His Departure

Part Twelve

He is back, carrying a tray , which he sets down on the gray round-shaped table. He places my order in front of me , and sits across from me, his legs crossed comfortably. I've noticed that he'd ordered the same thing, which is flattering and adorable. We sit in silence for about two minutes, until he breaks it.

" Penny for your thoughts?"

" What? no, it's nothing..." I trail off, smiling nervously. If I were to really tell him what was on my mind, he would bolt for the door within a nano-second.

" Yeah, alright. I'll try to believe that."

" You better." I playfully wink, trying hard to change the subject, and the mood of our conversation, from inquiries into playfulness, and it works.

"Careful, I am a dude, a very strong one. You don't want to mess with me, Lindsay. " He raises his arm, flashing his muscles. I gotta give him a thumbs up for this one, he is funny and pretty muscular, I must admit. Well would you look at the predicament I'd gotten myself into, I think to myself.

" Well of course you are, I do not question that one bit, wouldn't dare to. "

" Why, thank you. Let me ask you this, what would you do to get out of the friend zone with someone? "

" Well, I'd try to talk to them about it first, maybe tell that person how I feel, but that wouldn't obviously work, since I'm the female here. Rejection is obviously painful for us."

" Haha, you are totally correct. Us guys can take it, right?" he takes a bite of his donut, and I follow in his lead.

" Well, yes, obviously. You must admit it, girls over-think stuff, why put us through all of this trouble instead of just saying how you really feel?" I am secretly making him realize that I want him to say something, but I don't think he notices.

" True, true. Your turn now."

" So we're playing this game now?" I smirk at him, and I can tell I affect him just as much as he does to me.

" If you would like that, can't force you into anything, you know."

" Haha, sure. Same question."

" I knew you would say that. Well, first, I'd look for signs. Body language, how she speaks, everything. Then, I would ask her out, thus making my first move. " He sounds so attractive when he says that , I find myself gazing into his breathtaking Brown eyes for too long. I take his rapid blinking as a sign, and I look down.

" Interesting..." I trail off, turning my attention to my now half-eaten donut, and as if our actions are in sync, he does too.

" Yeah, totally. Should we head back now? It is almost time for 3rd period." He glances at his watch quickly as he speaks.

" Come on. " I get up, and take our tray over to the counter. I know they have people for that, but I always felt like it'd be impolite to just leave my stuff there. I take my latte with me, and he does the same . We both didn't have enough time to finish them off, what with all the talking and asking.

Just like when we first left school, he opens the door for me, and then gets in. He turns on the ignition, and the radio starts by itself. This time, Love is The End comes up. I close my eyes and get lost in the words and music. Our trip is quiet, no one even saying a word. I take it that Vinie is also lost in thoughts, which is why he'd left me to my own.

After too many twists and turns, we arrive. There it is, standing with pride across from us, Parker High. I've been in this school since forever. I know every teacher, every student, and even staff members. They all seem to love me, and I do too. I've watched new students come and go, I saw lies unravel, couples forming and breaking up, basically, I've seen everything.

" You okay? " His voice pulls me out of my pool of thoughts, and I am startled by his tone. He seems worried, and I could sense I've been out of it for a while.

" I'm sorry, yeah. What's wrong? " I mumble.

" Nothing , just got worried. Come, we should really go now." He gets out of the car and helps me out. He locks it and stands by me. His hand searches for mine, this time on purpose. I reluctantly move my hand closer to his, facilitating his task for him. Our hands intertwine, and I feel like we were made for each other, as if God sent him for me, and I for him. His hand is warm, too warm, and I realize, only anxiousness could do that to a person.

For the first time, the school halls seem so alien to me. Probably because this is the first time ever that I am walking side by side, hand in hand, with a guy. The only guy I'd ever gotten this close with was my old friend, Max. Unfortunately, an incident happened, and he was permanently expelled, what a shame. It wasn't like that between us though, we were never the romantic type, to me. I would tell the entire story now, but we've all got some important business to tend to.

" This is it. You have English now, if I am not mistaken, " he says in a way so unnerving.

" How'd you know?" a surge of astonishment washes over me, and I cannot manage to erase that stupid smile off of my face.

" Well, I asked Wanda for a copy of your schedule, I hope you don't mind." I can tell he is really nervous . It is plain as day, and he is trying to run in fingers through his very short hair, which makes me laugh.

" Not at all! I am actually glad you care."

" I do, I really do." My heart breaks free from my chest, and takes a leap towards the clouds. Yes, nice going heart, leave me in my time of need. Could we get any weaker, my heart and I ?

I stand on the tip of my toes, and place a gentle kiss on his cheek, nothing too intense, wouldn't wanna rush into anything just yet. He smiles, and turns on his heels, leaving me in front of the dull classroom of Mrs. Peter.

" Chapter XVIII , a flood of sunshine.

Arthur Dimmesdale gazed into Hester's face with a look in which hope and joy shone out, indeed, but with fear betwixt them-- " Who cares?! I think, as Mrs. Peter monotonously reads chapter " XVIII" of The Scarlet Letter. What number is this chapter anyway? is X even a number? I mean seriously what ever happened to 1, 2, 3? I decide to take a nap as English period wears on.

I find my thread of thoughts always trailing back to an hour ago. Everything that had happened. I was falling, hard. As if I needed that right now. I am suddenly startled by the bell, but actually quite glad. I leap up and grab my belongings. Just my black backpack and leather jacket. I shove my notebook inside my backpack, and head out. Lunch time.

Wanda is waiting for me, leaning on a random locker outside my class, kind of like our daily routine. " Why didn't you call me? I saw you two together and I've been dying to know, DYING!" she is scolding me, like a mother to her errant child. " I'm sorry I was with him, obviously." I reply, not giving anything away. Teasing her is my specialty. Her eyes shoot daggers in my direction, but I dodge them cleverly.

I tell her everything. From the bleachers, to the door-opening, and the hand holding. I start jumping up and down, as if I just realized how big of a deal this is. Wanda joins me, and we both start screaming. More than a few pairs of eyes grace us with their scrutiny, but we choose to ignore them. Wanda screams some stuff, but I could only make out " I am so happy for you" in the midst of it all.

" We are not a thing yet, babe." I state in a deadpan tone.

" Yeah sure. Save it, please." She glares at me, making me nervous.

Lunch speeds by as it normally does, and so does the rest of the day. Soon enough, I am standing outside of school, unlocking the silver Jeep.