Quiet Heart

Chapter 4: Calm Before the Storm

Song: "Don't Panic" by Coldplay

***

"Hey." I said trying to catch my breath as I spun the combination dial on my locker.

"Hey, Soph. I-I was wondering if we could like talk for a second."

When Ethan spoke, I wasn't really paying attention, so I just grabbed my stuff, closed my locker and said, "Sure." I began walking down the hall with Ethan following right behind.

"It's really important Sophia. Can we stop walking and just talk." he said sounding serious, which began to worry me.

"I really can't right now Ethan. I need to get to class early." I responded quickening my pace. "Can we talk about it later? Maybe during lunch?"

"Yeah... I guess."

I noticed without turning around, that Ethan had stopped following me. I felt somewhat guilty for blowing him off like that, but at the same time I didn't, especially after what happened earlier in the parking lot.

I finally made it to class. I walked over to my seat and noticed Andrew was already there, as usual. I sat down next to him and whipped out my unfinished worksheet. I decided I'd try to answer as many questions as possible before the bell rang.

I had completed about 10 out of 20 questions before the bell eventually rang. I let out a long sigh and placed the paper back in my binder so the teacher wouldn't see when she walked in. To my surprise, however, the lady who walked in was not my teacher.

"Hello 2nd block," she spoke, "I'm Mrs. Stanford, your substitute for today."

She rambled on about her list of rules and what we would be doing today, but had yet to mention the homework, thank God.

***

I looked up at the clock above the whiteboard to see that there was only about five minutes left of class. I decided to pack up my stuff early so I wouldn't be late to my next class. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check my messages and notifications.

New Messages (3)

I tapped on the notification to see that the three messages were from Ethan. Shoot, I had completely forgotten about what had happened this morning.

Ethan: Hey sorry I got upset this morning

Ethan: Do you forgive me??

Ethan: Can we still talk about this during lunch?

In all honesty, I didn't want to talk about it. I was still upset with him and I wished he would just give me some space. I turned my phone off without responding to Ethan's pleas, and slid my phone back in my pocket.

"Okay, class. I just saw a note here from your teacher about last night's homework." the substitute said getting up from her chair.

I was hoping that the homework wouldn't be brought up, but so far nothing had gone well for me today. I went to pull my binder out of my book bag when the teacher spoke again.

"It says that it will be turned in tomorrow at the beginning of class."

It felt like a blanket had been lifted off of me. Finally something had gone my way today! I wasn't the only one who was happy about this. The whole class let out a sigh of relief, signaling that a majority of the class hadn't completed the worksheet either. The bell rang soon after and Andrew and I were the first ones out the door.

Now that one good thing had happened, maybe I can avoid talking to Ethan and have two good things in one day.

I sped down the hallway as Andrew trailed behind.

"Hey do you wanna come over and work on that worksheet tonight?" Andrew asked as he caught up with me.

"Sure! I could use all the help I can get," I laughed, "What time?"

"How about right after school? Since you don't really have a car to get you home I figured I could just take you."

He smiled at me as we approached my 3rd block class.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Well I guess that works out. Thanks!" I smiled back at him and walked into my Photography class.

***

I love my Photography class so much, but it seemed to drag on forever. My stomach had been growling the whole class period and I was ready for lunch already. I looked down at my watch to see there was about 10 minutes until lunch. Lunch... It was all I could think about until I remembered I told Ethan that I would talk to him then. My stomach stopped growling.

Yeah, I don't really want to go to lunch now... I thought to myself.

I turned my attention back to my assignment and waited for the bell to ring to send me to my doom.