Loose Change~ Montgomery De La Cruz / Zach Dempsey/Scott Reed

Part 3 Chapter 12a

tw: mentions of abuse, mentions of sexual assault, mentions of physical and emotional parental abuse, mentions of abortion

They had been on seven dates. Technically. If you consider spending lunch together a date. Ophelia did, since that was the closest she would get to an actual date for a while. There was no way Ophelia would be allowed to go anywhere with a boy after school, alone or in a group. No boy except for Zach, and maybe Tony.

But Montgomery wanted to get her time somehow.

So they ate lunch together seven days in a row, one after the other. Weekends included, but only because the football team was doing extra drills that weekend. Ophelia convinced her mom she went to 'watch after' Zach, but in reality she waited for them to break for lunch, and then went to the same table where her and Montgomery sat together during schooldays.

He would sneak away from the rest of the team, and meet her there, always smiling, always so amazed she was actually there, waiting for him.

They talked about so many mindless things. The conversations seemed always were entertaining to Ophelia, because she loved hearing him talk about anything. Even football, which she thought was boring, sounded like the best thing in the world when he described it.

After a full week of their lunches, Montgomery knew he didn't want to blow it. He had known her for such a short amount of time, but didn't want to risk going back to his high school life without her. He never had a real girlfriend, just girls he would mess around with, and then they would both get tired of each other. He never talked with those girls like he talked with Ophelia. It was about physical pleasure with the other girls, but him and Ophelia hadn't done anything like that yet. She hadn't even let him kiss her. Not that he tried. He was still too nervous too. But even thought they did nothing sexual, he felt more excited to see her each day than he had been with anyone ever before.

So the day she told him she wouldn't be able to spend lunch with him, he was angry. He was angry because she had built all this excitement and expectation, just to tell him that he wouldn't be getting the conversation he looked forward to everyday.

"I'm not going to be able to see you for lunch today," she told him. She caught him at his locker. She meant to tell him quickly, and then move on, because she didn't want Zach to see her with him. But Montgomery wasn't satisfied with her statement.

"Why?" he asked her. He tried to keep any attitude out of his voice. He shoved a book into his bag.

She sighed, "I have an assignment due today that I thought wasn't due until tomorrow. I'm going to work on it in the library."

He shut his locker. He tried to do it softly, but ended up slamming it. She didn't seem to notice the loud noise. He was glad.

He said quickly, "You can work on it with me. I'll help you."

Ophelia blushed. She admitted to him, "I wouldn't be able to focus around you."

Now, Montgomery was the one with his face heating up red. "Oh." That's all he could think to say. But on the inside, he felt beyond happy.

Montgomery glanced up and down her body, quickly. She wore a dress that was to her mid thigh. He could see her figure. He had seen her earlier, and was excited about sitting so close to her at lunch, maybe touching her.