Chin Up

Chapter 8 - Reconciliation

I sighed as I listened to my biology teacher drone on about eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. I had learned this 2 years ago. But she insisted on a review, since- 

"MJ?" 

I spun around in my seat. 

It was Tyler. 

I scowled and faced the front of the classroom again. I can't let this jerk bother me like this. 

But you were the one who messed up, My heart nagged. You were the one who stormed off. It's your fault, not his. 

Shut up, My brain said. Focus. Biology. 

Yuck! My heart responded. 

Could hearts even think? 

Maybe you should do neuroscience, My brain mused. 

And so for the rest of the lesson (thank you, ADHD) my thoughts circled around what I was going to do in college. 

Psychology. Maybe then you'll understand boys. 

Neuroscience though...

But remember you were obsessed with paleontology when you were a kid? 

Yeah, when you were a kid.... do neuroscience. 

Ooh, what about astronomy? You can go into space! 

No! STUDY LOVE! EMOTIONS! FEELINGS! Maybe gayness? You were gay for E- 

"Miss Allen?"

I shook my head. "Yes?" 

My biology teacher was glaring at me. "Care to tell me what the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells is, Miss Allen?" 

"Sure." I listed all the differences without hesitation. I heard Tyler scoff behind me, and I flipped him off.

"Good," She didn't look satisfied, though. There was probably something I was missing. Whatever. She had to realize no one in this class gave a fuck.

I tried to focus on the stupid biology for the rest of the bell... but when I was thinking about Emily, that was practically impossible. Regrets swarmed around my head, making the urge to scream extremely tempting. I tried whacking my head against the desk a couple of times, but like, obviously that wasn't going to work.

"Morgan!" Tyler hissed, and I thought I was going to explode. Instead, I calmly turned around, flipped him off again (more obviously this time), and calmly responded, "What do you want, Tyler?"

"Forgive me please?" He gave me puppy eyes. Ha! As if that would work on me.

"You're gonna have to try harder." I rolled my eyes and started turning around but he grabbed my shoulder.

"MJ, please. I'm sorry, I was really upset yesterday, and I didn't know exactly what to say because, um, well, I'm not used to-"

"Morgan Allen!"

I whipped my head around. "Yes?"

"Detention. You too, Mr. Harrison." She added before anyone could say anything.

I dropped my face in my hands. This was gonna be great. 

--

"Hey, loser," Tyler stabbed my back with a pencil as he walked in and pulled a chair next to me. I yelped.

"Just because we have detention together doesn't mean we're back to normal."

"We have Chemistry, MJ. Tell me that's normal." He smirked cheekily.

I turned away so he couldn't see my flushed cheeks. "Shut up."

"Can I finish my apology, at least?" He asked quietly.

"You have one second." I glanced at my watch. "Oops, well I guess it's over then."

He rolled his eyes. "You're not making this easy."

"I don't make things easy. Ever."

"I can see that," He muttered, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips. Cute.

WHAT THE HELL?!

"Anyway, I was trying to tell you that I had a lot of stuff going on, and that I'm not used to having a- a friend to like, um, go to. So... I could have handled that a lot better. And I meant it, if you ever have anything to rant about, I'm here." He grinned.

"Wow, thank you, my knight in shining armor." I clapped slowly. "Great speech, by the way."

He bowed as much as he could while sitting. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

I slapped him lightly, laughing. "You're stupid."

"What?! I am not!"

"You're literally talking to a nerd. Tell me the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells."

He paused to think. "Well, one starts with a P and one starts with a U!" He finished, looking extremely proud of himself.

"Eukaryotic starts with an E, dumbass."

"You're bullying me!"