Stupid First Impressions

Stupid First Impressions - Part 15

Chapter 15

“Ow!”

“Hold still then,” Geoffrey chided, holding some sterilised cotton to the scrapes on my face. “Come on, you need to stop fidgeting! You’re only going to make it worse.”

“But it hurts,” I whined, my bottom lip jutting out. I knew I was being a brat but it really hurt. He just sighed and tried again, one hand holding the now loose strands of hair out of my face whilst the other cleaned my cuts. I was studying him again, watching his thick lashes flutter down every now and again. I sighed and tried to hold still. “Thank you.”

He didn’t say anything but I thought I saw a smile lift one side of his mouth. When he was finally done torturing- I mean, cleaning me up, we sat in comfortable silence, both lost in thought. I was trying to work out why my heart had stuttered so seriously when I had seen Geoffrey and Geoffrey…well, I never really knew what he was thinking.

“So, does it feel any better?” His hand was under my chin suddenly, his eyes on mine. “I mean, it’ll take a little while to get better and…well, it doesn’t look pleasant.”

“Yeah, it does feel a little better, actually. Thank you Geoffrey, I don’t know what I would have done if my mum had been the one to fix me up. She would just lecture me,” I concluded, pulling a face. I looked at my phone and groaned. “Speaking of which, I’d better get home; it’s getting late.”

“I’ll walk you home,” Geoffrey stated, not asking this time. He grabbed a jacket, ignoring my protests. “It’s getting dark and I know there are some…less than friendly people about. So quit complaining and grab your bag, babe.”

“I told you to stop calling me that!” I said, grabbing my bag from the counter and following him out of the house. He yelled goodbye to Tessie on our way out and grabbed his headphones too. The sky was dark with clouds as we left and I pulled my hood up to fend off the first few drops of rain. “You really don’t need to walk me home. The weather looks awful.”

“It’s barely drizzling, babe. Now how about you quit complaining about it and just enjoy my company?”

I snorted in a very unlady-like manner before telling him to ‘stuff it’. He nudged my shoulder and I kicked a very small puddle at him. I didn’t really notice the rain getting heavier until a crack of lightning made me jump, lighting the sky briefly and letting loose a roll of thunder in its wake.

“Ok, now you really need to head home,” I said loudly, huddling closer to him as our hoodies got soaked through. “I’ll be fine, it’s not that far.”

“I’d never forgive myself,” he murmured softly. At least, I think he did. I couldn’t hear him well so I pretended I didn’t. “Come on, there’s no point arguing over it. Let’s just get you back.”

Ten very wet minutes later, we were standing on my doorstep, searching for my keys in my sodden bag. I rang the doorbell, hoping my parents were in. When no answer came within the first minute, I really dug around for my keys and finally found them.

“Thanks Geoffrey,” I said, jiggling open the door. “Are you sure you don’t want to come in for a minute? It’s really pouring down out there.”

“It’s not going to let up so I think it’s probably best I just get home. Thanks anyway.”

“Oh! Do you want this hoody back? I know it’s kind of damp…” I trailed off as I realised it was making a puddle. Geoffrey just laughed and waved it away.

“It wouldn’t do me much good at the moment anyway. And besides,” he murmured, looking away from me, “it looks way better on you.” He cleared his throat, a flush working its way up his neck. “I’ll see you tomorrow, babe.”

“Yeah, well, you could hardly miss me with this crap all over my face,” I said glumly. “And don’t call me babe!” I shouted at his retreating back. He waved, holding his hand up in a lazy salute. I shut the door when he was all the way around the corner and out of sight, worrying a little.

I cleaned the front of the house, trying unsuccessfully to distract myself. I hated waiting almost as much as I hated cleaning – the two together were torture but I couldn’t leave a puddle by the door for someone to slip in later. About half way through the mop up process my phone buzzed in my pocket. Geoffrey had text me to let me know he was home safe. In the most irritating way possible – he’d put ‘babe’ on it – but it was still a relief.

I text something rude back and finished mopping up the mess with a smile on my face.

*           *           *

My heart beat heavy in my chest the next day as I trudged toward school. The cuts on my face were horribly obvious, but wearing bandages and plasters was worse by far. I was not looking forward to the inevitable jokes and bullying. But Geoffrey met me about halfway to school, cracking jokes like usual and teasing me, which made me feel a little better about it. Louise spotted me as I was going into school and she winced, looking at me questioningly. I smiled back, trying not to wince when it hurt to stretch my facial muscles that much.

Geoffrey frowned and his eyes narrowed as he saw what was waiting for me at my locker. Luke and Gemma were looking at me expectantly and I had a wash of déjà vu. It was like I was back at the beginning of the year, before this whole mess had started. Gemma was even smiling at me, Luke grinning too.

“Ames!” Luke shouted, waving his arms enthusiastically. Geoffrey and I made our way over cautiously. “Whoa, what happened to your face?” He shot a suspicious look at Geoffrey, assuming the worst.

“I, uh, I tripped,” I admitted sheepishly, turning red again. I was confused and I’m pretty sure it showed. “You’re kind of blocking my locker.”

“I guess I am,” Luke said, smiling a smile that melted my heart a little. He stood back, bowing theatrically. “Is this better?”

I looked at Geoffrey, wondering what he was making of this. He looked sour and irritated. He seemed tense all over and I walked toward my locker nervously. Nothing jumped out at me and nobody said anything nasty. Luke was all smiles and, whilst Gemma wasn’t being overly friendly, she wasn’t going out of her way to be a bitch either. She looked at me and rolled her eyes, in a friendly manner.

“We’re, like, totally going to be late you guys,” she said. I found myself trapped between the two and Geoffrey was left to the side. I looked at him, helplessly, as I tried to work out what to make of the situation. “Anyway, Amy, I have, like, tons to tell you.”

“Yeah, ok, well, I’ll see you in class in a sec?” I said, pushing back over to Geoffrey to have a couple of moments alone with him. Luke looked like he was going to object for a second but then he smiled again and nodded, walking off with Gemma. “Well. That was weird.”

“No kidding,” Geoffrey growled, his eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust them. What are you going to do?”

“I…don’t know.” When he made a noise of disbelief, I just shrugged and smiled. “Look, I can’t tell them to beggar off if they mean it, can I? And if they don’t mean it, it won’t last very long. Still want to meet up at break? We can go over our English homework.”

Geoffrey grunted in what I assumed was agreement as the bell rang. I wondered if he was still going to walk me to my class but he just said ‘Later’ before sauntering off in the other direction. I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed before I turned and joined the others for tutor time. I really hoped everything was ok by break.