Friendzone

Elena Sergio.

Sigh! Another day might be a repeated cycle in my life. It was a beautiful morning like every other day. The breeze blew from the west causing the atmosphere to be cold and fuzzy. It was another day to prepare for school.

The piercing sound of my alarm jolted me up from my slumber. I moaned tiredly and yawned. I was reluctant on going to school but I couldn't wait to be done. I sat back on my bed looking tired. I reached out for my glass of water by the side and took a big gulp. That got my spirit alive and gave me a little bit of strength.

"Honey are you awake? You don't want to be late for school," My mom yelled from the supposed sitting room downstairs since my room was up. She must be making the food I was going to eat for lunch.

"I'm awake mom. I'll soon be ready," I answered back even though I knew about my white lie. I checked for my phone I kept under my pillow. It was already seven in the morning. I needed to hurry.

I grunted and planned on ignoring my mom for a bit but the result will be negative. I needed to get my head back on track. I searched for my earbuds. I needed to hear something energetic, something that'll get me bouncing and I knew just the thing.

My earbuds got connected to my phone in a jiffy. Going through my music app, I searched for my favorite song at that moment; Money by my favorite female artist, Cardi B. She was the best. Her rap songs got me lively anytime I seek for a switch-up in my mood and this was another moment. I needed no softness for I had to rush down to school soon.

Moving my body to the beat of the song, I got into the bathroom to freshen up quickly and prepare for yet another school day. I wasn't even aware of myself singing along loudly till my mom barged into the bathroom.

"Mom!" I exclaimed and quickly got a towel to cover myself. I wasn't comfortable with the fact that she had to see me naked. For goodness, I was eighteen already. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I should be asking you. You're making a lot of noise and I'm trying to work," She replied as she stood behind the bathroom door.

My mom was an online marketing officer. She worked with a very reputable company and handled most of their advertisement online. She also engaged with customers online and answered their complaints. She had been doing this for three years now and she seemed to enjoy it. She had a lot of support from us, my dad, and me even though I kind of got in the way with my silliness.

"I'm sorry mom," I apologized for being silly. It was the least I could do and also the right thing.

"You better be. I'm trying to set a conference call and I don't want your noise getting into my way or else you'll be grounded." She just had to say the last one. She wasn't a disciplinarian but she was a killjoy. I couldn't even have fun for five minutes without her ranting about how I was going to get grounded or other punishment she came up with.

Reasons why I kind of love my dad more. Society has painted it normal for girls to be close to their dads and most times it wasn't the case. My dad was a sweet angel, maybe that's why my mom loved him so much. He pampered me a lot and looked out for me. He does it a lot sometimes which made him so overprotective of me. I couldn't get a place to even breathe without him getting into my business. Things like my school work, relationship life, and also my friend. He was still the best dad ever.

My mom turned back in haste to continue what she was going downstairs when she paused. "And makes sure you get that nonsense out of your ears. I'm not gonna buy a new phone," She said firmly as she warned me, shaking her index fingers in my face. I frowned as she left but nothing was going to ruin my mood this morning.

I got ready in a few minutes and got in my wears. I had a hoodie on and long baggy blue jeans. I was known for dressing in this kind of way. Putting on a skirt looked girly for me. I admired being seen in that kind of dress. It made me look tough and no one was going to make me feel shitty.

I sat in front of my mirror, still shaking my head to the song being played. I dressed my browns perfectly and packed my hair in a ponytail. This was the perfect me.

With an increased pace, I rushed downstairs. This caused my feet to hit the ground, causing the floor to echo. The sound was irritating to my parents' ears.

"Elena?" My dad called out.

"Yes, dad!"

"You need to stop your usual morning noises. It's really disturbing," He complained just like he used to every school morning. I was always eager to stop but it skipped my mind. I apologized. I rushed into the kitchen and picked two slices of bread. I couldn't possibly be leaving school on an empty stomach.

"Bye, mom. Bye, dad," finally took my leave after finishing my meal quickly but yet again I was stopped.

"You could at least give me a kiss on the cheek," My dad was being all sweet again. He always made me do this while I was a kid. Anytime he dropped me off at school back then when I was in kindergarten, he would make me kiss him on the cheek and wave, saying bye-bye to him. Now I was a grown lady, I couldn't be seen doing those stuff anymore.

