Not So Romeo

5

Tatum

I wake up, a smile on my face. Just kidding. I don't think it's possible for me to be happy in the morning. Whoever invented mornings is my enemy. As excited as I am to get coffee with Shawn, I wish I had like three more hours to sleep. But even if I weren't going with Shawn, I'd still have to be up and getting ready for school, so you know what? Mornings aren't the problem here, school is.

I check my phone for the time and it reads 7:15. So that means I have fifteen minutes to get ready. That's more than enough time. You see, I'm not one of those girls who take hours to get ready. Especially since I don't have to pick out an outfit each morning because my school has uniforms.

I take a quick shower, get dressed and put my hair in a cute loose braid, then head down to the kitchen to wait for Shawn. He should be here anytime.

Tyler smiles at me as I pass him in the hall. "Morning sis!"

"Good morning!" I shout back as I reach the kitchen. I then see Grayson at the counter, yet again, stuffing his face with my cereal. "Gray, don't you have your own house, with your own food?"

He swallows the food and smirks at me. "Yes Tatum, I do. But your house is calmer and your food is better."

I scoff at him, "idiot." he just chuckles and Tyler walks in.

"What're you laughing at?" he questions his bestfriend. Gray just juts his chin towards me. There is a knock on the door, interrupting whatever Ty was about to say.

I run to the door and answer it, already knowing who stands on the other side. "Hey!"

Shawn laughs at my enthusiasm, "hey to you."

"Tatum! Who's at the- Why the f**k is he here again?" my brother fumes.

"Be nice to my friend!" I scold my older brother. "And I'm riding with him today. So we'll be going now." I step out of the door and slam it in my brother's face. I don't care if its rude, if I didnt do it, he would've stopped me.

"He really doesn't like me." Shawn chuckles.

"Nah, he's just an asshole." I reply and he laughs even harder.

"So Dutch Bro's?" he raises an eyebrow.

"Sounds good to me."I reply with a small smile. "How do you do that, by the way?"

"Do what?"

"Raise just one eyebrow." he just shrugs at me and keeps his eyes on the road. We pull through the drive-through about ten minutes later.

"What would you like?" Shawn questions.

"Dirty chai, please."

He smirks. "My kind of girl." He then turns toward the speaker. "I'll take a White Zombie and a dirty chai." I hear something along the lines of 'what size' and he answers large. As we pull up to the window I go to grab my money but Shawn stops me. "I got it."

"Okay. Thanks." I smile at him and he returns it.

"I'm surprised, Mackenzie." He uses my last name.

"Why's that, Andrews?" I mimic.

He shrugs, "just thought you would argue. Although, you would've lost."

I chuckle, "just means I'm paying next time. It's only fair."

He sighs and hands me my drink before taking his own from the employee. "Guess I can live with that."

Shawn pulls out of the drive-through and into the highway and we make our way to school. It's too soon that we arrive and have to part ways. "Sit with me at lunch?" I ask, hopefully.

"Of course. See you then." he waves at me as he walks to the hall his locker resides in. I walk to mine and am met by my three closest girl friends.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do missy." my best girl, Bailey says in a motherly tone.

"Yeah. Why'd you ditch?" Bailey's identical twin sister, Courtney, questions, a hand on her hip.

Before I can speak up, our other friend, Adelaide, inquires, "and why are there rumors about you and Shawn Andrews being a couple?"

I start coughing in surprise. How the hell does the school already know about Shawn and I hanging out? I mean yeah, we rode to school together, but no one was paying attention when we got here. "I ditched because I wanted to, and Shawn and I are just friends. I'm not even sure how anyone would come to the conclusion that we're dating."

The girls just give me a look I can't quite decipher. "How the hell do you do that? I mean I get it because you two are twins," I point to the twins then turn to Adelaide, "but how do you have the same exact look on your face as them."

Bailey scoffs at me, "don't you dare change the subject, Tatum." she then gets a text and sighs. "We'll talk about this later. I have to go. There's a team meeting in Mr. Satos's room. Bye girls." she then runs down the hall.

Courtney is about to say something but the bell rings. Saved by the bell, literally. "Later girls. I gotta get to English." I wave and head to my classroom.

As soon as I walk through the door, I'm engulfed in a strong pair of arms. I giggle, already knowing who's arms I'm in. "Hey Alex!" I look up at his face.

"Hey Tate. I missed you yesterday. Why didn't you tell me you were bunking? I would've joined." he whines and I giggle at the cute little pout he gives me.

"Sorry Alex, but it was kind of an 'in the moment' thing." He just shrugs.

"Next time let me know. What kind of partner in crime would I be if I don't help you cause trouble?"

I laugh, "who ever said you were my partner in crime?"

"I'm Alexander Price, your bestfriend, legendary prankster of Whitmore Academy, and extremely good looking," more like extremely conceded. "why wouldn't you want me to be your partner in crime?"

"Because you always get caught and get into real trouble. Also, I already have one."

He looks at me and puts a hand on his chest in mock hurt. "You replaced me? How could you?"

I laugh again. "Price! Mackenzie! Shut up unless you want a detention." I tightly shut my lips and face the front of the room, where the teacher is glaring at me.

The next three classes are quite similar to my first. Me being bombarded by my friends and getting yelled at for talking. As I walk down the hall towards my locker, to put my books away, Bailey, Courtney, Adelaide, and another one of our girl friends, Marley, fall into step beside me.

They're all having a conversation about the next basketball game this Friday, and I don't really feel the need to join in. We stop at my locker so I can throw my stuff in then return to walking towards the cafeteria. Still not paying attention to the girls' conversation, I look around the halls and spot Shawn standing by the big double doors, leading into the cafeteria. I break away from the girls and walk towards him. A smile instantly graces his face as he sees me coming up to him.

He honestly has the nicest smile I've ever seen. I smile back at him. "Hey Mackenzie."

"Sup Andrews." the girls make their way up to me and Shawn, gawking at us. I guess they didn't believe me when I said we were friends. "Girls, close your mouths. You're gonna catch flies." Shawn chuckles at my statement.

He nods politely and smiles at them, "ladies." I swear Marley and Courtney just swooned. "So Tatum, you ready to get some food, 'cause I'm starving."

I nod and wave goodbye to the girls and walk towards the line with Shawn. "So I think the girls like you." I laugh. "Mars and Courtney were staring at you like you're some kind of god."

He full on laughs at this. "I don't think that's what those looks were."

We get our food and decide to eat at one of the picnic tables I'm the school's courtyard. "So you planning on going to the game on Friday?" Shawn asks, breaking the silence that consumed us moments before.

"Nah. It's not really my thing." maybe it should be, considering Grayson and Alex are on the boys varsity team and Bailey, on the girls. But I'm not really into watching sports. I'd much rather play them, but I'm not good at all.

"So want to hang out with me then?" Shawn's question breaks me out of my thoughts. I smile and nod my head enthusiastically. He smiles back and we finish our food before the bell rings, signalling fifth period.

The rest of my classes consist of me answering my friends' questions about my sudden change. Once the final bell rings, I book it from my math class to grab my needed books from my locker then head home. Im surprised to see Shawn and Tyler both at my locker when I get there. What surprises me even more is the fact that they are laughing together.

"Hey! Did I miss something?" the boys look at me and smile.

Tyler shakes his head, "nope. You were right, sis. Shawn is a pretty cool dude." I smile at my brother and the three of us walk out of the building.