Fate

Chapter 8: Conner

     I got on the bus that afternoon to go home and Conner slid onto my seat to sit next to me. I was still grinning like a lunatic from my encounter with Alex, and Conner picked up on my mood. He started grinning too.

      "What are you so smiley about?" He asked teasingly.

      "Oh nothing. You won't believe what happened today. Lots of unexpected surprises."

     "Try me."

     I looked at him. His chocolate eyes were warm with happiness and his brown hair fell into his eyes. He looked so content.

     "Alright." I said. "Guess what..."

     "What?"

     "I GOT A LEAD ROLE IN THE NUTCRACKER!!" I said jumping up and down on the seat excitedly.

      "WOW THATS AMAZING!!" Conner responded, equally enthusiastic. "What role?!?"

      "I'm the Flower Fairy! She leads all the flowers in a dance for Clara, the main character." I explained. "It's been my dream role for as long as I can remember and I finally got it!"

     "That's amazing!! I've never seen The Nutcracker before!"

     He said that last part so enthusiastically that I burst out laughing and he also started laughing as the bus pulled away from the school.

     We picked up on each other's moods so well that we probably looked insane: jumping up and down on the seats, grinning like lunatics, intense eye contact that kept making us laugh.

     Once I got my laughter under control and wiped away the tears that had formed in my eyes from so much of it I said: "Ok." Trying not to giggle again. "Since you've never seen The Nutcracker before, let me explain what it's about. So basically there's this girl Clara and her family has a Christmas party and her uncle or something is a toy maker and he gives her a nutcracker as a gift. Later that night she falls asleep with it and dreams of battling mice with the nutcracker by her side and traveling through a snow forest and eventually through the land of sweets. All the candies dance for her and it ends with her waking up with the nutcracker next to her."

     "Wow that's a lot. Sounds cool though."

     "Really? Most people think it's boring because it's ballet."

     "Oh come on. I think it's cool! Battling mice, and seeing a bunch of dancing candies for no reason! What fun!"

     I elbowed him, grinning. "Shut up."

     He grinned back, his eyes sparkling with mischief, and my heart skipped a beat.

The bus was riding down the main road at this point and we looked out the window, which was on my right, and watched all the trees and houses pass by. After about five minutes, Conner spoke and said: "It seems like something else happened. I don't know what it is but it seems like it. Did something else happen?"

I smiled even wider, thinking about the run in with Alex. I met Conner's eyes and was hit with a pang of guilt. He seemed so happy right now, I didn't want to ruin it.

Why do I feel guilty? It's not like Conner and I are a thing... still something tells me that if I tell him, it'll ruin the mood.

"Nope!" I lied.

He put his hands to his eyes like goggles and leaned towards me, looking me up and down, grinning, and said: "Are you suuure??"

I snorted with laughter.