STUDY HALL was where Alec got much of his work done for school. He would spend his free period in the library focusing on his work. The librarian always looked forward to seeing Alec as he was always kind and helped her any chance he got. She would even help him if he had trouble with something because of his dyslexia. And she had no problem helping him either and would always smile when she saw Alec walk up to her desk to ask for help. Seeing the young man's bright smile made her day ten times better.
"Hello, Miss. McDonald. How are you today?" Alec asked the older lady as he walked into the library. Miss. McDonald smiled brightly, seeing Alec, and focused her attention on him.
"Hi, Alec. I'm doing good. How about you?" She asked, and Alec nodded.
"I'm better now that I saw you," Alec said, charming the older woman.
"Oh, Mr. Joza, you flatter me." She said, waving him off. Alec smiled as it reached his eyes, seeing the woman smile genuinely.
"Well, I would love to talk to you more, but I have some work to do," Alec says, pointing toward the desk in the middle of the library.
Miss. McDonald nodded, "Of course, go on. You know if you need help, just ask, okay." She said and Alec nodded, still smiling, then walked to an empty desk.
As he put his stuff down, Alec saw that the library was practically empty, besides a few students here and there. This is how Alec liked the library. It was empty and quiet, with nothing to distract him. With Alec's dyslexia, it's hard to focus on what he's doing if there's a lot of noise somewhere. So being in the library was an excellent place for Alec to study anytime he needed to. His friends know he's here, but they know not to bother him if he is in there unless it's something important.
They all knew how important school was for Alec, even if they didn't understand it. It was Jeremiah who told the football team just how much Alec enjoyed school and how he was hard working to get the grades that he had. Alec knows how good Jeremiah is with words, so he asked his best friend to explain it to the team. And with the way Jeremiah explained it, they understood right away.
"Alec!" A voice startled Alec making him look up. He saw May standing across from him, looking a little angry.
"Shhhh!" Miss.McDonald said toward May.
"Sorry." She said, then turned back to Alec.
"What's up?" Alec asked the girl in front of him with a confused face.
"What's up? What's up? I've been saying your name for the past two minutes, and you ignored me." May explained, making Alec's eyes widen.
"Were you really?" He asked, and she nodded. "Oh, I'm sorry. When I'm focused, I don't pay good attention to anything around me. Sorry."
"You're actually doing work?" May asked, looking at the notebook and textbook in front of him. Alec nodded slowly, wondering what the girl meant by that.
"Was there something you needed, May?" Alec asked.
May nodded, "Yeah, I just discovered you have a 3.8 GPA." She said, and Alec shrugged.
"Yeah, I do. What about it?" Alec asked.
"What about it? How does a guy like you have an almost perfect GPA?" May asked, making Alec raise his eyebrows.
"Just because I'm a jock doesn't mean I don't like learning," Alec says, smirking at the girl who scoffs at him. After a few seconds of silence between them Alec decided to get answers. "Did I do something to make you hate me?"
"What are you talking about?" May asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What am I talking about? Since we got partnered up for the project in Ms. Stanley's class, it's like I did something to make you hate me." Alec said, staring at the girl.
"I don't hate you," May said, trying to avoid eye contact with Alec.
"Then why all the hostility?"
May sighed, "Because you're popular. I figured you'd hate someone like me, so I thought I'd hate you back."
"I don't hate you either," Alec said. May scrounge her eyebrows together.
"You don't?" She asked.
"Why would I hate you when I barely even know you?" Alec said, shrugging. "Yeah, we've been in classes together for years, but I don't really know you. There's no reason for me to hate you."
May looked at Alec and sighed. That's when Alec knew he had cracked her. And he hoped from now on she wouldn't be so hostile towards him just because of who he is.
"Are we good now?" Alec asked with a grin. May rolled her eyes but smiled genuinely at Alec, making him smile more.
"Sure, whatever."
"I'll take what I can get," Alec said with a slight chuckle. With that, the bell rang, signaling for the next period. Alec gathered his stuff and walked out beside May.
"See you later, Miss. McDonald." Alec waved to the older lady, who smiled at him.
"Goodbye, Mr. Joza." She said with a smile at him.
"You talk with the librarian?" May asked as they walked toward the exit.
"Yeah, Miss. McDonald is cool." Alec says. "I help her from time to time, and she helps me sometimes too."
"Okay."
"I'll see you later, yeah? We still have a project to do together." Alec says with a goofy smile after exiting the library with May beside him.
"Yeah," May said with a timid smile and nodded.
"Cool. Later." Alec said, then headed down the hall.
As Alec headed to his next class, he smiled, knowing that May won't be so hard on him. He thought that maybe just maybe, doing this project won't be so bad.
