Tutoring Mr. "Bad" boy.

Chapter 31

Did I look Mandy in the eye and lie to her face?
Yes!
Did she believe my lie?
Definitely not!
But did she also look me straight in the eye and lie back to me?
Totally!

Just look at us....two very terrible liars!!

I've known Mandy long enough to be able to read her face with ease.
And that's why I know she didn't believe all the bullshit I rambled on and on about our "friendship."
Everyone has a tell, but Mandy, she has a ton of  'em.
Her widened eyes for instance, was one. Then came the silent twitching of her jaws, as though she wanted to yell at me to quit lying.
And her eyes?? Yeah, they definitely spoke volumes.

In my defense, I wasn't the only one who lied. As far as I'm concerned, she lied about the reason she avoided me.
She claims she didn't know what say to me, which, I believe, to an extent is true.
The real reason, however, is that she's scared.
Of her feelings...or the lack of it for me thereof.

I was well on the road to telling her how I really felt that night and then she freaked, and it all kinda came to a halt.

As to why she freaked, I'm still not clear.
On one hand, she might actually have feelings for me and just got a bit nervous or something, which I'm really hoping is the case.
On the other hand, however, she probably feels nothing for me and so, to save us both the trouble and awkwardness, she in her own genius way got me to stop talking before I inadvertently single-handedly destroyed our friendship.

Honestly, I don't even know what to think anymore.
Truth be told, I can't even be bothered to think about the whole thing at this point. Don't get me wrong...It's not that I don't care. I really do, but right now isn't the time for this.
With exam week coming up, the only think I can afford to think of is how to pass the exams, which, for me, is a first.

I've never been this excited or ready for exam week. Usually, I'd be all moody and sulky and give in completely to alcohol and cigarettes and girls.

But this time, it's different. I'm all psyched and I just know deep down that this is it....this is when I finally get to get good grades and make my mom proud.
For my dad, I couldn't give two fucks whether or not I make him proud, but I bet it'd feel good to slap my good grades in his face for a change.
Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.

Literal goosebumps!

Mandy and I, we're all good now.
Well, at least we each claim we are.
Ever since the day of the panic attack, when we had our talk, all seems to be well again.
She no longer avoids me, and we're back at misleading the whole school.
All's well in the world again!
What's that saying again? All's well that's well?
Yeah....that!

"I see you two are back together again. Everything's fine in civil town!! Hurray for love!"
You're right!!...that's Allen!

Hurray for love...?

Love?
Ha!
And what would I know about love?
The closest I've come to love is the famous "mother's love".

"Knock it off, dude," I mumble undertone, gently stroking Mandy's hair as she leans against my shoulder.

"Yeah, Allen. Knock it off," she repeats to my delight and it takes everything within me to fight the smile that's slowly trying to creep onto my face.
"And here I thought we shared a special bond, Mandy," he whines away, faking a sob to go with his little drama.
She only rolls her eyes and shakes her head slightly in response and I give a low, warm chuckle as I look down at her, happiness coursing through my veins at very high speed, so high that I think I might just explode!

And that right there, that's what I call the Mandy effect.
Crazy how just a single action from her can have such wild impacts on me...and she wouldn't even notice!
It's almost as if she has no idea the hold she has on me.
She'd unconsciously slide her hand down my arm or brush her fingers against mine or do something random, mostly without even realizing, and that's all it takes to send me blushing away like some giddy 13 year old who's finally gotten his first kiss from his crush.