Unexpected

Gabby the Hostage

When I return to the table the group is sat at, I'm relieved to find that Austin didn't follow me. Maybe I actually made a dent in his ego.

The group halts in their laughter when they sense my mood.

"Did you find your locker, Gabby?" Alex asks unsurely.

"I found more than my locker." I admit, looking away from the cafeteria entrance once I'm sure Austin won't appear. "Your friend Austin is something else."

Nobody looks surprised by this statement, instead I'm met with faces displaying a mix of sympathy and embarrassment. The scruffy dirty blond I've come to know as Zach lets out a heavy sigh and a shake of the head.

"I know, I warned you. To be completely honest with you, no one outside of this group tends to associate with us because of him. But he's been our friend since playground days, so we see more than whatever person he's been lately. Doesn't mean we're always on his side though. We know what he can be like." Alex explains, looking unconvinced of his own reasoning.

I nod, feeling bad for the people around me. They're loyal, I'll give them that. But Austin clearly causes them a lot of grief.

"I understand. I'm not judging, I just hope you won't mind if I have trouble getting along with him." I say, noticing that Sarah in particular looks relieved.

"Feel free to tell him off, God knows we have plenty of times." The blonde says, her brown eyes warm with understanding.

As more students begin filling up the halls, we go over our schedules together. I was hoping to get at least one class with Sarah, but no such luck. I get Zach for Spanish and him and the other boy in the group, Robert, for gym. That's something at least. I manage to eat some of the food on my tray, then it's time to part ways and venture into a bustling sea of less friendly faces.

With some difficulty, I find my first class of the day. I claim a table in the back of the room, setting my bag in one of the two seats. I make a point of introducing myself to the woman known as Mrs. Pike writing on the whiteboard, knowing from experience that good first impressions come in handy down the line. We make friendly exchange and when she welcomes me to the school, I take that as my cue to go back to my chosen seat.

Dread fills me when I see who's occupied the seat next to mine. By now, the classroom has filled and I'm stuck with what once seemed like the safest option. I reluctantly walk towards the back of the room, feeling self-conscious from all the unfamiliar eyes I can feel watching me.

He looks up from his phone once I pull the chair with my bag out.

"Did you have to sit here?" I ask, moving my bag to the ground and sitting down.

"I always sit in the back." Austin says, hazel eyes now trained on me instead of his phone.

"I think we got off to the wrong start, I'm sorry if I offended you." He says, disregarding his phone completely and placing it on the desk without so much as glancing at it.

"If? You did offend me." I say, not attempting to placate things between us even with the current reality that we'll have to sit next to each other all of class.

"Gabby, right? I'm sorry, I was just being friendly. I didn't know it would make you so uncomfortable."

I nearly roll my eyes. I'm sure he must put his arm around his buddy's waists too then. To be friendly of course.

"I hope you all like where you're sitting, this will be the seating chart for the rest of the semester." The teacher announces. I notice a few people inconspicuously glance behind them to where Austin and I are seated. Different state, same shit. I tend to mind my business, not caring for things that don't involve me. People both baffle and annoy me with their tendency to seek out drama for their entertainment. There's Netflix for that. Netflix won't accuse you of sleeping with their boyfriend either.

Hopefully, my new acquaintance with the teacher will pay off when I ask her to change seats. That's what I cling onto when class drags on and I can feel Austin's eyes boring into me. I try to ignore him, hoping he'll become disinterested. Eventually though, he escalates to nudging his foot to mine. I move my foot away, pretending to focus on the routine first day of class material.

He stretches his legs out and folds his arms behind his head in effort to play off his footsie attempt as stretching. When he lowers his arms, he places one on the back of my seat. I turn to him with a raised eyebrow and he returns it to his lap, mouthing sorry then offers a smile full of perfectly straight teeth. I just shake my head and turn my attention back to the front of the classroom.

"Aw come on, Gabby. I didn't mean any harm. Don't be like that." He whispers, a little too close to my ear for comfort. I swat at where his mouth is still near my ear, not liking the way it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand.

"Austin, genuinely just chill the fuck out and pay attention to class." I say, keeping my eyes trained ahead of me.

"Me? Gabs, you're the one who needs to relax." I can tell he's grinning without having to look at him, but what really irks me is the new nickname.

"Gabs?" I ask, watching each careful mark Mrs. Pike makes on the whiteboard.

"I'm guessing I can't call you that?" He asks, a playful tone still present in his voice. The only person he's successfully flirting with is himself, but I don't think he realizes that.

"You guessed correctly. You want a cookie?" I ask, letting sarcasm drip from each word.

Austin laughs a little too loudly, causing heads to turn towards the disruption. Mrs. Pike pauses writing, only resuming once nothing else can be heard.

I turn to look at him now, but wish I hadn't once our eyes meet and I can see gratification flicker across his face. It's clear that he enjoys getting any kind of reaction out of me, whether or not it's a positive one.

"You're going to get me in trouble." I say, voice even more hushed than before. A few people are still looking our way, making me that much more aware of Austin and I's ongoing conversation.

"Wouldn't want that, would you? Being the good student that you are."

I sigh, not knowing it was possible for one person to singlehandedly carry on banter for this long. I opt for silence, feeling like whatever I say will be used for a response more annoying than the last.

The bell finally rings, signaling freedom from my role as the hostage in Austin's forced flirtationship. I approach Mrs. Pike, knowing I only have a handful of minutes to pitch my plea to be moved seats. She insists that I try out the seat arrangement for the next few weeks, clearly having a much larger optimism reserve than I about people's character. She seems the "give people a chance" type while I'm more of the "guilty until proven innocent" type. However, she compromises that if things don't work out by a few weeks time, I can move.

I have little faith that it will.

AN: As I'm rewriting this, I'm realizing this story's already taking a turn. I'm trying to follow a general storyline similar to before, but sometimes my typing fingers have a mind of their own and that's fine too lol. I hope this isn't too boring. If you're out there, comment, vote, or whatever. Anything's appreciated.

Thanks for being here xx