The Most Handsome Face

Monday morning rolled around quickly, and Keisha hurriedly walked into Mr. Adams' Biology class. As usual, she came in early with over fifteen minutes to spare.

Smiling brightly, she waved to Shalini who was already waiting for her. Taking the seat her friend saved for her, Keisha greeted the brunette.

"Good morning, Lin," she called her nickname. "No window seat today?"

"No, unfortunately. I don't want to get involved with a certain bimbo. Hint; it's Addison."

Keisha rolled her eyes as she remembered last week's encounter with the Barbie-wannabe. Though she didn't like sitting away from the breezy window, she was glad her friend had taken the high road and was avoiding conflict.

They'd both had enough of Addison shooting murderous glares at them throughout the past week.

As if on cue, Addison strolled into the hall, texting distractedly on her phone. Keisha and Shalini watched her and as if feeling their gaze, she looked up at them. She seemed shocked that they were sitting in the middle of the hall but quickly reverted her expression to a scowl.

Scoffing, she walked past them and took a seat near the window, muttering an "I win" under her breath. Both girls rolled their eyes at her childish behaviour, choosing to ignore her instead.

"So, Keisha," Shalini spoke, trying to lift the mood with conversation, "what did you get up to this weekend?"

Keisha lit up at that, clasping her hands gleefully. "You'll never believe what happened, Lin! I got permission to start my own club!"

"Really? That's cool. I didn't know students could start clubs outside of the already existing ones."

"Technically, we can't. But I convinced Mr. Samuel to let me do it."

"Lucky you. So, what's your club about?"

Keisha playfully did a drum roll on her laps, before pulling out the poster she designed earlier. "Ta-da! It's a detective club!"

Admiring her friend's work, Shalini nodded in approval. "Nice, Keisha. I love the poster and your club sounds really cool."

"Thanks," Keisha brimmed with pride. "So will you join my club?"

Her friend's face fell. "I'm sorry, Keisha, but I can't. I already signed up for the bowling club."

"It's okay," Keisha shrugged, feeling disappointed. "There's nothing to be sorry for."

"Can I at least help you handout fliers and put up the posters?"

Shalini felt bad that she couldn't join her friend's club so she wanted to support her at least. "You're not planning on doing that all by yourself, are you?"

"I don't want to bother you."

"I don't mind at all. What are friends for?"

Keisha beamed at her friend, giving her a nod of approval. "We can distribute the fliers around lunch at the campus square."

"Sure. Before then we should put up the posters on every noticeboard on campus."

"That's a great idea. We'll have to make some copies though. I didn't make enough."

"No problem, we could use the machi- "

Shalini was interrupted by the arrival of the teacher, the entire hall falling silent at his stern glare.

"We'll talk later," Keisha mouthed to her friend who nodded in agreement. Turning to focus on the lecture, both girls listened attentively as Mr. Adams began his class.

-

The campus square was brimming with activity when Keisha and Shalini arrived. That was usual at this hour as most staff and students came out to eat or relax.

The square was quite large, made up of several restaurants and shops all filled with people. It was the peak of the lunch rush hour and Keisha was glad Shalini had joined her. She would've been too shy to share the fliers in such a crowded place.

Setting their belongings down on a nearby bench, the girls split the pile of handbills in half. "Alright, Keisha. I'll go towards the east and you handle the west. We'll meet back here in half an hour."

Raising a confused brow, Keisha questioned her friend. "Which way is west?"

"Over there, silly," Shalini pointed in the general direction of some shops. "Now let's get to it."

Shalini skipped off without another word, leaving her friend perplexed at her enthusiasm. Clutching the handbills, Keisha headed in the 'western direction' Shalini pointed her in.

Feeling slightly anxious, Keisha approached a girl standing outside a shop and handed her the bill. "I'm starting a detective club. Our first meeting is by four later today in the Sci- "

"Not interested," the girl said as she refused the flier before walking away, leaving Keisha standing there awkwardly.

How embarrassing, Keisha thought. Was this how it was going to go?

Not wanting to give up, Keisha shook it off and walked up to a group of boys. Explaining her intentions, she handed the fliers to them and unlike the first girl, they took it before walking off.

A sense of accomplishment washed over her and she suddenly felt motivated. Riding on her wave of new energy, Keisha began to hand out the fliers to more people, getting more confident with each try.

"Hey, I'm starting a club. Our first meeting is by four."

"Come join the Detective Club. We meet in the Science building."