"Dad I'm very late. I got to go," I hurried to the door with my bag strapped on my left shoulder.

"Elena not even a–" I had to cut him off as I shut the door at him. I hopped on my bike and rode myself to school.

My environment was peaceful. It was relieving. Knowing fully well your actions don't attract attention had this way of making you feel safe. I could ride my bike and my eyes won't be on me.

I arrived at school in about twenty minutes. I stopped at where I planned to park my bike. I sighed. I hated being here. Most of my classmates and people I came across made me feel unwanted except for my best friend, Matthews. We arrived at school at almost the same time.

"Elena, I thought you said you weren't gonna come," He said as he was also parking his bike beside me.

"Yes I wasn't but here I'm," I faked a smile, replying to him in high pitch. He wasn't ready to let me be. He decided to take a walk with me as we entered the school building.

We have been buddies since kindergarten. We attended the same school and had a lot of similarities with each other. We enjoyed each other's company till the tenth grade. He would always talk about how he would marry me in the future and travel the whole world with me by his side. I always laugh when he brought that up. It was pretty cool for him to have dreams as big as that, it was fun minus the marrying part. I've grown too close to him to see my future with him and besides I was in high school. I needed to get a life first.

I tried walking through the day that morning in school. I covered myself with my hoodie properly, avoiding being noticed by anyone on the school premises. The bell rang for the first period. I headed to my locker to get my books and materials.

The corridor was filled with so much energy. Students are up and about carrying out various school activities. Some with their friends having a conversation and others getting hyper about their next classes. I haven't even seen my classmates yet, probably they were in class.

I was caught up in my supposed fascination that I didn't realize I was about to bump into someone and when I did, it was already too late as I had already dropped flat to the ground. Such a nice way to ruin the upcoming day.

"Hey fire face!"

I could recognize that voice anywhere, even in my sleep. Anabel, ready for her usual torments.

Anabel was the most popular girl in the whole school, known for her vibes and saucy attitude. She carried herself with so much poise and always marked her territory. She believed that no one was above her in looks, personality, and status.

A lot of boys came around like a pest, looking for the next sweet thing to perch on. They considered a relationship with her as the biggest achievement. She belittled anyone who crossed her path and today seemed to be my turn.

She always called me fire face right from middle school. An incident I never want to remember. We were to talk about the solar system as our project with a partner. Lucky for me, Matthews was available to work with me. It was finally my turn to present in front of the whole class when Anabel noticed my sunburn. I forgot to apply my sunscreen to protect my skin that day before coming to class.

My skin was fragile. I was very fair and had tendencies of being an albino were present. I was always praised for my beautiful skin till Anabel came along. Since then, my hoodies have been there to cover whatever needs to be protected. I refused to be a topic and I wasn't ready for things to repeat themselves.

"What do you want?" I sighed while I asked, attempting to pick myself from the ground. Matthews assisted by lifting me with his right hand.

"Anabel you don't always have to be this mean! Get something better to do," Matthew faced her with a frown. With his looks, he was ready to swallow her whole and spit her to the ground.

"I wasn't talking to you Jerk face. Mind your business," she hissed at him and looked back at me. "I hope you remembered to apply your sunscreen. I don't want you looking all red and disgusting. Have fun in class."

She finally left after literally crushing my self-esteem to the ground. I wasn't pained since it was a part of my everyday school life. I only needed to graduate and get a life in college.

Her words most times caused a lot of damage. Back then I looked down on myself. I couldn't even see anything beautiful in me and it saddened me. Matthews will always try to talk me up and ask me to get it together but I'd ignore it. This time around I chose to live with it and scale through the day.

"What did she just say to my best friend?" Matthews attitude took a U-turn.

"Just let it slide okay?" I pleaded slightly with him.

"She think she got my jokes, let her come back here and say more funny stuff again. She thinks she got jokes huh?"

I had nothing to say but watch him rant his anger out on what just happened. I rested my head on my locker and waited for him to finish.

"Are you done now?" I finally said after watching his dramatic expression. "You could have said that in front of her and not me."

