A flashlight in the shadows.

Chapter 15: French buddies.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm at 7:00. After groaning and taking a ten minute shower, I made myself some toast and ran out the door. With Jane's car in the auto shop and dad at work, it meant I'd have to walk to school for about three days. I made it about halfway down the street when I heard Bennett's car pull up, him rolling down his window.
"Need a ride?"
"I don't think your 'friends' need more gossip."
"I don't think you need to be walking when it's freezing out, hop in." He replied. I stared for a moment before hopping in and buckling up. He smiled and we drove off.
"Are you excited for French class?" I asked him. He smirked and nodded.
"The teacher has quite the figure." He smirked wider. I punched his arm and giggled.
"Perv."
"What? It's only natural, according to our health teacher."
"Yeah, well he also drinks, so I'd rather not take his advice." I replied. He frowned and asked,
"How do you know he drinks?"
"He's been to my dad's shop twelve times trying to order French fries, I think that's a red flag."
"Ok, yeah I'd say so." He agreed. We pulled up to the school and hopped out.
"Well, do you know where the sign up sheets for the talent show are?" I asked. He nodded and smiled.
"Yup, follow me."
"I can do it myself Bennett."
"I want to make sure you actually do," he stated, bringing me to the sheet and handing me a pencil. I rolled my eyes and signed up for Thursday. He nodded.
"Good, mind if I come and watch you?" He asked. I shrugged.
"Sure. I'll see you later." He smiled and walked off to his friends. I watched him leave before I turned to go to my first hour. Dina came running at me.
"Sarah! I need your help! Wegottagotothelibraryafterschoolandgetmybook-"
"Slow down! Say it again?"
"We have to go to the library after school to get a book I need for a report that's due pretty soon!"
"Ok, fine." I checked the time and ran off to the classroom.
After lunch I made my way to French by myself. Non of my friends had wanted to take French. They took Spanish for the first two years of Highschool to qualify for college, but that's the only reason that they took a foreign language. I've always wanted to take French just so I could know it. When I got to the classroom, I only recognized a few people, including Bennett. I also saw Sabrina's friend with white hair and James. They all sat close by one another in their desks. I started waking towards the back, but Bennett looked up and smiled.
"Hey, Sarah. Come sit here," he patted the desk next to his. I looked around, then decided to just sit. When I sat, the girl with white hair looked me up and down.
"Are you that one girl Sabrina's been talking to?"
"Yeah, that's me." I smiled. She scowled and flipped some hair from her face.
"Well, I'm kiley."
"I'm Sarah. Let me see if I can guess."
"Guess what?" She asked, annoyed. I smiled and said,
"The reason your in here. Well, did you really want to take this class?" She squinted her eyes and shook her head slowly.
"Are you doing it because Sabrina wants you to watch me and make sure Bennett doesn't talk with me?" She nodded. I smiled again and sighed. "You should tell her it's not attractive to be clingy." Bennett and James held back their laughter as I sighed and looked forward. Kiley smiled a bit. Our teacher, Miss. Piper, walked in. She was a small woman with seemingly every shade of brown in her hair that you could possibly think of. She was skinny and had all the curves a woman should have, plus a little extra on the top. She had perfectly straight white teeth and wore a black skirt that hugged her hips and a white blouse. All the boys drooled in their seats. She clasped her hands together and smiled.
"Bonjour, everyone! I'm Miss. Piper, and I'll be teaching you French this year. We won't do very much today, I'll just call on you and please stand up and talk about yourself." She called from youngest to oldest, so I just leaned back and listened. When she called on Bennett, he smiled and said,
"Hi, I'm Bennett. My family moved here from France about two years ago and I like basketball. My favorite food is chateaubriand béarnaise and I have a little sister named Cecil, but we call her cc." He smiled and sat. The room fell into a hushed chatter. Miss. Piper looked at him and smiled wide.
"My, you were born in France?"
"Oui." He said in his normal accent. It made half the girls swoon and smile. The teacher asked,
"Where in France are you from?"
"Cherbourge."
"A very historical city!" She exclaimed, almost shaking with excitement. He smiled and nodded his head.
"Indeed so." A girl in the back raised her hand anxiously. He nodded at her and she asked,
"Can you speak more French?!" He smiled and asked,
"What's your name?"
"Gloria." He spoke fluent French for two minutes, being sure to use her name at least twice. She clapped and the teacher giggled.
"Why are you even taking this class?"
"It's easy," he stated, earning several giggles and laughs. I groaned and rolled my eyes. The teacher continued on calling people. When she got to me, I stood up and smiled.
"Hi, I'm Sarah. I like doing homework and cooking. I have one sister and I live with my dad." I sat down and crossed my legs. Kiley raised her hand and asked,
"What about your mom?"
"What about her?" I said, squirming in my seat a little.
"Where's she?"
"I-I don't know." I said, looking away. Bennett frowned and stared at me. Miss. Piper dismissed class and I started down the hallway. Bennett walked behind me after he'd said goodbye to James. I didn't turn to face him.
"Is there something you want, Bennett?" I asked. He walked next to me and shrugged.
"Are you ok?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked a little too quickly.
