If They Only Knew...

Chapter 24- Or

We stay like that for a minute, looking into each other's eyes. Not brave enough to move closer, with all these people around, but not strong enough to move away either.

When we finally do, we sit in a comfortable silence for a minute, & I try to think of something to say.

"If..." I clear my throat & he looks up at me. "If... you don't have any real friends, you could hang with me & mine. I'm sure they wouldn't mind. They're pretty cool, & always very welcoming. As long as you aren't a bigot or an asshole." I joke & he laughs a bit nervously, & I look at him.

He looks down, frowning at his shoes before speaking. "I'm not, but my sister is..."

My eyes soften & I lightly place my hand on his arm. He smiles sadly. "Yeah, I know. That sucks. But at the same time... you aren't your sister. We're not going to judge you based on her actions. Or at least... I won't."

His smile brightens. "Thank you."

"No problem, Colden." I beam, feeling lighter than air, & he looks at me quizzically, tilting his head to the side.

"I... didn't think you remembered my name... It'd been a whole year..."

I chuckle softly at the irony & he looks at me. "I... I'm gonna be honest with you. I... couldn't easily forget it..." He smiled, but still looked confused. I feel my face heat, & I duck my head down. "How... do I say this without sounding like a complete dork?"

He laughs lightly & smiles at me. "That's ok, Or. I've been known to be quite into dorks." He winks & I quickly look back at my feet again, trying to hide my lopsided smile.

"I...really liked our conversations in English last year... Even if they weren't anything deep..."

He nods, a slight blush coloring his cheeks. "Me too... We didn't really talk about much..."

I laugh nervously. "Yeah, that's for sure. The only thing we usually said to each other was 'hi' every day, or maybe, if we were feeling brave, asking about each other's day so far."

He chuckled. "Yeah... Unless we had a group activity we had to do. God, I loved those days. I mean, I usually feel so anxious about those things, but for some reason whenever I had to do one with you..."

"...I actually wanted to do one..." I beam, & he looks back at me & sighs slowly.

"Yeah."

We stare at each other for a moment & I sigh. "How were we so bad at talking to each other though? What made it so difficult that it isn't now?"

He smiled, biting his bottom lip slightly. "I... don't know, to be honest. Maybe the environment? Having all those other people in the classroom listening to us & around us, when here the only ones we have... are each other..." He blushed suddenly, & looked down & I smiled & nodded.

"Yeah, probably. I'm not usually so quiet & mellow around people. Usually I'm super ecstatic &..."

He chuckles, looking off into the distance. "I noticed."

I raise my eyebrows. "You... notice... me?"

He laughs nervously & looks at his feet. "Who... couldn't? You're like a ball of energy, everywhere you go... God-" He sighed, face reddening. "You're- so fucking amazing."

I feel my face heat. "I dunno about that... But you're not so bad yourself..." I wink at him & he buries his face in his arms. "Too much?" He shakes his head, & I laugh lightly. "What should I say? That I... think you're cute? That I... wanna keep hanging out with you? That I..." I suddenly feel very brave & I just go for it. "That I've... had a crush on you for a year...?" He looks up at me suddenly, face red & eyes wide & bright. "That I... can't stop thinking about you... That I... like you?"

Sorry to leave you guys on a cliff-hanger, I'm just that evil, I guess (mwahahaha). For real though, it's for a reason. Gotta have some kinda suspense in my books or no one would read them :'D. Welp, I should go now before I reveal too many plot points, lol. But enjoy this picture of Colden. He is such a baby character. Must protect at all times, lol :'D :3.