"That's your problem. You're not ready to stand up for yourself. Honestly, what will do you without me?" He was already feeling himself for the little gesture he did back there. "See you in class baby," He took his exit to class, leaving me to handle whatever business I had with my locker.

I joined him quickly in class and sat beside him. We all waited for our subject teacher to arrive. Some were caught up gisting with their pairs, causing noise in the classroom, some took their books to study a few topics while the rest engaged in what they felt like doing at that time.

"You see, this is why you need me to be your boyfriend," Matthews just had to say "I could be standing up for you when all these bullies come around."

"You won't be everywhere with me Matt," I rolled my eyes as I replied to him. "Besides you're my best friend. I rather cherish that than lose the friendship."

"So that means you've feelings for me hey?" He smirked and raised his eyebrows repeatedly but I was about to crush his spirit with my words.

"Nope. Not at all. I got no time for love," I answered him with my face spread with a smile. It felt good as I kept on bringing his hopes down even if he wasn't ready to give up yet.

The teacher finally worked into the class, getting us to remain silent as she was about to take us on a topic in Geography. This wasn't enough for Matthews to stop talking.

"You think your dream guy will just walk into the class out of nowhere, looking so attractive, and just ask you out. Keep dreaming," he lowered his voice tone and laughed softly.

"Definitely. I'll keep dreaming to keep my reality this way," I whispered back at him.

"Well, good luck with that," he scoffed.

"Good luck to you too," I said, my head held high at how much I was ready to stand my ground on something as real as my dream guy.

"I'm not . . . " Matthews began when my gaze fell on the doorway through which Mrs. McCarthy had come in a second ago, and at the sight before me, my jaw dropped open.

Elena Sergio.

He was . . . beautiful. I never knew a guy could be beautiful. I mean I always knew that there were some handsome guys, like Chris Evans or Chris Pratt, but his look was ethereal.

I stared in awe, the world around me seemed to had shrunk to a dim speck, at the guy that had just walked into the class after Mrs. McCarthy.

To say he was beautiful would be an understatement even, he was breathtaking. Literally. Stole my breath away the moment he walked through the door, and from the look of it, he seemed to have stolen everyone else's breath away, both girls and boys alike because for the first time in like never, the entire class was silent. The jocks weren't hooting about everything and anything, and Anabel and her barbie clique of three weren't giggling at the silly jokes like their lives depended on it. The class was so silent you could practically hear a pin drop.

I let out a shaky breath, finally able to close my mouth as my eyes gulped in his features and embedded them in memory at an alarming rate. The mysterious tall first off, he was standing at over six feet if I was correct. And he wasn't the lanky kind of tall. No. He was tall and evenly muscled. He looked like he had probably been a jock in his previous school.

Having light brown skin, his eyes were the same color. Light-brown, sleepy yet sexy eyes that could make your knees go weak with just one sweep, and to make things even better, he had long lashes too. Lashes no boy deserved.

Life is unfair, huh. I thought as I silently admired the length of his lashes.

His nose wasn't snub. It was straight, pointy. And his lips. If I was told I could stare at his lips, their luscious exterior and the graceful dip of his Cupid's bow, how pink they were, like the under of a newborn's foot, all day just to pass a test, I would gladly, gladly do so, and I would wish for that test never to end.

"Class!" Mrs. McCarthy's naturally and normally high-pitched voice pulled me out of my trance-like admiration.

Ever hear someone's voice and you know that person isn't yelling, but it just seemed like it and you can't for the life of you stand the irritating nature of the voice? That was exactly what Mrs. McCarthy's voice sounded like; annoying, irritating, ear grating. And I know she didn't mean for it to sound that way but I just hated hearing it.

"KJ here will be joining you all, starting from today!" She wasn't yelling, trust me, it just sounded that way. She turned to the guy and said, "Introduce yourself to your new classmates, would you?" And then she turned away, walking over to her desk.

Until she sat down, the guy remained silent, not exactly seeming nervous but not looking at ease either.

"Well!" Mrs. McCarthy urged. "Go on."

Only after she told him to go on did he finally let out a deep breath.

