Elle and the Exchange Student

Chapter 13

Dae-Jung's Point Of View:

Did I fuck up again?

All I wanted was to buy a girl a cheeseburger.

For once I wanted to do something nice for a girl, and I ended up hurting her once more. Why couldn't have I just listened when she told me to go to the drive-thru?

Despite feeling bad for unintentionally putting her in an uncomfortable and anxious situation yesterday, I found a small satisfaction in learning this new fact about her. I would think not many people knew that she gets panic attacks.

We only had today to finish the assignment. There wasn't much left to do, maybe an hour worth of work. But it had to be done, and we needed to do it together.

At lunch Elle was a no-show. Thinking, maybe she went to the library, I started making my way there. But I didn't get far, when I got cornered by two very angry girls.

I am a big bad guy, but these to girls scared the living shit out of me.

"What did you do this time?" Delilah said angrily.

"What do you mean?" I replied as I crossed my arms.

"What did you do to Elle?" Fannie spoke this time.

"Something happened to Elle?" I quickly replied, mentally slapping myself for showing concern.

"Well, you tell me!" Delilah said, pointing at me in accusation.

"We know she met with you yesterday to do the project thingy, and in the morning she just texted us she wasn't going to come to school. So obviously, something happened" Fannie explained.

"And obviously, it's something you did!" Deli continued to blame me.

Of course she would skip school after yesterday's events. Guilt rushed through me and once again I felt bad. It was clearly showing on my face, since the girls' expressions changed.

"So you did do something" Fannie said, little softer this time.

"No, I mean, we went to McDonald's and.."

"Drive-thru, right?" Fannie asked concerned, already guessing where this is going.

"No" I trailed off.

"YOU FUCKING -" Delilah started and almost kicked me before Fannie held her back.

"She had a panic attack, didn't she?" Fannie quietly said while holding Delilah's both arms.

I just nodded.

Then the realisation hit me. That's what probably happened on my very first day here as well, when after class the girls introduced themselves and Elle suddenly sprinted away.

Jeez, I'm stupid. She probably has social anxiety.

"She had a panic attack on the first day as well?" it came out as a question, but already I knew I was right.

The girls shared a look of uncertainty, but turned to me and now it was them, who nodded.

"I have to go" I sighed as I rubbed my temples.

"Just now that you know, don't be a dick about it" Delilah said, shooting one last glare at me.

If Elle isn't here, I don't intend to stay any longer either. As I head to the parking lot, I can feel my phone buzzing in the back pocket of my jeans.

'We need to finish the project'

A smile, maybe too wide for my liking, crept onto my face and an idea popped into my head.

'At my place?'

'I can come pick you up'

'Twins are at school so we won't be disturbed'

'But their mom works from home so we won't be alone'

Okay, so what kinda creep sends four texts in a row. As soon as I was inside my car, I rested my head on the steering wheel.

Fucking pathetic, I said to myself.

When she hasn't replied in five minutes, I feel even stupider. But when my phone buzzed again, I instantly felt relieved.

'Okay I'll be ready in twenty'

And that's all the time I need to execute my plan.

Pulling up to her driveway, she's already waiting outside for me. She's wearing black leggings and an oversized sweatshirt with a denim jacket. For the first time since I've met her, she wears her thick and naturally wavy brown hair down.

She climbs in and we are on our way. Apart from quiet 'hellos', we stayed silent.

It's not long before we get to the house. After getting out, Elle stayed beside the car waiting for me to go first. Instead of heading inside, I opened the trunk, revealing my surprise.

"Mcdonald's?" she asked, with her eyes wide open.

"I figured, since we didn't get the chance yesterday" I said, carrying three bags full of food.

Her whole presence changed immediately after my comment, embarrassment and shame clearly radiating from her. She looked down at her feet, playing with the hem of her shirt.

As quickly and carefully as I could, I dropped the bags and rushed over to her. Placing two fingers under her chin, I lift her head up.

"Look at me" I tell her, when she was obviously avoiding my gaze. After shaking her head as a 'no', she lowered her head, eyes on the ground again.

"I'm sorry" she whispered.

This time, I took both of my hand and cupped her face.

"No. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that" Staring directly into her big brown eyes, I noticed a single tear escaping from her right eye. With my thumb, I brushed it away. "Are you okay?" I added.

All I wanted to do is to make her feel better, but to show someone this kind of affection is a totally unexplored territory for me. I don't know how I feel about all of this. But when she leaned into my touch, pressing her cheek against my hand while closing her eyes, letting a few tears fall, I at least thought I was doing something right.

"Let's go inside" I stated, brushing away the rest of her tears. I took her hand in mine, trying to carry all the food in my other one, and led her into the house.

It took us about an hour and a half to finish our food and the project. After all the hours of working together, we had managed to get to know each other's styles. Elle was a bit of a control freak, all about little details, finishing touches, requiring flawless results. I didn't mind, I let her do her thing. I'm a little perfectionist myself.

I felt good just to be around her, so natural. Afraid of what might happen tomorrow, when this assignment is finished and forgotten, I tried to enjoy every moment with her. All I could hope for is that she would have forgiven me.

The memories of yesterday just keeps swirling in my mind.

When she grasped my hand with her shaking one, the way she looked almost ripped my heart out of my chest. All the colour was drained from her face, just like over a week ago when she fainted in front of me. Eyes filled with tears, waiting to fall. Her tiny body shaking, that even the slightest breeze would have knocked her over.

In that moment, I made a promise to myself to never hurt her again.

And when she cried in my arms at he back seat of my car, I promised to always be there for her.

Finally, on her driveway when she got out from the car not meeting my eyes, whispering "Thank you Dae", I promised myself, that I would make her mine!