Never Too Late

Chapter Eighteen

The afternoon was cool and quiet at Willow Valley Academy in the chemistry lab as all the students sat diligently, taking down notes and solving equations. Johan sat focused on the test tubes in front of him as he recorded the reactions that took place.

He found that he enjoyed chemistry and considered it to be his favorite subject besides math. To him, it was straightforward but exciting and something he had never done before. It was also one of the few classes he didn't share with Luke since transitioning to regular classes and while he didn't mind being with his brother, the teachers would constantly confuse them for one another.

Johan tapped his pen on the table as he waited for the titration reaction to come to an end so he could write down the result, but he felt distracted, though he couldn't quite pin down why. His lab partner, who was taking down notes with him, noticed he wasn't paying attention and alerted him to the reaction coming to an end and he quickly refocused on the test tubes and wrote down the result as he silently berated himself. Sighing, he looked back momentarily and realized that Ericka, Luke's girlfriend was sitting two benches behind him.

He was surprised that he hadn't noticed her before but remembered that he always hurried in and out of class. Looking ahead again, he realized that it was her voice that had been distracting him the whole time. She wasn't being loud, far from it, but his body reacted to her subconsciously, and now that he was fully aware of her being in the room with him, he felt flushed, and he couldn't stop smiling.

As soon as class ended, he approached her as she was packing up to leave and offered to carry her books.

She looked up at him with wide, surprised eyes before smiling at him which made a knot tie in his stomach.

"Sure... Johan right?" Nodding, he picked up her books and walked with her.

"Where are you going now?" He asked in a low tone as he looked ahead.

"Oh, math class." She said as she ran her finger through her silky hair. As Johan looked over at her, he noted how small she was, how her skin glowed, how she smelled like perfume, and how her blue dress flowed against her petite frame. She was truly lovely but she was his brother's girlfriend. He didn't intend to make a move on her; he only wanted to formally introduce himself despite his feelings and hopefully form a friendship.

"So Johan, how has this school been for you so far?" She questioned as she walked beside him with the few books she decided to carry pressed against her chest.

"It's alright," He responded as he thought back to baseball practice and all the praise his teachers gave him.

"That's good, I know some of the guys here can be real jerks." She pouted and Johan laughed. "Don't let them bully you,"

"Don't worry," he said as he smiled at her. "I know how to fight."

"So I've heard, Luke told me you both were grounded when you got into a fight recently," she chuckled and rested her hand against his arm. He was so caught off guard by this that he almost dropped her books, but luckily, he retained his composure.

"You know, Luke used to get in a lot of fights when we were in Junior high, but since coming to this school, he's only brawled a few times here and there," she said, looking over at a group of guys who were loitering in a classroom.

"You and Luke have been together for a while now," Johan added, trying not to sound dejected.

"Yeah, even before junior high. As a matter of fact, I live down the street from you guys." Ericka said as she fixed her hairpin but Johan remained silent, lost in thought.

"Luke is very lucky I guess." He finally said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" She asked as they turned a corner."

"Aren't you two dating?" He responded, confused, to which she laughed and shook her head.

"No, we're just friends. Luke is really cool though but it's not like that." She confessed then let out a sigh.

"What!?" Johan remembered his brother's expression when he saw Erika and how infatuated he behaved, so he couldn't believe he saw her as a friend too.

Was he waiting to make his move?

"Yeah," she said, looking into an empty classroom briefly. "Anyways, I wanted to say that I really like your hair, it suits you."

"Oh, thanks." He smiled at her compliment and wondered how his brother kept his feelings from her, he was barely able to keep up his stoic facade.

"Also, I'm really glad you're in the same classes as Luke and I. Now we can see each other more often and hang out sometimes!" She laughed.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind that." He confessed as he felt warmth spread all over his body at the thought of having more time with her. As they continued chatting, they neared her class and before he handed her books back to her, he hesitantly said.

"I hope we get to hang out soon," not sure how she would react to his offer.

"I'd like that," she told him and he felt his heart skip a beat. Just then his brother emerged from the classroom and greeted Ericka.

"Oh, there you are. I saved you a seat." Luke said before noticing him. "Johan? I thought they put you in a separate math class?"

"He helped me carry my books," Ericka told him. "You have a very kind big brother."

"He's barely older than me, just by a few minutes probably." Luke advocated but he could barely hide his smile as he spoke to her.

As Johan watched them both, he confirmed that Luke did indeed have feelings for her, though he hadn't told her yet, and although he felt his own feelings for her growing, his brother had met her first, so he decided to back off. Turning around, he headed off to the library to keep his mind busy with other things, and hopefully put his feelings aside.