"Uh," he began with an odd accent, running a hand through his dyed brown hair, "my name's Kadjiri. Kadjiri Dave Dayo, but I go by KJ, uh, most of the time."

His voice. I could practically melt. Being all that good-looking, I partly expected his voice to be not so great. Maybe his one physical flaw, but it wasn't. It wasn't horrible like I'd thought. Not at all. It sat on the fence between bass and alto-tenor. And it was amazeballs!

"I'm an, uh, international student, not transfer," he continued, his gaze moving fleetingly from one person to another. "My parents are interracial, so I previously lived in Nigeria with my dad, but we had to move because of my mom's job and family here. Nice meeting you all, I guess."

I wasn't sure why but the uncertainty in his tone made him seem even nicer. Less cocky.

"Thank you, Mr. Dayo." Mrs. McCarthy stood up as soon as he was done, surprisingly pronouncing his foreign name the exact way KJ did.

"You can have any of the vacant seats." She gestured around the class at the number of empty seats around.

It was only after KJ had walked around the classroom to the back where there were a couple more empty seats did I realize one thing. His gaze had never met mine while he was talking. He looked at every other person in the class but me. I wasn't certain our eyes didn't lock because I'd have known. The sudden flush in my already pale skin would've been a sign.

And then I remembered. I had my hoodie up and my hair almost covering my face, and to top that off, I had my glasses on. That must be why. I resisted the urge to slap my hand on my forehead.

Mrs. McCarthy did a routine roll call of the members of the homeroom before she began the English lesson on how were used properly.

For the first time, my focus and attention weren't on what the teacher had to offer, instead, it constantly drifted in and out the thoughts of the impossibly handsome and hot new guy. This wasn't like me. I would never. Elena would never. I mean, I wanted my dream guy alright and in the manner, he had come in, but I never thought I could be mesmerized just in the first couple of minutes, let alone day. It was freaking insane.

Before I knew it, the English period was over, the alerting peals of the bell signaling the end of class ringing out across the school.

"I could not believe how much you were staring!" Matthews slammed down his textbook on my desk even before I had a chance to pack up my things. And to make it worse, he wasn't being quiet about his words.

He was practically screaming, almost as if he wanted everyone to hear it, especially KJ.

"MATT!" I whisper-yelled, my face beet red, swatting at his arm that was propped up by his hand on my desk. "Stop it! Why do you have to yell anyway?"

By now almost the entire class had left, including KJ. I'd sneaked a peek at him as he walked out the door, his bookbag slung over one shoulder, a hand in his left pocket, and a chattering girl beside him.

"Why do you have to stare so much anyway?" Matthews stood to his full height and crossed his arms as I shoved my books into my bag and hurriedly stood up. My next class was history and I was about to be late.

"Don't lie that you didn't stare too," I crossed my arms and gave him a fixed look.

His facial features contorted into a mild frown. "I'm not gay, Lee. I have eyes only for you."

He knew I hated the name Lee and he very much seized any opportunity to rub it in. One day he'll get him, that was for sure.

"I mean for the first few seconds he walked in." I finally slapped my forehead.

"Well." Matthews hesitated. "Yeah, I guess."

"Aha!" I exclaimed. "I won, you lost. Sucks to be you!" And then I dashed out of the class.

"Hey, wait up!" He called, close behind me.

"I'm late already, Matt!" I yelled, running up the stairs.

I wouldn't have wasted that much time if I knew my history teacher wasn't a latecomer. But he was, and he did it every time, so by the time I got to the class on the third floor, I wasn't surprised to see he wasn't there yet, although I became so when he walked in right after I did.

"Get to your seat, Elena," he said, in a curt tone. "Quickly."

I was doing just what he said, weaving my way through the rows of already occupied joined desks, heading for my own in the middle of the class when abruptly I stopped.

Why did I stop? Because right there, in the middle of the class, sitting at my desk was KJ. Freaking KJ. Beside him was my seat. He was sitting on the seat my partner would've been on if I had a class partner in the first place.

"Elena, can you please sit down already?" Mr. Bandman said, his voice strained. Like he was holding himself from yelling.

Don't you dare use that tone on me, old man, I thought, as I gingerly walked up to the seat beside KJ and sat down. Not in front of K-freaking-J.

