Not Your Typical Prom

Chapter Twelve

Dedicated to @leigh_ for being such an awesome writer because I’m re-reading Vanilla and aha, it is amazing ily.

CHAPTER TWELVE

-Scarlett-

I hoped Cole could feel my gaze that was currently trying to bore holes through his thick skull. I couldn’t tell if he knew I was currently plotting different ways I could stab him to death with the pen I was currently clutching between my fingers.

He fidgeted and an uncomfortable glance in my direction gave me the answer. He looked away quickly and a sadistic smile crept up onto my face.

The tug on my sleeve made me snap out of my vicious thoughts.

“What?” I whispered irritably to a contrite Stacy.

“What happened in there?” she asked referring to the encounter with the principal I just had last period.

I winced and shook my head.

After Principal Johnson dismissed us from his office, I had bolted out but not before giving Cole one last withering glance. 

He had totally wrecked my reputation and record.

When word got out to the school’s population that Scarlett Anderson was being forced to work, I would become the laughing stock of everyone.

And now, because of him, I would have to give up my time cleaning and decorating, especially in the time that led up to prom. It was the time girls started to look for dresses, started to plan their hair and makeup, tried on shoes and colour coordinated with their dates.

While the entire female population of the school would be doing that, I would be scrubbing the floors and hanging up streamers.

Just the thought made me feel repulsed.

I blinked my thoughts away when I heard my name being called.

“Ms Anderson,” Mr Dicks called out and I looked up at his sweaty face.

“Yeah?”

“I asked if you could read out the notes you made on Mr Jackson for the week,” he asked and I looked down at the diary I was supposed to have been writing in.

It was blank except for the few notes I had taken when I had followed Cole to his job.

Nothing else. Nada.

Oh well, I thought, I’ll improvise.

Standing up and taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth.

“Cole Jackson, appeared to me as an arrogant, selfish asshole who gets others into trouble but still has the gall to blame them. He is rude, insensitive, has no friends and- ”

I wanted to continue but I was interrupted by Mr Dicks’ cry of outrage.

“ENOUGH!” he yelled and I looked up into his furious face.

There were a few sniggers around me and someone coughed ‘loser’ into their fist in a not-so-subtle way.  Stacy was shaking in silent laughter next to me.

“Ms Anderson,” Mr Dicks walked up to me so we were directly in front of each other. His voice had suddenly become deceptively calm which made me a little nervous.

Wasn’t he supposed to be furious?

“Ms Anderson,” Mr Dicks began again “the point of this project is to get to know someone on a deeper level, to explore their personality even if you don’t like them. You were supposed to try and understand their feelings and emotions and where they are coming from but you, Ms Anderson, you have done the exact opposite.”

He pauses a moment and walks back to the front but turned to face me once again and resumes eye contact.

“You have not only used inappropriate language but you have completely misunderstood the point of this class, this project. If you think he is a terrible person, tell us why. Just because Cole doesn’t follow you around like the others in the school and hang on to your every word doesn’t make him a bad person. You need to explain why you think that of him and since we have only gotten into the second period of this double block, you have all the time in the world to tell us why he is, as you put it, ‘an arrogant, selfish asshole’.”

My cheeks flushed after Mr Dicks completed his speech. I feel a twinge of shame but mostly anger. How dare he talk to me that way?

But deep down, I knew this words were true.

I sat back down. By this time, the entire class had gone silent, probably from surprise that the overweight, sweaty substitute teacher stood up to Scarlett Anderson.

I didn’t know what to say after that so I chose to stay quiet.

Mr Dicks resumed his lesson without any moment of hesitation. Through the entire class, I didn’t say a word nor did I dare to look at Cole who sat a row behind me.

**

I left the class quickly with Stacy hot at my heels. She had been quiet the entire lesson.

It was strangely odd.

When we reached the lockers, I spun my combination quickly and dumped my books into my locker.

“That was…wow,” Stacy finally said softly.

I kept silent.

“That teacher was so unfair,” her voice became louder and more assured.

“I agree,” I heard Brandon say as he came up behind me. “You were only telling the truth and you have every right to do so.”

I sighed and nodded. “Mmm…yeah.”

Brandon turned me to face him and kissed the tip of my nose. If it was any other day or time, it would have made my tummy swell up with butterflies but today it was silent. “You’re such a great person, Scarlett…feeling guilty about something you don’t have to even worry about. Mr Dicks asked for your honest observations and you gave them. It doesn’t matter what he thinks because the whole class was behind you!”

He grinned at me and Stacy patted my back.

“Come on, let’s go to lunch!”

All throughout lunch, even though the world had righted itself on its axis and people swarmed around me like bees, all begging for my attention like a normal day in my life, I couldn’t shake off what Mr Dicks and Brandon had said.

I hadn’t been telling the truth when I said those things, I was just angry about the whole ‘getting caught in the closet and being forced to work for punishment’ thing. It didn’t have anything to do with Cole. I couldn’t blame him as much as I wanted.

I only had to blame me and my stupidity.

**

I hadn’t had the courage to face Cole after the class. Even though I saw him at lunch and passed him in the hallways, I didn’t look him in the eyes. At all.

So you could imagine my surprise when I saw him leaning against my car, with an air of casualness around him.

Sliding my sunglasses over my eyes, I said goodbye to Stacy who had also spotted Cole leaning against my car and wished me good luck.

I walked towards him, stopping when I reached him.

“Hi.”

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A/N : hey there! it was surprisingly easy to write this chapter which makes me feel really worried cause it might turn out crappy then. and i don’t know if every writer feels like this but i keep getting this strange urge to go back and rewrite my chapters. again and again. yeah…. not sure if that is a good or bad sign. But basically, I’m just going to write and not worry because otherwise this book will never be finished. If you liked this chapter, please show your support by voting, commenting and maybe fanning.