A Girl and a Whiteboard

Chapter Seventeen

There he was. It's not like I was going to flee from my usual table. After a moment, okay more like five minutes of debating whether or not I should sit there, I walked over and sat down.

He looked at me the way he did when he first met me. He looked scared, like he didn't know what to say and like he actually had to think about what he was going to say to me. He didn't look confident or assertive, he wasn't smirking or smiling, instead he was staring down like a small cowering child.

I wanted to ask if I could help, but I couldn't. He's the one who's ignoring me, I know I should've been the bigger person, but I wasn't waiting for his apology, I wanted to know why he did it. Why he told he liked me and then went off with another chick.

Andy looked defeated and his eyes were swollen, probably from lack of sleep.

And yet, I didn't say anything.

I didn't know what to say.

The whole period of study hall was spent trying to figure out what happened to him. He didn't try to talk to me which infuriated me. I wanted to hear his stupid voice. I wanted to hear him tease me or just tell me anything really. I missed him, even though he was so close, I missed him.

The bell rang and I decided to let it go. I walked home and went for a jog and the entire time I knew Andy was jogging right behind me. Neither of us tried to slow down or speed up, it was so weird. We should've been racing each other or cheering one another on to keep running and to not give up but we were just two strangers running the same trail.

The rest of the week went by the same. Sebastian was still adorable and he was smitten by this girl, he was so happy. I made a mental note to meet her. Matt and Oliver were the reason I still smiled and had a good time. They would sit with me the days that Sebastian didn't.

During lunch, I could feel someone's staring at me and whenever I turned around, Andrew looked away. He hadn't made any effort to try to talk to me. He still sat down at our table during study hall but he didn't say anything. I had enough really, this was so dumb!

I had been here for a month and I was happy yet dissatisfied. Holy crap, do I have to do everything?

I couldn't take anymore of sad Andy so as I walked home I slowed down so he would catch up to me. He caught up to me and I didn't know how to do this. And so I did what felt right.

I brushed my hand against his and I felt him stiffen. Okay not the response I was hoping for but I forgot he had Emily now. I'm so stupid! What the hell Emory.

I tried to play it off and picked up the pace but Andrew caught up to me and then he was the one that brushed his hand against mine.

I did the same, it was kind of like testing the waters. Eventually I womaned up and decided that what the hell screw it, so I grabbed his hand.

I could tell he didn't know what to do so I was casually taking my hand back when he squeezed it.

I looked up at him, but he wasn't looking at me. He was just looking ahead. I wanted to know what happened.

We neared his house and I let go. I thought he would pull me back but instead he walked inside his house. Damn, I just got rejected. Then I played the whole you just got rejected song in my head.

I got home and felt accomplished. I tried and that's all that matters. I somehow managed to change even though I was being attacked by my adorable dogs. I would have to see if Sammy would run with me tomorrow. I changed and put my hair up l, got my headphones, and I was gone.

I was very pleased with Pandora today who started to play All I Want by Kodaline. I sang aloud in my head. I knew Andy was running behind me, do I slow down? Should I wait for him? I'll take a little detour and see what he does. I decided to run to the park and I didn't know I was full on sprinting until I stopped and felt like I was dying. This is why I needed to get into shape, I didn't want to feel like I was taking my last ever breath on earth every time I ran.