Project Smile

Thirteen

I stare down at the paper again, trying to focus on comprehending the words in front of me. They blur together the more I try to focus. Wren sits on my right side with her head in her hands, waiting for critique. Gabriel paces slowly behind us, looking at the ground and also waiting for critique on the ideas he gave her. Pete and Erin sit on the left side of me with bored expressions, waiting for me to finish so we can go see a movie. Audrey went inside a few minutes ago to collect something she left in class. Carson has gotten tired of waiting, so he's heading towards the theater at this very moment.

   Gabriel and I went our separate ways after the encounter at the psychiatrist's office. Though I'd wanted to stay and talk with him some more, he told me that he had somewhere to be, and I had a cold to be faking anyway. I spent most of my day reading, devouring both normal books and Gabriel's notebook. Now that I've started, it's impossible to stop. And now that I know what he thinks about, I think it might be easier to help him.

   "What do you think? