Welcome To Carlsonton Academy

Chapter IX

"Oh, I know which one you're talking about!" said Ryan. "It's the one with the weird vibrating thingy that he shoved up-"

"Guys, please!" April made a gagging sound. "We're eating!"

Ryan scoffed. "Why're you freaking out? It's not like you and Isaac haven't done the frick frack."

"Actually, no. We haven't."

"Wait, you guys spent the whole summer together and kept your pants on?" said Peyton, impressed.

April nodded. "Let's stop talking about my personal life now. What's this professor's name?"

"Mr. Cummings," I said, stuffing my mouth with noodles.

"Oh, he's a Cummings, alright," chuckled Ryan, which caused him to get a hard slap on the shoulder by April.

"Shit, I've got class," said Phoebe, looking at her watch. "I'll catch up later."

"Yeah, we've got class too, Val," said Ryan, grabbing my arm. "Time to leave your noodles."

I whined but left along with him. Biology was one of my favourite subjects, but it was the one class I shared with both Denise and Shane. I walked into the room and the first thing I saw was the two love birds cuddling in the corner. I decided to completely ignore them and not even acknowledge their presence. It was better that way.

By the end of the day, I had learned so many new things it was crazy. My brain felt heavy with all the information it had gathered. We'd taken a huge leap from grade nine to ten, and I knew it only became tougher from there. I wasn't prepared for that kind of stress and anxiety.

"I officially hate grade 10," grumbled James, as we sat down together for dinner.

"Yeah, no kidding. I don't even know if I'm going to make it through the year."

"If the two of us are struggling, imagine what it must be like for the others."

"True that."

"Hey geniuses." Shane set his tray down next to James. "How was your summer?"

"Oh, you don't know?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, surely Denise must've told you," added James.

"Told me what?"

"Denise came over to my place for dinner with her parents and that was the night I completely shattered the bond of child and parent."

"Huh. She didn't mention it. Weird, right?"

James nodded. "And Val also told her parents that I'm going to be their future son-in-law. So I'm sorry, but you're out of the picture."

"Why the hell will you marry Denise?"

"No, I meant I'm going to be the Valentines' future son-in-law."

"Yeah, well, that's old news. But I'm glad you finally accepted your feelings for each other."

I rolled my eyes. "Guys, this isn't a joke. It's not something that Denise will forget about."

"Denise has been acting up," said Shane, "like she's guilty of something."

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if she was," said James rudely, which caused Shane to quietly eat his food. I shot him an annoyed look and took Shane's hand.

"Hey, I'm sure it's no big deal."

"What's no big deal?" asked Mikaela, sitting down next to me.

"Shane thinks Denise is acting weird. Like she's guilty of something."

"She probably crawled into another boy's bed."

"See?" James waved his hands in protest. "I'm not the only one."

"Guys, don't be mean." I was surprised to hear those words come out of my mouth. Apparently so was everyone else.

"Wow. I can't believe you said that." Shane looked at me in awe.

"That was unexpected." James put his hand on my forehead and looked at me, worried. "Are you sure you're alright?"

I flicked his hand away. "Stop being over dramatic. I can be nice if I want."

He frowned but didn't press on.

"Can we not talk about her?" Shane looked miserable.

"Yeah, sure. Anything else interesting happened?" Mikaela looked around for an answer.

"Oh, James and Valerie have finally accepted their feelings for each other."

We groaned in unison as she squealed.

"Really? You guys are dating?"

"Yes we are." I got up and sat on James' lap. He snaked his arms around my waist and kissed my neck.

"It's true love."

Mikaela scowled. "This isn't the time for sarcasm. Please be serious. Are you guys together?"

I snorted. "You think?"

James raised an eyebrow. "There are nicer ways of denying it. Besides, what's so ridiculous about us being together?"

"Do you really want me to list out the facts?"

"I think we'd make a great couple. First off, we're best friends. We go together like Hogwarts and magic anyway. Second, we know each other better than we know ourselves, so we're not going to have any communication problems. And you're short, so kissing you is going to be easy. And we're not going to have any problems in bed. Also, best friends eventually do fall in love with each other, unless they have different gender preferences. So I really don't see why you find the situation absurd. We'd be perfect together. It's really not that- Why- why are you looking at me like that?"

I was trying very hard to control my laughter. "Can you even hear yourself?"

His ears were bright red. It was adorable. I bit my lip to stop the blush from creeping in. Shane cleared his throat and brought us back to reality.

"Uh, right." I slid of James' lap and into the spot next to him. I avoided eye contact with everyone.

"You two should kiss already!" Mikaela looked at us fondly. I tucked a stray strand behind my ear and smiled shyly.

"Yeah, well, just a word of advice. Be honest with each other."

Shane looked sadly into the distance. I felt horrible for him. Something was seriously up with Denise, and I was going to find out what. Even if it could destroy my relationship with Shane forever.

Author's Note

Hey guys!

I'm so, so sorry you had to wait a week for this nonsense. I know this isn't my best chapter. It's more of a transition chapter. Besides, I had a writer's block. Also, I apologise for my lame and immature jokes. I have learned that I cannot be funny.

But, that being said, I hope you enjoyed it! Next week's will be better (I hope!)

Please vote , comment, and follow!

Have a great time!

Signing off,
Diyu xx