- "Sorry," Alex finally managed, looking up at Jackson apprehensively from her collapsed crouch on the floor. Grimacing in thanks, she took his hand and lifted herself up. It was a bit of a struggle. She never went to her locker to exchange her things (it constituted too much walking), so a ton of her books were always perpetually in her backpack--although comparatively to others her bag was still pretty light. Yet, it was still dead weight, and it took her a few embarrassing moments to pull herself upright, and she couldn't help feeling it was at the expense of Jackson. Because of her natural paranoia, she was sure he was feeling impatient and thought her some sort of stupid klutz. Normally she wouldn't have cared, but this guy was an athlete. Alex spent most of her time trying to avoid the social higher ups. While she couldn't say she was particularly afraid of them, her high school life was infinitesimally easier without them breathing down her back. She hoped Jackson was easy going. She knew that a few others would probably kill her just for meeting their eye, much less bumping into them in the middle of the hall.
"Thanks," Alex nodded, brushing herself off. "Uh, sorry again," she added somewhat awkwardly. She rocked on her feet for a moment, not sure what she was supposed to say or do anymore. Eventually, whether or not Jackson said anything, Alex continued, "Anyways. I need to get to my AP, so...yeah. Won't happen again, I'll stay out of your way." With that, Alex slipped away--hesitantly at first, seeing if Jackson was going to try and stop her for whatever reason. Eventually she started a rather jerky but hasty flee down the hall, momentarily forgetting whether or not he was in her class and whether or not she'll have to see him again. That would be awkward.
Eventually, Alex entered the lab where her AP was to find no one there. Frowning, she glanced at her watch and then turned to look at the analog clock above the door. It was around the time for class. Frowning, Alex sat herself down at the desk to wait for the class to start when the professor stuck his head in, saying, "Alex, class is cancelled. There were quite a few people absent today"--Probably because they're hung over, Alex silently added--"so I figured there wouldn't be much point having class. You have the period free."
"Cool, thanks," Alex nodded, grabbing her things and stepping out of the room again. Sighing, she glanced around. Now what was she going to do? She didn't have much homework, it was only the first class of the day. Shrugging, Alex figured she might as well go practice a bit more. She headed down the hallway to the orchestra room at the very end of it. No one was inside. Perfect. She hated audiences. She never played as well when they were around. Alex set her backpack down and pulled out her viola from its case before sitting herself down.
"Bach first suite, courante. Go," she commanded herself before playing. It was like a ceremony of hers: announce what song she was about to play. Not that she really did that at actual performances, but it helped her remember the notes to the title. Theoretically.
