Dainty and Dauntless

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Actions speak louder than words? I think I need both. Go ahead and burst my ear drums.

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The clock ticked away, making its way to 10:25 in the night. Slumber-land sure had a mass of visitors by now and some were still checking in at the reception.
Unlike many Natalie lay in bed awake, staring at the ceiling wall. The silence synced so well with her quiet breathing. She was in thought, both deeply and mildly. A part of her was knocking crazy at her brain and another trying to rock it to sleep. She turned to her side, giving in to the knocking.
Beneath her, Elise sighed loudly in her sleep. They had talked till she had fallen asleep.

Natalie was still stuck in the talk they had had... about Ethan.
She had gone on to finally tell Elise about Ethan and how she felt about him. 

"Oh dear, that's really cute." Elise had commented and added, "Ethan is kind of a nerd though, right?"

"Yeah" Natalie had agreed, and they both giggled. Then she sighed.
"What's wrong? He is a cute nerd" She shrugged.

"It's not that Elise, a pause, I don't know if he has any interest in me. He is just too confusing."

Elise had furrowed her eyebrows and leaned in closer. "What do you mean too confusing?"
Natalie hadn't known what to say next. She had a lot to say but she really didn't know how to say it all.

"I don't know, I may be wrong, Elise. I just can't figure him out." Natalie's head had dropped.

Elise then held her cheeks and lifted her sad face. "Am sure you aren't wrong, ok. As long as he isn't seeing anyone publicly then it's alright."

"And what if he does get someone?"

"Well then, we find ourselves a cuter nerd." She had bopped Natalie's nose with her finger, making Natalie smile sweetly.

Then they had gone on to talk about celebrity gossip until Elise had dosed off, as always.
She thought about how she could tell Elise that she really thought Ethan was interested too without sounding delusional. 

She wanted to believe it as much as she needed Elise to confirm to it.

Classes were now intense for her, specifically the ones she had with Ethan. She couldn't help throwing glances to her left. And this was in lessons! She just couldn't get her eyes off him for more than two minutes.

Then came the free periods.
She had talks with Ramh , her neighbor. These were about the silliest things, and they often giggled the time away. Recently the giggling wasn't as smooth as it had always been. This had all started some time back.

Ramh had gone on to sketch a hilarious drawing of Mr. Foster's shoe, their history teacher at the back of one of her books.
Natalie had lost it. She burst out in laughter, joining Ramh who was almost in tears. The more she added detail, the funnier it was. As Natalie wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye, she caught something. She double-took to the left, just to be sure.
He was seated, not facing the front.

The nerd was apparently reading a book while facing the class, with his body directly positioned towards her.
She had kept her stare. He didn't budge at all and kept on reading; book raised in hand.
She broke away when Ramh resumed talking, ready with another joke about old Foster's 'boat' of a shoe.
Ramh had then said something about his feet swimming in the damn shoes. 

"Swimming for their life," Natalie had added and flapped her hands. Another round of laughter commenced.

When she looked over at Ethan, he had now rested his hands on the bench, book still in hand, chin up and smiling. And of course she had stared.
Then he suddenly looked back down, closed the book and turned back to the front.
Natalie thought it was a bit weird.

Another time he did the same, positioned directly towards her and reading a book. Only this time his shirt was unbuttoned at the top. His neck and collarbone were bare.

Natalie had felt hot. She blinked once, twice and thrice... overwhelmed. She blushed so hard and felt embarrassed. She wanted to look so bad it made her anxious. She moved in her seat, stealing a glance with each turn. Then the lad went on to lift his chin.

"OH. MY. ACTUAL. GOODNESS-AHHHH!" She tried to muffle the sound by covering her mouth.

She plopped on top of the table and buried her face in the cave between her chest and crossed arms. She couldn't handle it, not any longer.
Natalie shut her eyes and took deep breaths. Her heart was thumping in a way that brought her ecstasy. She had grinned and bit her upper lips to keep her voice in.
She never did look back again for that day.

Something about these random incidents had her longing for more. She loved every second spent.
Then he began doing it more often. She thought of it as the new normal. Overthinking knocked at her brain. 

"What if he was trying to charm Ramh or some other girl seated in the same position but not me?" She hated the thought.

She needed Ethan to tell every girl in the room that it was a private show. Her private show, for her eyes and fancy strictly.
When their eyes had met, he had smirked and kept the show going.

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