"I don't know, you just seemed...reluctant when she asked about..."
"Maybe that's because it's none of her business," I stated, facing him now. He threw up his hands in mock surrender.
"Ok, fine. I just wanted to make sure you were ok."
"I'll be fine, better get back to your friends before anyone suspects something." I said, turning to walk away. Bennett stood in place for a few moments, but then turned away with his hands in his pockets.
Dina waited anxiously at my locker for me, clutching her books in her arms. I set my books in my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and sighed.
"Ready?"
"Yeah, let's go!" She exclaimed. We started walking around the corner. She seemed excited about something, but I couldn't say what. Once we were about three blocks away from the school, she pulled me onto a bench and said,
"Ok, guess what!"
"What?" I asked, smiling. She was smiling so much that her cheeks were turning red.
"K, so....you know Zack?"
"Quincy?"
"What other Zacks do you know?! Yes, Quincy!" She exclaimed. I rolled my eyes and sighed impatiently.
"Yes, I know who he is."
"Well, he, well, I saw him at the grocery store, ok?"
"Ok?" I said, smiling.
"K, so, he told me I looked nice, and that he wants me to try out for basketball so we can hang out!" She practically jumped out of her seat. I scooted back a little.
"Congrats."
"That's not all I wanted to talk about!" She exclaimed. I frowned and sighed.
"What?"
"Will you go along, please?!? I don't know anyone else there except for Carson and Bennett and Kenny and mike!" She stopped, smirking. "Did you know that mike and Hannah are a thing now?"
"Yes, I also heard about Kenny and Kendra."
"Awesome right?! Anyway, would you please go!?!" She looked at me. I stared at her blankly as I thought of a way to tell her I was already going.
"Uh...I'm, kind of....already going." I said. She sat up and stared at me. Then, it hit her, and she smiled wide.
"Bennett asked you to go, didn't he?"
"No!" I yelled a little too quickly. She clapped.
"Yes he did! He likes you, doesn't he?"
"Oh, please. I'm just another nerd to someone like him. Plus, why would he want me when he could have girls like Katie or Wanda or Sabrina-"
"You are way prettier and less bitchy than any of them!" She yelled, shaking me. I leaped back and shook my head.
"Less bitchy, ok, but prettier?"
"If you'd just wear your hair down," she sighed, shaking her head. I giggled and sighed.
"Are we going to the library or not?"
"No, I just wanted to tell you that. I have to go to my talent show audition now, bye!"
"Bye," I sighed, standing up and walking to the library. I was in need of a book for French, so I walked in and smiled at Mrs. Damon. I made my way to the back of the library towards the language books. I pulled a French translation book from the shelves and sat at one of the couches that sat near the back and was hidden by several book shelves. I rubbed my temples with my index and middle finger as I studied the book for several chapters. There were only a few things I could pick up from the book, but it was still important. My studying was interrupted by a person pulling out the chair next to me and sitting down. I turned to see Bennett smiling with all his teeth at me.
"Hi, what are you doing?"
"I'm studying." I stated in a tone with a little more edge than I had anticipated. He smiled and asked,
"Would you like some help?"
"No, I think I can figure it out," I said, not looking away from the book. He set his hand over the page.
"You know what your problem is?" He asked. I looked up to see Bennett staring hard at me. I couldn't help but smile.
"What?"
"You don't know how to ask for help." He smirked. I scoffed and said,
"Your one to talk." He rolled his eyes and got up, taking the book with him.
"C'mon, we're going to have an interactive learning session." I couldn't help but notice the way his shoulder blades moved when he stood up and walked towards the shelves. He set the book in its place and took my hand, leading me out of the library. I walked beside him, although I pulled my hand away after we got outside. We stopped near a park and he pointed to a bench.
"What is this?" He asked me. I frowned and said,
"It's a bench."
"Yes. But in France, it's called a-" he translated and had me pronounce it several times before he nodded and smiled. We walked to the playground where many little children were. He pointed and asked,
"What is that called?"
"A demon child?"
"No, that."
"A merry-go-round?"
"In French, it's called-" he translated again and we continued on. We walked into Caribou coffee and stood behind a line of about six people. I pointed to the minty mocha and said,
"How do you say 'mocha' in French?" He translated and pointed to a caramel latte.
"How do you say that in English?" I giggled and punched his arm playfully, ordering my coffee. He ordered his and pulled out some money from his pocket. I frowned and said,
"I can pay for my own."
"No, I'll pay, we've got some more learning to do," he smiled and handed the old lady the money. We walked around learning French until 7:30 when his mother called him home.
"Need a ride?"
"Yeah, if you don't mind."
"Certainly not!" He exclaimed in a bad British accent. I rolled my eyes and hopped in the car. We drove home and I got out of the car.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Can I still come to your audition?" He asked, smiling. I nodded and started walking to my house. I set my bags down on the counter and started taking out some vegetables for some soup. The doorbell rang twice. I frowned and walked to the door. When I opened it, no one was around. I saw a note taped to the porch swing swaying in the wind. When I picked it up, I almost fainted. It said;
'Do you seriously think I'm through with you yet?'

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Thanks hope you guys liked it. Enjoy the next chapter, bye! ;P