I was munching on one of the cookies and scrolling through something on my phone when I felt a shadow fall over me. I knew, even before I looked up, who it was going to be. 'Great, here we go,' I thought. It was Ronnie.
He didn't say anything. He just stood there for a second, and then, out of nowhere, he smacked my phone out of my hand. It clattered to the floor.
That was it. I was quiet, and I liked being alone, but I wasn't a pushover. Nobody just knocked my stuff around like that. I snapped.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I said, probably louder than I intended. My voice was shaky, partly from anger, partly because yelling hurt my ribs. The whole class went quiet, and everyone turned to look at us. Perfect. Just what I wanted, more attention.
Ronnie just stared at me, that same angry look on his face. "What's your deal with Nina?" he asked, his voice low and trying to sound tough.
"My deal with Nina?" I repeated, trying to keep my cool even though I was pissed. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb," he said. "Why is she always helping you out?"
'Seriously? This is what he's upset about?' I thought. "That's none of your damn business," I told him. My heart was pounding. I hadn't been in a confrontation like this since, well, ever.
"It is my business if you're bothering her," he shot back.
"Bothering her? She's the one who keeps checking on me," I said. "Maybe you should ask her what her deal is."
This was clearly pissing Ronnie off even more. His face was getting red. But then I started hearing whispers around the classroom. Stuff like, "What's he doing?" and "Kofi's still hurt, man," and "He's just bullying him."
Ronnie must have heard it too. His angry expression faltered a bit. He glanced around, probably realizing he wasn't looking too good picking a fight with the guy who just got out of the hospital. He was just ruining his own image.
He huffed, then leaned in a bit. "Just stay away from Nina," he muttered, trying to sound threatening. Then he turned and walked back to his desk, acting like he'd won something.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. My hands were shaking a little. I bent down slowly to pick up my phone, hoping the screen wasn't cracked. Thankfully, it was okay.
When I sat back up, I caught Nina looking at me from across the room. She was smiling. Like, a genuine, small smile. It surprised me so much that I just sort of… looked away. Rudely. It wasn't my intention at all. I just got flustered, I guess.
One second I'm about to throw down with Ronnie, the next Nina's smiling at me. My brain couldn't keep up.
Her smile dropped immediately when I looked away like that. She looked down at her desk, and I could tell she felt bad. 'Shit,' I thought. 'That was not smooth. Not smooth at all.' I didn't mean to make her feel bad. I just didn't know how to react.
After the whole Ronnie drama died down, I just wanted break time to be over. I ate another cookie, trying to ignore the stares I could still feel. My phone was fine, thankfully. I didn't want to deal with getting a new one.
Just when I thought I could have a few minutes of peace, another guy came over to my desk. He was the guy who sat next to me, Jake. I didn't know him well, but he seemed okay, usually kept to himself too, though he wasn't a loner like me.
"Hey, Kofi," he said. "Mind if I sit here for a bit?" He gestured to the empty chair at the desk next to mine, which was usually unoccupied.
I shrugged. "Go for it." I didn't have any reason to say no. It wasn't like I owned the seats.
He pulled up the chair. "Man, that thing with Ronnie was intense," he said, kind of lowering his voice. "Dude's got a temper."
"Tell me about it," I muttered, not really wanting to rehash it.
We sat in silence for a minute, then he asked, "So, is it true? About you saving Nina from that car?"
I looked at him. 'Here we go again,' I thought. But he didn't seem like he was trying to be a jerk about it. "Yeah, it's true," I said. Why lie? It happened.
Jake's eyes went wide. "Wooooah, no way! That's so cool, man! Like, superhero shit!" He was genuinely impressed, which was a weird feeling. "Dude, that explains why Nina's been so nice to a... I mean, uh..." He caught himself, looking a bit awkward. "Sorry, man. Didn't mean that how it sounded."
I just nodded. 'A loser, huh? Yeah, I got it.' He didn't have to spell it out. At least he apologized.
"So," he continued, leaning in a bit like he was sharing some big secret. "Rumors are already flying, you know. People are saying Nina's got her sights on another guy already."
"Another guy?" I asked, surprised. 'But she's with Tyler, isn't she? I met the guy. Is Jake saying she's already looking to jump to someone else, or that she's looking around while still with him? That seemed quick, even for someone with a reputation like he was implying.'
Jake nodded eagerly. "Yeah. I'm sure you know her reputation, right? Moving from one boy to another pretty quick. She's popular, sure, but that trait of hers makes her hated by some of the girls. They get pretty catty about it."
I guess I had heard whispers about that before, about Nina and her dating life. It wasn't something I paid much attention to, but I could see why other girls wouldn't like that if she was constantly switching boyfriends or seemed like she was always looking for the next one. Seemed like it would cause a lot of drama.
Jake was clearly the nosy and gossipy type, and he had this grin on his face like he was loving this. "So, are the rumors true?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "Are you and her, you know...?" He made a vague gesture with his hands.
'Oh, for fuck's sake,' I thought. "No," I said, maybe a bit more sharply than I intended. "We're not 'you know.' She's just being nice because I saved her life. That's it. She has a boyfriend, Tyler."
"Oh, right, right, Tyler," he said, though he didn't look entirely convinced and still had that pot-stirring grin. "Just checking. You know how rumors are. People see her being nice to you, and with her track record... they start talking." He shrugged.
I just wanted the bell to ring. This guy was exhausting.