He is back

Keisha’s POV

“Oh! How I miss going to school.” I exhaled as I perked up in my seat as my school came into sight. The flowers in front of the building were still in full bloom, they looked beautiful with their purple and pink flowers that had dropped on the grey pebbles

Ridgeview high was just as I left it. Nothing had changed. Students were buzzing everywhere and it was almost hard to find a space for Amy to park her car.

“I still can’t seem to understand why you love school so much, Keisha. I mean, I really can't wait for school to be over already.” Amy said as she eventually found a spot to park her car.

“Hey, lighten up a little bit, I’m sure senior year is going to be so much fun.” I tried to charge her up.

“Yay! I can’t wait.” She exclaimed sarcastically. I shook my head at her reaction and got down from the car, shutting the door softly and taking in the refreshing air that surrounded me.

“I can’t wait to get to classes and know who will be taking us chemistry. I hope we have the same timetable just like last semester.” I said to Amy who got down from looking like someone who was battling with depression.

“Yeah, I hope we do.” She replied in a bored tone.

I looked down at my outfit which consisted of blue jeans and a white round neck with 'I love science.' printed boldly on it. I smiled as I slung my bag over my shoulder headed into the school. Amy walked behind me like a dog with its tails between its legs.

She never had the high school spirit like I did. She sometimes called me a nerd and I didn’t argue with her because I kinda agreed. I loved school, I loved studying, I love learning stuff about science which are the things nerds love.

We walked through the hallways that were filled with students, some were excited to see each other after that vacation, some were talking by their lockers while some were just taking out textbooks and getting ready for the first class. We stopped by Amy’s locker first and then mine. Much to our dismay, we had different class schedules, we only had a few classes together.

The bell rang and it signified the start of the first class and students started to move to their various classes. I bid Amy goodbye and headed to my first class which was English. It wasn’t one of my favorite subjects but I still performed very well in it. I happily hopped to class but came to a halt when someone removed the ribbon I used to tie my hair, making the dark thick curls fall all over my face.

My heart skipped a beat as I thought of the only person who usually did that. The person I hated most, But it couldn’t be him, he moved out of town three years ago and I had not heard anything from him since then.

I slowly turned to look at the person in order to confirm if my suspicions were right. I sighed in relief when I saw a junior picking up the ribbon from the floor, he straightened up and gave me an apologetic look.

“Sorry, that was a mistake. I thought you were someone I knew.” He said as he handed me the ribbon.

“Oh! It's fine.” I told him, as I took it from him, gathered my thick hair and tied it on a bun. My mom was Brazilian while my dad was Nigerian, I had inherited both of their genes, which made me have thick curly dark hair and caramel skin tone. 

I entered the class which was already filled up with people. I love sitting in the first or second row, it helped me pay more attention in class and I also believed that those who sat at the back were trouble makers. But unfortunately for me, only the back seats were yet to be occupied.

I sighed dejectedly as I made my way towards the second to the last row. I placed my notebook on the desk and glanced at a few things that were taught last session. I wondered which books we would read this time around. 

People were murmuring and making noises which was usual, but it was girls that were making the most noise. I didn't care, they were probably talking about the upcoming dance or outfits they would wear to weekend parties.

My phone vibrated in the pocket of my jean, I brought it out and saw a text from Amy. The whole class became even louder but I was too engrossed with my phone to even try to figure out what was going on.

Amy: He is back!!!

I stared at my phone, confusion written on my face. Who was she talking about?

Me: Who?

Amy: Jake

I gasped loudly and read the message again in shock. My suspicion was right all along.

“Hey, Keisha.” I heard a deep voice say beside me. I gulped as I looked up at the person standing beside me. 

Blood drained from my face as I laid my eyes on him, my jaw literally fell on the floor. I just sat there staring at him, it took me several long seconds to get rid of the shock I felt.

He leaned against the table, looking relaxed like this was an everyday routine for the both of us. My traitorous stomach did a backflip.

His brown hair looked like he had run his hand through it a couple of times, his icy blue eyes twinkled as he smirked, his jaws were more defined and sharp and his skin appeared more tanned.

The white shirt he wore hugged his muscles and his biceps looked like they would rip the sleeve of his shirt anytime soon.

With the way he stood, I was pretty sure he was about six foot tall, maybe even more than that.

Damn! Puberty did a great job on him. 

“Jake.” I glared at him. My veins still pulsed with the toxic hatred he had poisoned them with years ago. I wanted nothing more than to jump to my feet and give him a hard slap. 

“Settle down everyone.” Mrs Thompson, our English teacher said as she walked into class. The whole class went quiet and much to my dismay, Jake sat beside me. There were still some unoccupied seats available, why didn’t he just sit on one of them and make things less awkward for me.

I had never thought that I would see him again until I graduated high school, not when I still held a grudge against him. 

“Jake Hawkins.” It is good to see you again. Mrs Thompson said to him and without wasting time, she started today’s lesson.

I wondered why the school allowed him back when they didn’t usually admit students into senior classes. But then again, I had forgotten that he was the owner’s nephew. Nepotism at its finest.

"Miss me?” He asked as he shifted closer to me.

I scoffed.

“You wish.” I mumbled in response and tried to give him no attention. I brought out my pen and started to jot down a few things Mrs Thompson was saying. It was hard to focus though, my mind was racing with questions that needed to be answered and this guy wouldn’t stop staring at me. I could feel his eyes on me the whole time. 

“May I take a look at what you’ve written in your note, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“No!” I deadpanned.

“Why not?”

“You better start paying attention.” I scowled at him.

As I suspected, he didn’t listen to me. He moved closer until our knees were touching, my skin was burning from the contact and I had the intense urge to jerk his knee away from mine but I just remained calm. He snatched my pen out of my grasp and pulled my note to himself.

“What do you think you are doing?” I asked in a low tone as I stared at him like he had gone nuts.

There was no response from him, he just simply drummed his fingers and my pen on the desk and bopped his head to the beat he was making. He then passed me back my book and placed my pen on it but didn’t stop drumming his fingers on the desk.

Anger brewed in me as the sound got more and more agitating. I balled my hand into a fist, resisting myself from punching the daylight out of him. I was pretty sure my fists would do little damage to his muscles but it would be worth my while. 

“Can you stop that? You are making it really hard to pay attention.” I seethed, still keeping my voice as low as possible, aware that I could get into trouble if Mrs Thompson heard me talking in her class. She was known for having intolerance for indiscipline.

Jake didn’t stop, and as if that wasn’t enough, he reached out and loosened the ribbon I used to tie my hair.

That was it! Anger erupted through my veins like a volcano. I slammed my book shut and stood up abruptly.

“Will you stop being so annoying?” I yelled. 

I froze when I realized what I had just done. Everyone in class was staring at me curiously, wondering what was going on. Jake looked as innocent, like he wasn’t the cause of my outburst. I had never behaved like that while class was ongoing, this was because of him.

I looked up at Mrs Thompson who shook her head and gave me a disappointed look. I quickly apologized, stating that Jake had been distracting me but it was too late.

That was how I got into detention on the first day of senior year. it had just begun and he was already ruining everything like he did back then, I had a bad feeling this was only the beginning.