His Laughter

I was twenty minutes late for my first class for that day, English. I had overslept through my alarm and my mother had forgotten to wake me, so that was a failure. I had my project for my English class in my hands and, because surely no one would be in the hallways twenty minutes into class, I was sprinting recklessly to English. 

My backpack was halfway off of my shoulders and while I was looking behind me to try to keep my bag on, I failed to see the other person in front of me. I slammed into them and due to the fact that, at 5’ 1”, I was an extremely short high schooler and the person I ran into was probably six feet tall, I fell onto my butt with a hard thump. Plus I was wearing heels, as usual, to make me taller so I was off balance.

“Ow!” I cried out. That was quite a lot of force throwing me onto my behind. Great, my butt was now bruised. Taking a moment to gather myself, I looked up to see who I had run into. I was simultaneously shocked and not at all surprised to see Greyson Keller. Of course he would be skipping class, he was this school’s stereotypical “bad boy”. 

Up until this moment, I had done a relatively good job staying out of the spotlight. I had a niche friend group and I enjoyed being friends with them. I could always make them happy. We were all from different walks of life, but we had each other and that was all we needed. We didn’t try to define ourselves too much. We just kept to ourselves. 

“What the hell?” Greyson said, looking extremely angry. It was a bit of an unwarranted overreaction, but I had heard that he had anger issues before, so I let it go.

Oh, I should apologize, I realized after my startle. Getting up and slightly rubbing my hurt rump, I stood face to face with him. Or, my face to his chest. Actually… my eyes widened as I saw what had happened. I felt a laugh attempting to squeeze it’s way out of my throat. Disregarding it and I gave my best shot at a genuine apology. I met his dark gaze with my own mint green one. I know, a bit of a strange color, but I digress. “I’m so sor-,” I cut myself off, fighting off a giggle. My apologetic expression was breaking. Clearing my throat and schooling my features, I began again. “I’m really sorry,” I said in full, thankful I got through the sentence. He still looked angry. 

I knew it was obvious I was trying not to laugh, which was most likely an unusual reaction to his domineering demeanor when he was angry. I tried to keep my eyes away from the mishap on his chest because if I looked at it one more time I would burst out laughing. Alas, self control was never my strong suit. I peeked out of the corner of my eye and the pressure building up was finally released. It started as a snicker that slipped out, but I smothered it. Then a chuckle. I couldn’t suppress my urge anymore and I let out a full out laugh. 

It wasn’t meant to be a mean laugh, I just couldn’t help myself. I didn’t cackle though. My laugh was something I got compliments on from my friends. They claimed it could make anyone smile. Maybe not everyone. Greyson wasn’t smiling.
Now, to explain. My project had included a large poster of a shirtless man’s body. Somehow, this poster had plastered onto Greyson’s body perfectly. Maybe it wasn’t that funny. But, it was the funniest thing I had seen that day and my funny bone has been sufficiently tickled. 

Finally, I calmed down enough to form a coherent sentence. “Sorry,” I apologized again, my breaths coming slower. I pulled the poster off of him and rolled it up the way it was before. 

“Did you just fucking laugh at me?” he demanded. 

“Yes,” I said honestly. “Also, watch your profanity!” The look he gave me could kill. I looked at my feet. Then I realized how weird it was to carry posters of strange muscled men in school. “Oh! You must think I’m a hirquiticke or something!” I exclaimed.

“A what?” he asked.

“Hirquiticke?” I said. “It basically means horny teenager. I have a passion for rare words.” He looked like he didn’t know what to do with this information. “Anyway, I have an explanation for the poster! I’m doing an English project on the unrealistic physique considered attractive for men and that there is a double standard for men and women, so people should be aware of both. The poster was an example of an unrealistic body standard.” I explained. He wasn’t really listening. He was just watching me ramble looking mildly amused. His mood changed rather quickly. I trailed off when I felt his gaze and immediately started feeling self conscious.

I wasn’t really an ugly person and I liked to believe there were no ugly people. I just wasn’t hot like the other curvier girls at my school. I was just cute. With my short stature, honey blond hair, and bubbly personality I embodied what the definition of general cuteness in a human was. 

Feeling awkward, I looked at the wall which conveniently held a clock for me to stare at. “Holy heck! I’m so late!” I panicked, gathering my things and continuing my sprint to my class, not sparing a second glance for Greyson.

Little did I know that my encounter with Greyson would change the rest of my high school experience forever.