Unreturned Love

Chapter 16

Finn stared at the paper he had in his hand for a very long time, his expression nonplussed, even though the sides of his mouth were beginning to twitch. Seated opposite him, Kayline peered at his face anxiously for any telling sign. When it became obvious that he would remain silent, she had no choice but to break the silence.

"Uhh... Finn? So... How is it?" She asked, nervously twisting her hands on her lap.

Finn's gaze flickered to her from the paper, and noted the fidgeting. Struggling to keep a straight face, he opened and closed his mouth several times before finally settling carefully on a neutral word that wouldn't send him into fits of laughter. "It's... Fine".

Unfortunately, Kayline didn't buy it.

"What on earth does fine mean?!" She demanded, snatching the offending piece of paper from his grasp. Scanning the paper anxiously, Kayline bit her bottom lip and chewed it lightly. Finn looked at her, amused by her question.

"Well... If you really want to know your mistakes-"

"Don't tell me to check the textbook", Kayline snarled.

"-check your textbook". Finn finished at the same time as Kayline. At her expression of utter loathing, he couldn't hold it in any longer and chuckled. He reached over and gently retrieved the paper, brushing her hand in the process. And tried to ignore that sudden burst of electricity that had surged through him at the touch.

As he let his gaze wander over the paper again, his expression turned solemn and Finn let out a sigh, barely audible. "Look here, Kayline", he pointed at the paper. "When you're describing the atomic structure, you don't just say the 'teeny weeny bits that make up the gas'. You say "gas molecules". Like Argon gas molecules and-".

"I know I know", Kayline interrupted impatiently. "I just forgot the name of it when you sprung this stupid test on me!".

"But surely, these terms are supposed to be so ingrained in your memory that you can actually recite it in your dreams, Kay".

Muttering, Kayline rolled her eyes. "Ingrained in my memory, my ass. I forget them every time you give me a scare. Like, for example, a certain spring test". She said pointedly.

Finn shrugged, doing his best to look innocent. "Well, since you failed this test again, I suppose I'll just have to give you your punishment so that you'll have more incentive to study for the next".

"DETENTION?" Kayline groaned. Making students go for detentions was the standard punishment for a failure of a test. Some were sent to wash toilets where it stank to high heaven, others to wash up the art rooms after scraping dried paint off the walls, bleeding nails were common or the the student kitchens which were often filled with disgusting remains of burnt meals.

But Finn had other ideas.

"Nope. How does a movie, then dinner sound?" He tried to sound casual about it, silently fighting the sudden rapid increase in his heartbeat, willing the flush climbing up his neck not to move any further.

Say yes, oh please say yes, he thought to himself.

Kayline, who had sagged into her seat glumly at the thought of detention, shot back up. "What?"

"I'm sure your hearing hasn't gone bad Kayline. You heard me".

She regarded him dubiously. "Is this like... A date?"

Fin took a deep breath. "Yuup".

Say yes, yes, yes!! he screamed inside.

"So going on a date with you is my punishment? I don't have to scrub toilets or anything?".

"Not unless you want to" Finn grinned, desperately hiding the fear of rejection.

"Well, alright" Kayline shrugged nonchalantly.

For the first time that day, Finn felt a load of weight drop from his chest, splitting his face into a wide grin. "How does this Friday sound?".

Kayline nodded, and returned his grin. Yet, despite her seemingly easy behaviour, there was a flicker of doubt in her eyes.

Finn noticed it, and furrowed his brows in concern. "Anything wrong?" He asked tentatively, unsure of what had just gone wrong.

"It's just that..." Kayline hesitated. "Lee... Well, Lee has been noticing that there's kind of... Something up with us these days...".

Kayline fell silent then, but Finn already knew. It was true. Whenever they met in the corridors, Finn would find some excuse to pull Kayline off to a corner and tell her that he missed her in undertones. But Leeane was always with Kayline, and so Finn had to pretend to be talking about physics remedial. As a result, he knew that Leeane was highly suspicious of their constant meetings. But he had no choice. He missed Kayline when he didn't see her for even a second, and the moment she was out of sight, he wished for nothing more than to turn back and see her again.  Three or four times a day was already the minimum-- if he had his way, he'd have wanted to be with her always, an never leave her side. But it was impossible, and he knew it. And now Leeane had even noticed...

Kayline noticed his abrupt change in expression, and sighed softly. "Hey, it's alright. We'll still go", she smiled at him, and was relieved to see him grin back at her. "Well, that's decided then", Finn declared and pulled her into a tight hug.

########################

Leeane withdrew her head from where she had been eavesdropping, a grim look controlling her features. Moving quickly, she ducked into a shadowed recession in the wall as she watched the couple pass, holding hands and laughing as though they were without a care in the world.

... Well, they probably didn't.

At the thought, she fought to clamp down on a wave of envy that surged through her. Finn was smart he had to be, for he was a physics teacher! Finn was drop dead gorgeous as anyone with eyes could attest to, Finn was really sexy, she could only imagine, and best of all, he was about their age. Well not really, but near enough she supposed.

And now Finn was with Kayline.

The mere thought made her smoulder. Kayline was supposed to be her best friend! And she snatched Finn even though she pretended that she had no interest in men.

What a liar!

And now... They were going out on Friday. She'd be damned if she just let them have a nice cozy time outside. Just thinking of it made a nerve in her forehead tick, and her eyes narrowed in rage. As she did that, she began to form a devious plan... That would almost definitely ruin their first date. She paused for a while, a flicker of guilt arising, but just as quickly, she brushed away the notion and prepared to set her plan in motion.