The moment I sat down, the fragrance of his perfume filled my nostrils. Not the raw, musky type that irritated your nose and made you either very uncomfortable or gave you a sneezing reaction, not cologne, but the type that was sweet, almost like the taste of a watery fruit. He had good taste, I could tell already.

His broad mass beside my small frame was a sight for laughs if someone happened to walk in and spot us. And he leaned back into his chair most of the time, his arms crossed, accentuating the muscles in his biceps and chest.

He hadn't said a word to me since the first twenty-five minutes of the lesson, which I wasn't paying attention to, by the way, began. I wasn't planning on saying a word either. I wasn't that type of girl. The Anabel type. I could have a huge, massive crush on you and still not say a word to you throughout high school unless you initiated the conversation yourself.

"Has, um, there been any homework so far?"

Not sure I heard right, I jerked my head up from the back of my hand where it'd been resting at once. Blinking rapidly, I turned my head to look at KJ.

Had he just spoken to me?

All of a sudden, he began talking again, but whatever he was saying, was dwindling to my senses I couldn't comprehend any other thing aside from how nicely shaped and sensual Kj's lips were.

I came to when he was saying his last statement. "So, I can make up for it."

"Homework!" I perked up, saying it a little too loudly. Fortunately, I didn't draw any unwanted attention.

"Uh." My voice was notably shaky. "No. I mean it's been only two weeks so nope, but he was saying something about wanting to assign us projects. You could ask him about any other thing you're not sure of after school. He's always ready to help and very welcoming. He even . . ."

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was aware that I was blabbing now. And if I didn't stop I was going to make a fool out of myself in front of KJ. Quickly, I put the brakes on my train of thoughts the moment I made my last statement, killing the engine to my mouth as well.

"Oh," he said, as soon as I stopped talking. "Okay. Thanks, maybe."

"No, it's totally fine." I waved and pushed my glasses up my nose.

"I was wondering earlier," he began all of a sudden, fixing his light brown gaze on me. I couldn't stand the intensity of it, his gaze, so I looked away most of the time he talked, keeping unsteady eyes out of sheer coyness. Yes, he was so gorgeous it was embarrassing.

"Is this your desk?" He went on.

"Oh, yeah," I nodded.

"I thought as much. Sorry if I invaded your seat."

"You don't need to be and you didn't take my spot or anything." I waved it off. "I'm sitting right where I should be. I used to have a partner before, but she transferred and the seat you're currently on has been empty ever since."

"Transfer, huh." He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward on our joined desk. Then, with a side look at me, his right eyebrow raised, he said, "I guess we're partners now."

All that was left was a wink and a sparkling smile to know that all these weren't real. That KJ wasn't talking and flirting with me, and it was all just a lucid dream, but there was none of those. No wink, no sparkling teeth, only a mild smile.

"Elena and the new student," Mr. Bandman called all of a sudden. "Would you be so kind as to let us in on a little bit of your conversation, since ours here is of no interest to you?"

"It's KJ, sir," KJ informed him. His voice was loud enough so he didn't have to yell.

"That's right. KJ, tell us what you've been discussing since the class began," Mr. Bandman said. "Family affairs?"

I looked up at once, the blood draining from my face in embarrassment.

"No!" I blurted.

"Well then, pay attention!" With that and a frown, Mr. Bandman turned back toward the board.

I looked back down at the book before me. For the second time today, my face was flushed, beet red, the blood underneath looking quite rosy through my pale skin.

Elena Sergio.

It was almost time for a break. We were done with Biology class in the lab. I couldn't get over the fact that KJ and I just had a short beautiful conversation. His voice was pretty amazing. He seemed friendly. For the first time in years, I was free from the thought of being judged or body-shamed for my skin color.

For a brown skin guy, his hair color was on a flick. They matched perfectly with his body type. I turned over to see if he was beside me as everyone left but he had already taken his leave. Matthew chuckled to get my attention as he packed his books. I rolled my eyes in disgust. He was trying so much to get under my skin and it was working. He could at least have my back this once that I was in love or was I?