"Would you like to join my new club? We investigate crimes and solve mysteries."

"You're welcome to stop by at the Detective Club's first meeting. It's free."

Looking down at the handbills left with her, Keisha realized she'd almost finished her entire stack. There were less than ten left and she felt proud of herself for successfully handing most of the fliers out. She wondered how Lin was faring.

Deciding to finish up, Keisha glanced up and accidently locked gazes with a figure standing across the busy street.

The familiar brown eyes stole her breath away and she could feel her heart beating faster in her chest. Smiling warmly at her was Mr. Samuel.

The sight of his smile made Keisha's cheeks grow warm and she immediately reached up to touch them. Mistaking her action as a wave, he waved back at her and Keisha could feel the panic begin to rise.

She needed to get away from him as fast as possible before she did more stupid things she'd regret.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, momentarily startling her. Pulling it out, she realized it was an alarm she'd set to meet back with Shalini. She'd completely forgotten about that, but it served as a perfect excuse to run away from-

"Ah!" Keisha screamed in shock as she looked up from her phone to find Mr. Samuel standing in front of her.

"Hello, Keisha," he smiled. "I've been meaning to speak with you."

Keisha's mind had turned to mush, barely comprehending the words he was saying. Instead, the moment she hugged him replayed in her head and a wave of butterflies washed over her.

Horrified, she yelped, earning a puzzled stare from the dean. "Keisha, are you ok- "

The dean didn't get to finish his statement as Keisha suddenly bolted away from him, running as fast as her feet could take her. Regret overwhelmed her and she felt embarrassed that she'd acted like a fool before Mr. Samuel.

Oh, what will he think of her now?

Groaning in shame, she cursed under her breath. Why of all people did she have to like him?

Running out of breath, she slowed till a stop, still feeling flustered. Glancing down at her hands, she realized they were empty.

Oh no, she thought. She'd accidentally dropped the fliers when she ran away.

"Just great," she muttered. "Just wonderful."

With a frustrated sigh, she headed back to Shalini, eager for some company to distract her from her woes.

-

It was 4:00 pm and Keisha waited patiently for someone to walk through the doors of the class.

Shalini had left to go attend her bowling club meeting, but before she did, she'd helped Keisha set up decorations in the old classroom assigned for the Detective Club. It wasn't anything too special – just a welcome banner and some streamers – but Keisha appreciated the help.

She'd wanted to make a good impression with her club and she was glad Lin helped her borrow some decorations from the art department.

Deciding to pass time before anyone arrived, Keisha let her mind wander. How many people would join the club? What kind of people would they be? Would they be friendly like Steph and Shalini, or rude like Addison?

She certainly hoped it was the former and not the latter as she couldn't imagine having to spend time after school with someone like Addison.

Glancing up at the clock, it read 4:20 pm. Perhaps everyone was fashionably late?

Taking out her phone, Keisha opened it and began to play Handy Krush to distract herself. After all, she still had a goal to beat Steph. Immersed in her game, she played several levels until her phone notified her that her battery was low.

"Crap," she muttered, looking up at the clock once more. It was now 5:30 pm and not a single soul had showed up.

Disappointment weighed down on her, and she felt a lump form in the back of her throat. Despite spending her entire afternoon handing out fliers and putting up posters, nobody turned up. She felt a pang of hurt, clenching her fists to prevent herself from crying.

Was she that lame?

Looking at the Detective Club poster on the wall, anger surged through her veins. What was she thinking; a detective club? Who would be interested in such a childish idea? What would they do, investigate stolen gym shoes and missing socks?

How stupid could she be?

Storming to the poster, she ripped it off in anger. She didn't stop there, as she tore it further into tiny pieces so that it could never be put back together. She threw the pieces on the ground and began to violently stomp on them as if they were the source of her pain.

Her blood boiled as she stomped repeatedly on the scattered pieces, cursing herself for being such a pathetic loser.

What was wrong with her? Why was she so dumb? Why couldn't she just be cool like all the other kids? Was she cursed?

Perhaps this was her fate. She was fooling herself into thinking anything would change. Nothing would ever change; she couldn't change it.

No matter how hard she tried to deny it, she would always be that pathetic, cowardly reject from high school.

This was her reality.

"Pitiful" a deep voice interrupted, frightening her. Startled, she lost balance and fell flat on her buttocks. "To think Bowers believes you have something to teach me. It's pitiful."

Keisha glanced up to see who had rudely interrupted her breakdown and was met with the most handsome face she had ever seen.