You don't even want me

13.

[Camille]

My eyes quickly read the words on the pages in front of me; I was reading in my bed before going to sleep on a Sunday evening, but when my phone buzzed on my bedside table I was quickly distracted. I reached out for it and made the screen light up, surprised to see a message from James.

James: Hey Millie, well prepared for the test?

That Monday, we had a maths test and with James's extra explanation past Friday I actually had the feeling that I knew how to do it and wasn't going to fail another test.

My fingers typed my answer with a huge smile on my face, sending it right after.

Camille: Yes, I got this :)

He read it immediately and soon started typing his answer, making me wait impatiently. When it came, my eyes traced over the words, the smile still there.

James: That's nice to hear
James: If you have questions or anything, you know how to reach me

I bit my lip and stared at the screen with an absent look on my face, clicking on his profile picture before going to sleep. It was a nice picture of him and his friends, Max and Tyler, and they were all 3 laughing while looking at the camera. It must've been late when they took it, because the background was a quiet street, the only light coming from the street lanterns and turning everything a beautiful shade of yellow, and the 3 of them were all wearing beanies.

I zoomed in on James, a smile automatically appearing on my face since he looked so happy in the picture, and after looking at him for a while, I put the phone away and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

~~~

My alarm clock went off too soon and before I knew it, I was sitting in the back of the class next to James again. I didn't pay attention to the lesson completely, one eye always focused on James and his actions so I was prepared if he accidentally touched me.

I wasn't as tensed as I used to be when I was just sitting next to him, I felt more comfortable in his presence and I liked it; it was nicer to sit on my chair in a relaxed way than like I could die any second.

When I had the maths test lying in front of me on the table, everything went well for the first time in a while; I could fill in every single question and I didn't doubt once while my pen smoothly moved over the paper.

When I was ready I leant back in my chair, crossing my arms in front of my chest, looking down at the paper. I couldn't believe I'd actually completely filled in a maths test by myself, thanks to James.

My eyes shifted to him, who was leaning back in his chair as well since he'd already finished too, and my heart skipped a beat when I noticed he was looking back at me.

He stared at me with pride and joy, moving from me to the test on my desk, then back to me with a questioning look. I nodded, letting him know that it went well and the corners of his lips turned up in a smile, making my cheeks turn a bit red at the thought that he was proud of me.

I almost jumped when the bell rang and everyone got up from their seats, grabbing their tests and handig them to the teacher on their way out. Me and James did the same, and we walked to our next classroom together, warm feelings constantly rushing through my belly while he was walking beside me, even though we weren't talking.

Our next lesson was chemistry, and everyone usually just sat down where they wanted next to their friends, but I walked to my place in the back of the class, expecting Jasmine to come and sit next to my while James would sit with Max somewhere else.