Another Normal Day - High School Life

(Originally written on May 22, 2018)

Today was another normal day in the life of Aubrey Felton, Aubrey presumed, taking a deep breath as her Algebra teacher passed out tests that the class would be taking soon. She had studied fairly hard for this test, but any math subject in general was challenging for Aubrey.

She glanced over at her old friend, Jack Gomez. As hard as this test would be for her, it would be even harder for him, she suspected. Of course he had his harem of utterly gorgeous girlfriends that probably helped him study, but Aubrey was under the impression that the unnaturally beautiful girls that were strategically positioned on every side of the desk Jack sat at were not the sharpest knives in the drawer. But what did she know? Jack never talked to her anymore, and the girls most certainly didn't want to tell Aubrey anything.

"Does everyone have a test?" Mr. Bryson, the algebra teacher asked.

After a little bit of muttering amoung the class, Mr. Bryson announced, "You have fourty-five minutes to complete this test. When I call time, you must put down your pencils and turn your test back over. You can flip your tests over and begin... now."

Aubrey quickly turned the test over and got started on the first question. She remembered doing homework questions similar to this one, and one of the questions she had done to practice for this test was like it as well...

She felt comfortable with the answer she got for the first question. The second and third questions felt fairly easy to Aubrey as well. However, on the fourth question, she got a really weird decimal answer that she didn't think was right (most answers to questions on Mr. Bryson's tests were whole numbers, or at least common, easy to convert fractions or decimals). She tried the question over from the beginning but ended up getting the same answer again.

Aubrey sighed. She didn't have time to troubleshoot this question. She moved onto the next question, and also came out with a weird answer. This was starting to look pretty bleak...

Fortunately, the questions after that got easier for her, and Aubrey was able to complete the rest of the test before Mr. Bryson called time. Aubrey turned her test over and Mr. Bryson quickly collected all the tests.

That could have been a lot worse, Aubrey mused. She looked over at Jack, but she was unable to read his expression. Then one of Jack's girlfriends caught Aubrey staring, and she quickly positioned herself between Aubrey and Jack.

Aubrey sighed and looked away. Why do I even care about Jack, anyway? He's just some loser who happens to have a fan club of extremely pretty girls.

Yet Jack had once been much more than that to Aubrey. They had been really good friends growing up. They had been neighbors, and Aubrey, being something of a tomboy, had connected quite well with Jack when they were kids. But things changed as they got older. Aubrey had started taking martial arts lessons and later trying her hand at "girl stuff" while Jack became more involved in his parent's cake-making business. They had still been pretty good friends, but Aubrey had underestimated the significance of her relationship with Jack until it was snatched away from her... when they came.

Aubrey had no idea where the beautiful girls came from, although Mrs. Gomez claimed to have adopted them. They destroyed what was left of Aubrey's and Jack's relationship by making Aubrey feel uncomfortable whenever she was with them. And the girls were always around Jack. Always. Aubrey and Jack could never be alone anymore, and Aubrey hadn't felt like competing for Jack's attention.

Now, a year later, Aubrey was starting to wonder if she should have fought harder. She had tried to make other friends by joining the school soccer team, but she hadn't met anyone that she really enjoyed spending time with yet. Most people didn't seem to appreciate Aubrey's aggressive personality, and they were always trying to put up a facade to look better than they actually were. Jack hadn't been that way, at least around her. Jack and Aubrey had always been very candid with each other, and Aubrey didn't realize how much she appreciated that until she lost it.

Her mind returning to the present, Aubrey looked away from the gorgeous, blue-haired girl who had gotten in her way and looked back up at the front of the classroom, where Mr. Bryson made some announcements about the next unit before the bell rang to go to the next class.

Once the bell rang, Aubrey grabbed her backpack and joined the line of students leaving the classroom. After she got into the hallway, Aubrey walked to her locker and swapped out her Algebra textbook for her English textbook. As she closed and locked her locker, she saw Jack and his girlfriends at Jack's locker, and a thought occurred to her: You should talk to him.

No that's a terrible idea. Those three fairy princesses are going to give me hell, and everyone else is going to think I'm a slut for trying to get Jack's attention.

Then again there weren't many other people in this particular hallway at the moment. Maybe none of them would care, except for Jack's protective girlfriends of course.

Although it was probably stupid, Aubrey decided to give it a shot. She walked toward Jack, making as if to pass him to go to her next class, and as she got close to him, she inquired, "Hey Jack, it's, uh, been awhile since we talked. So, er, how did you feel about that math test?"

Shoot, why did I have to ask him something so silly? Aubrey thought, mentally chastising herself as she waited for his response.