Chapter 3: THE NEW GIRL
The next day of school seemed to have a very good atmosphere about it. It suddenly seemed like the oxygen for that day was a different one altogether. I breathed in the new air with all the optimism in the world.
I could pretty much be "OPTIMUS PRIME" at that moment.
After I had taken in that new oxygen, I opened my eyes to my natural daily observation of the environment. It was all the same though but it seemed that it wasn't only me that had a jump in my steps.
It seemed to be contagious because many people were smiling more than usual.
Also, I wondered if it was just me or if the people in the school were more in number.
It got me wondering for a moment but I remember that Mr Moore had already told us that the school had more students entering it because of the football and the science status of the school. Every parent suddenly felt the need to have their child identified with the best school at the time.
So there was an influx of students into the school. All I saw were new problems and possibly a new set of brats who would want to bully me.
Well, I wasn't going to allow that to bother me. I was going on a trip to my home continent and nothing could ruin that for me.
"boy what's up" the same familiar voice shouted from down the hall.
I just knew that it was my brother, Danny.
"I'm cool bro" I replied as I turned around to greet him.
Come to think of it, I wondered what Mason dipstick wanted from my brother yesterday. I was wondering what could have been the matter. But I could already guess that it had something to do with the football team.
I guess it was just the most tangible idea to just ask him what the conversation was all about after we had chatted a bit.
"yeah, how's the prep for your road trip going?" he asked me while we walked down the school hallway.
"It's been okay.." I said trying to sound as calm and collected as possible to him.
But even he knew that I was far more excited than I was making it look and so he just stared into my eyes torturing my soul until it would give up the excitement that it was trying so hard to suffocate.
I broke under the pressure of the gaze by the time we reached my locker to get my notes for the day.
I just couldn't take it anymore.
"fine....." I let up with my head stretched towards the heavens as I turned towards the boy that was my most trusted confidant.
"I am super excited about the trip," I said with my face straight but my voice slightly high-pitched.
He knew I was excited anyway, I could not just express it the way that the normal average teen would.
He had half of his body leaning against a locker and his arms in akimbo as he just stared at my face with a brow up and a witty smirk on his face.
"Well, guess what?" he asked as he got off the locker he was leaning on so that the owner could access it, and him too since this lady was a die-hard fan of my brother.
"you know how I dread guessing games," I said as I rolled my eyes and closed my locker. We started walking down the hallway to our classes.
"Well, apparently, the trip was organized for your class and the class that is directly below yours, so…." he paused to throw a wink at a bevvy that we walked past.
It was then it hit me, my brother's class was also coming on the trip.
As I said, nothing could ruin this day for me right now. I was on cloud 256 if that were a thing cause 9 was just too close to the ground to cut it for me.
"damn that's great news, bo..."
I wanted to say "boy" but I accidentally walked into a person who was passing by and tore down the tower of books that she was carrying in what was once a neatly arranged stack of books but was now a resemblance of the wall of Jericho.
Me being the good citizen of the UK that I am, decided not to be a hit-and-run kind of person so I just got down to help this pretty stranger who was just flustered by the hit and was down on her knees doing the same thing.
"I am so so sorry" she apologized as she stacked her books back up with true embarrassment on her face.
"no way, what are you talking about…..I am so so sorry" I said to counter her
"I should have looked where I was walking as I was talking to my brother, I guess I was just a bit carried away" I apologized while the boy who got me into the mess in the first place had his hand in his hair as he smiled sheepishly with his eyes closed.
His unique way of accepting blame.
I was done stacking the books before I even got to see her face at all and to put it simply to you guys I was just stunned. This girl was just beautiful, nothing more and nothing less.
She was a mid-height girl with a tanned skin tone and dark long, curly hair that had blonde tips. She was possibly my age by my mental calculation, which by the way hasn't failed me before.
Her features also included visibly pink lips and very curious sky blue eyes that seemed to stare straight into you but not the scary kind, just that gentle comforting look.
I have zero ideas why I am being this explicit about her description right now or how long I stood there doing nothing but looking at her face because it seemed as though the world had suddenly been put into slow motion.
This lady had cat eyeglasses that had a purple rim to them, that matched the purple jacket and lilac top that she had on with lilac straight pants.
She looked at my face and smiled a bit before looking down at the ground in what I felt was a blush.
The atmosphere however moved from lovely and all idolized and stuff to awkward very quickly as we just stood there exchanging laughs for like 2 minutes straight. All of this strange behaviour just served as some form of amusement to Danny who just silently watched everything play out with a giggle under his breath.
She decided to take the first move and so she cleared her throat and straightened her face.
"Hi, I'm jasmine but you can call me jay or Jay Jay," she said with one hand out in a handshake.
I guess I was just stunned by the fact that this was the first real English sentence that was being exchanged between us that I forgot to answer in time.
That's where Danny comes in.
Danny gave me a slight jolt back to reality with a kick to the back of my heel.
"yeah, yeah sorry...….uh...my name is Jeremiah but you can call me Jerry," I said with a joker smile on my face.
She smiled at me and looked down at her hand which was still out in anticipation of a handshake.
Talk about embarrassing, right?
I was just so disoriented, but I did eventually take the handshake.
It was short-lived however by the ring of the class bell that showed that it was time for the classes to commence.
She gave a short wave and carried her tower of babel made of books and just scurried down the hallway taking a sharp left turn.
All I could do was use my eyes to escort her off to wherever she was going.
At this moment, Danny came out of his silent observation spot which was apparently, not too far from me.
He just smiled at me maniacally and went off his merry way.
All I could do was smile and wonder where I got this guy from and what I could do him.
Oh well
I went straight to my class to observe the first lecture of the day and I met the greatest possible surprise.
