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In a completely predictable turn of events, Jolyne was not paying attention.
It wasn't her fault that her teacher had a voice that made her feel like she was slugging through the marshes of the Everglades, or that she couldn't make head or tails of... well, whatever the hell he was going on about. Something about pythons, which somehow had to do with the endless triangles what's-his-name was drawing on the whiteboard. And maybe it was the fact that he was using an orange dry-erase marker to draw them, but they were really starting to remind her of Doritos.
Okay, maybe that was because she was a little hungry. Either way, there was less of a chance of her absorbing any of this information in any meaningful way than there was of her suddenly sprouting wings and flying into the sunset. Taking advantage of the teacher's back being turned to draw another tasty snack covered in numbers and scribbles, she swiped her phone out of her bag and unlocked it, tapping on the text message app's icon, which had a glaring red (6) in the corner.
Annasui:
Are you free tonight? (12:14 pm)
Wanna hang out? (12:15 pm)
Hello? (12:20 pm)
All women are the same. You take advantage of men's devotion and turn it against us, use us for your personal gain, and then kick us to the curb. Well I won't allow myself to be duped any longer. (12:47 pm)
...
Wanna come over later? (1:03 pm)
Jolyne swiped over the conversation without a second thought, deleting it from her history with an eyeroll. She opened the chat directly below it, allowing herself a small smile when she read the contact name.
Hermes:
Hey (1:02 pm)
Jolyne:
Hey what's up (1:10 pm)
Less than a minute later, she saw the bubble which indicated that Hermes was typing. Ha, her class must be just as boring as mine.
Hermes:
Just sitting here in class doing jack shit. Let's play something (1:11 pm)
That's how the girls found themselves in a heated match of 8-Ball, which resulted in Hermes' victory, as always. Whatever. Jolyne never took it to heart- she was the crowned champion of Mancala in their friend group, after all. She glanced up at the board where the teacher had moved from drawing triangles to writing out formulas that she vaguely recognized, but didn't have the mental strength to unpack. She tilted her head all the way back, rolling it from side to side to crack her neck before pulling her phone back into view.
Jolyne:
I'm hungry. We should ditch. (1:15 pm)
Hermes:
I was just thinking the same thing. (1:15 pm)
Jolyne:
Bathroom break in 10. West corridor again? (1:16 pm)
Ten minutes later, at 1:26 pm on the dot, Jolyne raised her hand and asked to be excused to the restroom. The teacher, either oblivious to her plans or simply too far into senior year to care, allowed her to leave, and the girl made her way to the corridor where she knew Hermes was waiting for her. Together they made quick work of the faulty locks on the windows and climbed out to the parking lot on the other side.
"They really need to fix those," Hermes said with a smirk, swinging the camouflage-pattern lanyard with her car keys on it around and around her wrist until it made a jingly smack against her arm, then proceeding to swing it the other way around.
"I mean, they should. But do you really want them to?" Jolyne asked, absentmindedly bumping her shoulder into her girlfriend's opposite side as they walked, where she wasn't in danger of getting a dent in her forehead via lanyard attack. "You'd give up going on more daring escapades with me?"
Hermes chuckled. "Not very daring when it takes a minute tops to break out. Actually, I think I'd welcome the challenge." She smiled. "Would make things a little more exciting around here, at the very least."
The pair found their way to Hermes' car, her sister's old red chevvy that drove just fine despite looking like it was desperately clinging onto life. As the other girl turned the keys in the engine and the car shook and sputtered, Jolyne took the opportunity to let her hair loose from her buns, shaking her head as it fell over her shoulders. "Can we go to McDonald's?"
"Dude. I was just thinking about their chicken nuggets," Hermes said excitedly, seeming impressed with their mental connection. Jolyne knew it was because they practically lived at McDonald's, but it was a nice thought regardless. Her girlfriend really was cute, though she knew she would immediately object to that label. "Sick," she commented instead, opting to stare out the window at their high school, rapidly fading away. Goodbye.
Suddenly, Jolyne felt that familiar pang of guilt in her chest she always got when she cut class for no reason. She already knew how her mom felt about her several failing grades - that's why they were taking Hermes' car instead of her own - but somewhere in the back of her mind, Jolyne could picture her father, his eyes raking over her report cards, shaking his head in disappointment. She scoffed. Why did she even care what he thought? It's not like he was ever around enough to care about her. And besides, it wasn't for no reason. She was hungry.
The soft touch of her girlfriend's hand weaving its way in to her own broke her out of her frustrating thoughts. She slowly turned her head to the side where she met Hermes' warm eyes, and managed to give her a half-smile. The other girl took a quick look at the stop light they were currently stopped at - still red - and leaned in for a quick peck on the lips. "Hey. Stop thinkin' so much. I hate when you do that."
"What, you don't want me to ever think? About anything?" Jolyne shot back lightheartedly.
Hermes smirked. "You know what I meant. Overthinking. Don't let everything get to your head. It'll all turn out fine. Just think about those chicken nuggets. Hey, I'll even buy you a smoothie." What a lady charmer. Jolyne's own smirk faded quickly, though, and her eyes widened. "Dude, go." As if to punctuate her point, the car behind them gave a shrill honk as the other lanes passed them by.
"Oh. Fuck," the girl said simply, and pressed on the gas. She kept one hand on the steering wheel and with the other, lightly squeezed Jolyne's. Soon enough, they arrived at the fast food joint, ready to devour some grease and carbs.
It'll all turn out fine. Hermes' words echoed in her mind as they lined up to order, hand in hand. Jolyne decided to believe her.