CHAPTER FORTY

i don't have an eye-dea for what to don't this



"thanks for being such a terrible class," mr grant announced a few minutes before the bell. "if you were a so called 'good' class, i would be fired."

"thanks for being such a terrible teacher," returned a few students. he bowed with honor.

"it's been fun, mr g.," called out tasha.

michael cleared his throat purposely loud. "yo, and just in case i never see you again, i'm sorry about the cupcake thing." he glanced at madeline. softer, he said, "to you too," then was met with a repulsed face from her.

"i will miss most of you," emphasized the teacher.

as we left the classroom, i physically couldn't keep my mouth from frowning. the person i now envied most was not greta gerwig or sofia coppola, but maeve bishop because she had mr grant as her chemistry teacher.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

mom woke me up with a start, flipping the light switch on my wall several times and yelling out, "happy valentine's day!"

"happy valentine's day," i repeated with a chary chuckle.

i wasn't prepared one bit to have tacky love-loving chants thrown at me first thing in the morning. subconsciously, i might have been more focused on the fact that my old witch for a teacher was making her much unnecessary return instead of the holiday.

"ugh, do i have to go to first period?" i complained to my parents as i plodded to the pantry in search of a granola bar.

"hey, maybe she won't even be there," said dad. "some people find their happy place and it's like quicksand."

"this house is my happy place. i'm not leaving unless there's a tarantula infestation or something," i told him.

reemerging from the pantry, i had to grab onto my appetite for dear life: dad had his work clothes on, which were nicely ironed and clean, until mom wrapped her arms around him and decided to indulge in kissing him right there in front of me. it wasn't just a peck, either.

"oh my god, get a room!" i cried.

the only thing my yawping seemed to do in stopping them was give them a little laugh, but they persisted. i shoved the granola bar in the side pocket of my bag and hurried to the door. there was no chance that i could eat in the presence of that monstrous sight.

i impatiently waited for mom to come outside, feet drumming against the third porch step down. the crisp february air chewed away at me as did i at my food. it was only less than a minute until the door squeaked open and mom was revealed with her car keys and phone. "alright, let's go."

i simply laughed and rolled my eyes as i followed her into the car. but once i was in the passenger's seat, on the way to school, the revelation hit me. "so that was your evil plan to get me out of the house?"

"that, and the fact that it's v-day-- i thought it would be perfect!"

"'v-day' doesn't mean 'violate your daughter' day," i groaned.

"oh, come on, y/n," she said, sounding unconvinced. "once you find the right one, you'll want nothing but to express your love for them."

"i guess you're right." i shrugged and peered out the window. "maybe you could tone it down in front of me, though. or anyone with my amount of fragile innocence and singleness."

mom giggled, shaking her head. eventually, i felt the speed bump as she turned into the parking lot. great! we're here.

"anyway, who's your valentine this year?" mom asked, wiggling her eyebrows. "is it the only male you talk with that you're not related to? what's his name again? something school-bell?"

"walker? no, silly," i dismissed. i needed to preemptively dodge any nagging and accusations, so i casually said this and got my bag settled on my shoulders.

"i'm honestly glad. don't want you marrying only to change your name to school-bell. that's pretty bad," she huffed, driving into a vacant spot.

"it's scobell, mom!" i laughed thinking about the first time she slipped up, then opened the car door. before closing it, i said, "love you!"

she pulled away and off she went. i was getting my airpods out to set the single mood with hopeless romantic indie music when they almost went flying. "happy valentine's day!" exclaimed walker's voice right behind me, making me flinch.

"oh my goodness," i said, slowly turning around and tightening my grip on the airpod case. "how many times are people gonna jump scare me with that phrase?"

"sorry... uh, bad valentine's day?" he offered.

"that's more like it."

we headed toward the entrance. i put back the airpods. the sound of his voice was much better. after a few seconds he asked, "wanna talk about it?"

"there's nothing much to talk about," i said. "it's just the day."

"i mean, we can make it a good valentine's day. step one: i open the door for you." he rendered his words truthful.

this made me weirdly happier. "you're onto something. what's step two?"

"no, it's your turn," he said. "you tell me."

my genuine answer would be that he would just be my actual valentine, obviously. but of course, "hmm... i really don't know. i think that was enough." i gave him a bright smile, however i was thinking, it wasn't enough, it was close enough.

"good." he reciprocated the smile. who knew if he reciprocated the thoughts too, though.

"anyway, how's your valentine's day? happy or bad?" i asked.

"y'know, it's as happy as it can get for a single person," said walker. "but it's one day out of three hundred sixty five. and the rest i can be single without feeling singled out."

each step brought us closer to our chemistry classroom. to our least favorite teacher. and our least favorite classmates. i sighed. "let's just get through today."

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

much to my dismay, mrs fennel was perched in her desk chair. my eyes instantly went to her and her signature graying bun. her presence was already contaminating the room and the students' moods. walker had just lifted mine slightly, but the atmosphere of this room had too much pollution.

we went to our original seats and i overheard some alarming particulars. madeline sat brewing a tornado in her coffee with her straw, eyeing her ex but talking to her friends. "so did you guys see that love letter writing competition? it's today after school today and i'm gonna do it with jake."

instinctively, i panned my vision over to michael. he had the anticipated look of a deer in headlights. it seemed his deer instincts served him worse, because almost instantaneously, he hollered over to her, "you should be doing that with me!" oh dear.

"please," said madeline, rolling her eyes. "it's a competition for couples the last time i checked, michael."

"we had it once, we can have it again, baby."

mrs fennel cheerlessly looked up from her keyboard. "excuse me, use your inside voices."

"i guess we're gonna have to move closer to each other," said michael cunningly.

"no. stay in your seats," fennel croaked.

walker laughed from under his hands, amused at the whole situation, and i followed suit. an exchange between fennel, michael, and madeline was like a car crash, something so ugly you couldn't look away.

"um, can everyone quiet down? me and my annoying ex are trying to talk," said madeline, unsuccessfully attempting to conduct the whole room. she enjoyed talking to people who threw cupcakes at her, and he enjoyed trying to get people who cheated on him back. wow. truly a match made in hell.

the class seemed to lose interest once mrs fennel accidentally pulled up her google search on the big screen, "hot chemist" and their conversation got lost in the many. walker and i were more interested in the bickering though.

eventually, the exes turned away from each other and started miserably talking to their friends. "can you lip read or something?" i whispered to him.

"no..." he paused, squinting as if it made his listening more fine-tuned. "wait. i think i just heard him say... he's gonna ask his cousin to pretend to be his new girlfriend and go to the competition to make madeline jealous."

i laughed at the absurdity of michael's plan. "that's horrible. and you know what's going to make her more jealous than him being at the competition?" i asked walker. "you being there! she's gonna be pissed."

"oh yeah," he said. then he appeared to realize something grave. "oh shit. y/n, she's gonna be pissed at you if she thinks we're dating."

i facepalmed. "ugh, and we were just starting to have a little of a happy valentine's day!"



✦•······················•✦•······················•✦



thank you for reading chapter 40!