me. She was clearly already pissed that I interrupted her makeout sesh.

“Well, I’m sure Mr. Houston has gone to the assembly hall. You can leave now.”

“I think I’ll just stay here.”

“Uh, you can’t. I have to change!” I said in a panic.

“So?” he shrugged. “It’s not like I’m a creep.”

“Yet here you are in the girls’ bathroom,” I pointed out sarcastically.

“I’m not going to look at you. Okay, why don’t you use one of the stalls?”

“Why don’t you get in one of the stalls and sit down there?”

“Eww.”

I raised a brow. “You do realise that girls are 100 times cleaner than boys, right?”

He raised his hands. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You don’t have to say what you already insinuated when you said eww. Now, please leave so that I can change.”

He pushed off the wall. “What’s the point anyway? The assembly is only going to last for 15 minutes.”

“Maybe no one would notice your absence since you clearly spend your mornings with your hand under your girlfriend’s skirt, but I am the new kid, and we tend to stick out.”

“You stick out alright. What’s with the eyeliner?” he laughed.

I huffed and dug into my back pocket for a tissue. I walked over to the hand sink and turned on the tap to wet it. Just as I was about to use it to wipe the eyeliner away, he flew across the room and held my hand.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t cute,” he said. Then he smirked, a lopsided smile that made one dimple appear. “You’re cute.”

My heartbeat tripled. My throat suddenly went dry.

I knew we shouldn’t have moved.

I have seen cute guys before. I have crushed on them from afar, but I have always been a ghost to them, never seen, never noticed.

But this boy saw me, he was flirting with me!

I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn’t find words when my throat was so dry that not even a croak would come out.

“You have nice eyes,” he said, suddenly looking into my eyes.

I knew it was all a game for him because my eyes were a boring brown, but I still couldn’t resist the blush that crept over my face. I knew I was breathing hard as if I had just run a marathon, but I couldn’t stop myself.

I had to remind myself to breathe. I pulled my hand from his, forcing myself to look away.

But he wouldn’t stop.

“Hey.”

His finger came to rest beneath my chin, and he lifted my face. His face was close.

Too close.

I panicked.

My fist connected with his jaw before I could think, and he stumbled backwards, hand to his face.

“I – I…” I stammered. Was I about to apologise?

No, he should be the one apologising. He was the one stepping out of line. I stumbled back when he lifted his head.

My fist had left a bruise that would definitely grow darker.

“Sorry,” I blurted out finally when I saw the murderous look on his face. “I’m sorry.”

Just then, the door swung open. Blondie breezed in and paused when she saw the scene in front of her.

“What the hell happened here?”

“I …” I started to say, only to be interrupted.

“I slipped,” my neighbour said. “She was just helping me clean it up.”

He snatched the tissue from the sink and held it to his face. He went to Blondie and took her hand, but she wouldn’t move; she stood there, narrowing her eyes at me.

“Come on, let’s go,” he said as he tugged her hand.

Finally, she allowed him to pull her toward the door. He never looked back as the door swung shut behind them, but Kendall turned around again to narrow her eyes at me.

The door shut on her face, and I heaved a deep sigh of relief. Letting my shoulders slump forward.

My heart sank to my toes in disappointment. So my cute neighbour was nothing but an asshole.