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Chapter 4: Fall Leaves Sway So Gracefully

I slowly walked to Ethan's 4th period, which was literacy. Thoughts about what would happened floated in my head and I couldn't shake them out. I get to the classroom and knocked on the door. Mrs. Donnelly, or as I know her, Jennifer, opened the door and smiled at me.

"Harley Quinn-James, aren't you supposed to be in class?" she asked.

"Yes, but Jac- I mean, Principle Matthews wanted me to do something for her and she wants me to come steal Mr.- " I look down at the sheet of paper, as if I didn't know his name. "Ethan Frazier." She nodded her head and calls Ethan. I said my thanks and walk down the hallway, Ethan just inches from me.

"So, what are we doing?" Ethan asks. I looked back at him. " Principal Matthews wants us to organize a few things for her." Ethan nodded his head and we continued walking into the front office. I see Bob pop his head up. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead grinned at me. I shook my head and walk into Jackie's office. She smiled at me and Ethan.

"Thank you guys for helping me organize these tests. Um, I want them to be organized by grade level, but I want your grade, 12th, to be left out." We nodded our heads and I noticed Jackie grabbing her purse. "Now if you get hungry, I made Madison go get pizza and wings for you and if you don't finish this today, feel free to come back tomorrow morning and finish up."

"Okay, we will." Ethan said. Jackie walked to the door and opened it. "Wait, where are you going?" I asked her before she stepped out the door.

" I have a few errands to run." "When will you be back?" Jackie got quiet for a few seconds. "I'll be back at 6:30 A.M." Back pedal, did she just say 6:30 A.M.? No, that's not gonna work. I opened my mouth, but she left before I got the chance to say anything. Ethan walked over to the closet and took out the boxes that were stacked on top of each other. I walked over to the window and opened the curtains. It was bright outside but, still beautiful. I walked over to Jackie's desk and grabbed her index cards and tape, along with some markers. I walked over to the boxes and tape an index card to it. I then labeled it "9th Grade" and continued doing so on the other boxes. Ethan looked through the papers and placed them inside the boxes. We remain silent until the door opened and Maddie comes in holding two rectangular boxes. She placed them on the coffee table Jackie has and grabs a bottle of Sprite outside the door.

"Okay kiddies, here's your food. Principle Matthews wanted me to tell you guys that you can stay after school if you want." I shook my head. " I can't. I'm helping Nick practice. " I lied. Nick doesn't practice until Wednesday and it's Tuesday. Ethan scrunched his face up in confusion and scratched his neck. " My moms wanted me to do something when I came home." Maddie frowned a little bit, but she turned on her heel and walked towards the radio that sits upon a book case. She took a CD and popped it in. Skating by Vince Guaraldi started to play.

"Why are we listening to Christmas music in the end of September?" I asked. She looked at me and smiled. "It's calming and it kind of goes with the leaves and the way they sway gracefully to the ground." She said looking outside the window. She snapped out of her trance and walked out. Ethan turned to me. "Well, that was weird. " Ethan says, grabbing a napkin and putting a slice of pizza on it. " When you're in here long enough, you learn to get used to it." I said opening a cabinet and took out two plates and two cups. I grabbed the napkin that held his pizza and slid it on the plate. He opened the Sprite bottle and poured it in our cups.

"Thank you." I said taking the cup from his hand. I walked to the wings and grab a few and put them on a separate plate. " Here's some wings. I'm not really a "wing fan" " I said shrugging my shoulders. He smiled at me and I focused on something else, trying not to show him my blush. " So what's that thing your parents want you to do?" I said the first thing that pops in my head. "There's a light bulb that went out in their room and when they tried to fix it, they only made it worse." He took a bite out of his pizza. "So, whose Nick? Is he like your boyfriend?" He asked shyly. I almost spit out my soda. "Dude, no. Nick's my brother. He has a concert coming up and I told him I'd help." I laughed. Ethan's face goes red and he laughed. I finished my pizza and turned back around continued on the papers. Ethan joined me shortly after and we worked in silence again. As I was putting the papers in a box, I heard The Christmas Song play. A smile starts forming on my face.

"What is it?" Ethan asked me. I shook my head. "It's nothing." I said him. He stopped putting the papers in the box and looked at me. "Come on, tell me." He pressed. I sighed. "Every Christmas time since I was 7, my dad and I dance to this song. Although it doesn't seem like something other people would enjoy, it's really sweet." I smiled. It went quiet again and before we knew it, the bell rang and the afternoon announcements came on. I grabbed my bag and headed out but, I am stopped when Ethan called me. "So Harley, do you need a ride home or do-do you ride the bus?" He stuttered and it caused me to smile. "No thank you. I have a car." I said. I started walking to the parking lot and Ethan walked next to me. Never in a million years would I have thought this would happen. Keep playing it cool, Quinn. Keep playing it cool. "Today was nice." I said off the top of my head. "It was. We didn't finish so, are we gonna pick up tomorro-" "Ethan!" Jesus couldn't she have waited 2 seconds. "Ethan, honey. Why are you talking to...her?" Bitch what? "We were working together and I was walking Harley to her car. " He told her. If I didn't know better, I'd say he doesn't like her. You're not the only one, buddy.

"Okay well, are you ready to go?" Megan asked. Ethan walked away and waved at me. I waved back and Megan gave me the worst look ever. "If I ever see you talking, walking, smiling, or waving at my Ethan ever again, I'll kick your ass. Do you understand?" No, of course I don't understand, but I'm gonna play it smooth and lie my ass off. "Okay, I don't like Ethan." Lie. " We are only working together and I'm sure nothing is gonna happen between us." I'm praying something is gonna happen between us. "And I'm pretty sure he's not into me." Now that one was the truth. I didn't think he liked me. Megan looked at me with pure disgust plastered onto her face.

"You better not be, Harley." Megan then turned around and skipped back to Ethan's car. I rolled my eyes and walked to mine. Time to face the parents. Yay.

Okay guys, I had to tell you one more thing before we get to the action. This book is set in 2005, so don't start wondering what happened to the touch screen phones and facebook, okays.