Jasmine was my classmate and was seated right next to my seat.
I finally felt the feeling that the day was going to go upside down and so within me I prayed to God to guide me and ensure that I do not say anything stupid or do anything that would serve a bad repute or make a terrible first impression.
I sat on my seat and brought out all my weapons of knowledge dissection and laid them all in front of me where I could see them like an arms dealer inspecting the weapons that had been brought to him.
I could also feel Jay Jay's gaze on the side of my head as I did so.
My mind was throbbing to know what face she had, I just had to turn and look.
Just as I had expected...… which I didn't expect by the way, she was staring at me with an elated expression of disbelief and awe. It sounds so funny when it's said out loud.
It kinda surprised me that she wasn't scared by my overly nerdiness and pride in it but all I could do was smile like a drug dealer who was advertising his best of arms.
Jay Jay turned away from my gaze and to my disbelief, brought out her weapons too. This girl was on fire.....at least from a nerd's perspective.
She brought out all her stationery and all the textbooks that she had on math.
"This girl is good," I said to myself in a low voice. This is what I could call good competition.
The teacher, Mrs Briggs was also savvy when it came to the issues of mathematics and so I respected her very much.
She had her back to the class and she was teaching the class the topic of algebraic expressions.
I had my head in my notes and textbook but also in the clouds. I admit that I did keep consistently stealing gazes at Jay Jay through the course of the class.
Come to think of it, what the heck is wrong with me? How do I keep calling her Jay Jay when I have only just met her? Although you have to agree that the name is catchy and very nice to the hearing.
The best part was possibly the fact that she was also staring back at me. I felt something like a nerd-ish connection that existed between us like as never seen or felt before.
However, I am a person that is headstrong in keeping my academic pursuits as the top priority and so I wasn't planning on letting this little thing that was going on in my head disorient me in any way.
I was still in the middle of my thoughts when I felt something poke me in the side. I turned my head so I could see what it was and I saw that it was a note.
From Jay Jay's hand to mine.
I first looked at the hand from which the note was coming and traced it up to her plush face. She smiled at me as if to win my trust through nonverbal means before shrugging her left shoulder.
I had my doubts but my instincts were at ease and so I gave in and slowly took the note from her hand.
"Are you a nerd?" she said, or rather read the note, but usually I prefer to imagine that the person in the note and I are having a live conversation with each other.
This note needed a reply but I was being careful about what I wanted to use to answer the question. I thought for a minute or two as alternately stared between her and the note that sat in front of me like a trick question in an exam.
I eventually concluded that I was going to reply to the note like the child of God that I was, TRUTHFULLY.
" yes I am," I wrote and then I sent the note back to her and got myself back in touch with the class that was ongoing.
That didn't last long as I felt the poke to my right side again. I turned to see the note extended towards me again.
"I guess this is gonna be a long conversation isn't it?" I asked her as I smiled with an eyebrow raised
"I don't know" she replied on a low voice as she laughed
I grabbed the note and opened it to read its contents
"great so am I?" she replied
"but who do you think is the greater between us? (in a sukuna's voice)"
And yes she did write in anime so I could have a better feel of how she meant the question she asked.
My best guess was that she used the same method of thought visualisation that I was using. Sweet.
"I don't know if you have heard sweetheart but I am the boss around these parts(in the voice of a police sheriff with a pick in his mouth.)" I replied.
"Prove it then, let's have a standoff right here, right now" she replied
Oh hell no, she called me out to a challenge of brains. The one thing after God that I had going for me.
This should be fun.
The challenge was pretty simple. Mrs Briggs had just dropped a few equations on the board and was about to explain the equation to the class so they could use the rest of the questions as assignments.
"Alright class, let me have your attention right now so you won't ask for mine when you are writing your exams. She said as she turned to the class slowly and elegantly.
Mrs Briggs is British by birth and so she has a very soothing and slightly funny accent that most students would make fun of when they hear it and to be frank they used to at first but then we learned that this woman was not to be trifled with.
She was very good at thinking of new and creative ways she could utilize to punish students so that they felt so much mental pain even when it is just something small that is done to them, even the ones who believe they are above the law all take her seriously.
It is for this reason that her class and the class of Mr Moore are the only two classes that the students don't sleep in while it is in session.
Though the decorum and energy in Mr Moore's class is for a different reason
However, Mrs Briggs is a very amiable person the only catch being that you have to be a very smart person to reach that level of love and friendship with her, that's why I was always in the right standing with her.
"how many of you have a crystal clear understanding of this topic?" she asked.
Instantly I rose my hands but I wasn't alone for the first time since she had started to teach this class. Jay Jay had her arm up too. This caught her attention.
"mademoiselle, what's your name?" she asked with her head tilted slightly to the left in astonishment.
Jay Jay seemed to soak at the moment a bit before she stood up to answer Mrs Briggs.
"Jay Jay," she said
"My name is Jay Jay."
She looked at Jay Jay and smiled at her before stealing a glance at me in my seat.
My posture was that of bravery or extreme assurance. I knew that I was very smart, that was the reason for the bravery and it also wasn't the first time that a person would try to topple me from my throne as the best in the class, so I just had it in mind that this was just a prettier opponent than the usual ones.
Mrs Briggs had her hand on her chin and she seemed to be gently rubbing it as though she was trying to stroke long beards that she didn't have.
"I want to test a theory that has been very existent in our society nowadays.' she said with her steel rule in her hands.
"is it true that whatever a man can do a woman can do better?" she asked and hand her right hand back on her chin and a look that help her to pretend to be oblivious to the answer to that question.
However, this arrangement was all that I was expecting. I had finally found a challenge
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