The Hazardous Effect of Love

one

  He watched her from the back of the class, she chewed her inner cheek and twirled her pencil around her slender fingers. He watched her write and how she pressed down too hard and the lead snapped. She sighed in frustration before pushing more lead out and continuing to furiously write. She stopped occasionally to blow a strand of hair away.

"Leo," their teacher called out his name and his eyes averted up to stubby and short teacher with beady eyes and thinning pale hair. "Your hand has stopped moving so I'll assume that you're done with the assignment I've given you." Leo looked at the blank page in front of him and took away the pencil from behind his ear.

"Um," he pressed his lips together, "What was the assignment exactly?" A few girls giggled and his own smile came to rest on his lips while his teacher's hands went to his hips in fury.

"Who knows what my assignment was?" Everyone exchanged worried glances and hushed whispers; asking the other if they knew. "Anyone out of you ignorant little brats?" He took his index finger and thumb to the bridge of his nose and rubbed it as a sigh fell of his lips.

"Sir?" he asked with a slightly raised hand.

"What, Leo?" he snapped and brought his hand to his side.

"Charlie knows," he mumbled and looked up and her eyes met mine. Leo hoped she would have a smile playing, but her mouth was open in horror and her eyes were wide. "I saw her writing." The teacher walked over to her desk and ripped the paper covered in writing from under her arms as she tried to cover it.

His eyes scanned over it and one of his eyebrows shot up in surprise as he read it over and Charlie's face turned red. "Amazing writing," Leo tried to shoot her a supportive smile, but she only put her small hands over her face. "Although this isn't poetry class. Next time you should pay attention."

He continued to give the class a lecture on paying attention, and it somehow ended up on the topic of being successful and staying away from drugs. Leo zoned out - no surprise there. He kept trying to steal some looks from Charlie, and he knew that she could see him from her peripheral vision because she kept blushing and turning her head back to lap.

Her light brown hair kept falling in her face from her braid and the cardigan that was too big for her small and bony frame kept falling down her arm to expose the spaghetti strap of her shirt and her pale shoulder. Her skeletal fingers had to keep tightly pulling it back over.

The obnoxious bell rang out through the room, silencing the teacher. "Class dismissed." Charlie shoved everything in her messenger bag and tried to hurry out, but Leo was already all packed up and raced out to catch up with her.

"Hey, Charlie!" He ran to her and heaved when she finally stopped. A navy blue notebook was clutched to her chest and she looked surprised to see Leo so eagerly trying to get a quick moment with her. He had been pining after this girl for six months now. It was always the same. A cheesy pick-up line before asking for her number.

And it was always the same. A cute little smile would ghost on her lips before disappearing again with the shake of her head as she walked away.

"If you were a keyboard, you'd be just my type." The smile came. The shake of the head, but it was more humorous.

"You told me that a few weeks ago," she giggled and began to walk away, but Leo kept pace with her as a look of childish amusement took place on his features.

"You're keeping track?" She blushed and nodded.

"Can I use your phone?" she gnawed on her pouty bottom lip and he excitedly nodded. She was using his phone. This was progress. It had to be. He handed it over and she was typing for a little before handing back over. "Thanks," she said quietly, "you should text me sometime." She turned on her heels and walked away and this time Leo was blushing as he looked at his screen and the new contact saved.

charlie the awkward poet

He watched her walk off campus with a smile.