Another Broken Smile

18- Corny Jokes & Detention

'It's going to be okay' I whisper to myself and sigh heavily before entering the torturous English class for the day. I give a watery smile to Adeline who returns it with a sympathetic one of her own as she walks with Alec to sit at the far end of the classroom and possibly a mile away from Daniel.

 Mrs. Emily, our English teacher had told us to be seated with our partners in order to instruct us further about our assignment. I sigh deeply and take a seat next to Daniel who enters right before the late bell rings, which I am thankful for because it saves us the awkwardness of small talk before the class begins. I don't know what to tell him, I always seem totally clueless and awkward around him. I have decided to follow my heart but how do I listen to it when it starts hammering like crazy at the mere sight of him?

Mrs. Emily steps in the class with a wide grin and hushes everyone. "About the assignment, I'm going to be giving you a book to read and your task is to write a summary and possible alternate endings to the famous works. You could kill some characters, or bring back to life your favorite ones or bring an entirely new twist to the story"

It actually sounds like an interesting assignment to me, now I will have something else to concentrate on rather than being entranced by a pair of sky blue eyes belonging to a certain guy sitting beside me.

Many of us nod in agreement with her task. At least we are not stuck with reenacting Shakespeare plays. No offense to those wonderful plays but the teachers need to get the memo that the students in our school have no interest in them as some of them don't even bother to by heart their lines. If the play is handed over to one of the cheerleaders, Juliet would probably look like a vintage slut. Very few people know how to appreciate those plays and watching the pathetic adaptations always makes me cringe.

"One member from each group can come forward and pick a chit" Mrs. Emily says. From our group Daniel goes forward and picks a chit. In that time I switch on my silver cased laptop and log in. "It's a book called The Alchemist" Daniel says as he hands me a piece of paper and takes his seat beside me. He seems to have lost interest in the assignment as his mind wanders to places unknown.

"Have you heard of the book before?" I ask turning in my chair to face Daniel

"Just google it" he says and I nod, my fingers frantically searching for the book. I think I might have seen it somewhere in the library before. It belongs in the fantasy genre, a genre I have never had a particular interest in. The awkward silence hangs between us so I immediately look up the pdf version of the book and go through the synopsis. The book looks a little boring but I bet we can get through it. Our English teacher has a wonderful taste in literature, so it can't be too bad.

My train of thoughts are broken by Daniel repeating an all too famous quote, "You do realize that trying to keep your distance from me will not lessen my affection for you" he says turning to look at me

"Wait, are you quoting 'Fault in our Stars'" I ask incredulously

"Maybe" he says nonchalantly, a shy smile playing on his lips

"Well, I didn't know you were into such mushy stuff" I coo at him

He playfully scowls at me before saying, "you always know how to dampen the mood." I chuckle lightly at that and I notice him staring at me in awe. When I give him a questioning look he answers cheekily, "just taking in your beauty. That's all." I can't help but let out a nervous laugh in attempt to hide the rapid thumping of my heart and the soaring butterflies in my stomach and hit his shoulder lightly, "well,this should be fun, I have a partner who is obsessed with romantic novels and movies"

"No I'm not, but I'll tell you what I am obsessed with though, " I raise an eyebrow at that and he begins leaning closer, as if about to let me in on a secret. He leans in until I can feel his soft lips brush lightly on my ear,"you", he whispers, shifting back to his original position with a smirk on his face.