I picked up the materials I used during Biology to balance on one hand and strap my bag on another. I planned on putting them in my locker and making my move on KJ, maybe we could have lunch together.

"You know, you could just put books in your bag without looking disoriented," Matthews finally said after I ignored his first short laughter. He exited the class with his bag strapped on his right shoulder. He was being a killjoy.

I was left alone in the class looking disorganized with my books and my bag. Making things fair, I decided to stick with Matts' advice and arrange my materials. I exited the class, walking through the corridor to get to my locker.

There he was, standing tall, opening his locker and arranging his books in it. He looked undisturbed and focus on what he was arranging or probably he was shy to socialize around. Same as me.

I kept on turning over to look at him as I arranged my books as well. His locker, painted blue, same as mine was adjacently placed beside mine. I could get a sneak peek at him without being noticed.

Finally done with my book arrangements, I opened my locker slightly to keep gazing at him. He looked cute while he try to solve his locker issues, probably he wasn't used to it in his previous school. I arranged my hair getting ready to make my move. I was setting myself to go right there and talk to him, asking him to join me for lunch at the cafeteria. Not a bad idea in my case.

My locker was closed by me. I adjusted my shirt and ran my hands into my hair. I needed to look beautiful enough to shoot at him badly. His company was needed.

Walking towards him slowly, I took baby steps. It felt like I was paused and played repeatedly as I wasn't sure whether to move or not. When I moved slowly towards his locker, I was pushed hard to the other side of the corridor. My hair was all messy. I regained myself and dressed my hair to see who it was.

The She-devil herself, Anabel. She was going after him as well. This would add to her ego on the school's campus and give her bragging rights. She got her bragging rights through different means, including bullying, dating the newest and hottest guys on campus, and also by participating in different school activities such as talent shows and others in her likeness.

She paused her steps and turned to face me a bit. She smirked at me and winked, so evil. She figured I liked him and planned her moves ahead of mine. She finally got to him, therefore starting a conversation with him.

My countenance changed and I walked back to my locker, glaring at them with disgust. I was disappointed but fortunately, no one saw what she did because if they did, I'd have been the talk of the whole school.

I leaned my back on the locker and folded my arms a bit when I saw Matthews coming towards his locker which was near mine. We always had our lockers together by each other since we started high school. What were best friends for?

He clapped his hands as he laughed at me softly. He saw what Anabel did which was humiliating but he chose to mock me with it.

"It seems like you don't understand what I said earlier," He finally said. There was nothing to understand there if he was going to favor himself.

"There is nothing to understand. You can stand there and laugh at me," I replied rolling my eyes at him.

"Elena, Elena, Elena," He had to say my name repeatedly. "I know you wanna date a hot guy who looks pretty physique and attractive but there might be some consequences." What was he talking about?

"Which is?" I asked. I needed to hear the consequences he had in mind.

"First of all, if you both started dating, you're gonna be in a battle with other girls since they'll want him as well. Lots of insecurities between you two, you guys won't even last a week in a relationship."

"Haha really funny," My sarcastic reply to him. He wasn't making any sense to me with his so-called truth.

"You can choose to believe me or not. But that's the truth. No hate."

"I guess I've to find out then." The bell for lunch finally rang. A perfect time to leave him hanging by his locker. I walked through the corridor to get to the cafeteria. I needed to get something to eat.

"You can't keep avoiding the conversation!" I heard Matthews' voice behind me but I chose to ignore it. I was craving rice and beef and I needed to get them.

The school cafeteria was very busy. Students from different grades all rushed to get served at any of the waiting tables by any of the chefs they see. The chefs dressed in hairnets covering their hair and also an apron tied around their waists. They made available varieties of food according to the classes of food.

I ordered mango, my favorite fruit with rice and beef. I went to my favorite table to eat myself, my favorite table with my best friend. We always had our meals together except today, I left him at his locker where he mocked my feelings for my founded love.

Something got my attention. KJ walked into the cafeteria with eyes all over him but he didn't walk alone. He had Anabel by his side showing him his way around. Ugh! She outdid herself again. Splendid move.

I sat down aggressively, watching her act lovey-dovey over my dream boy. I needed to seek advice on my move to make and I knew the perfect person.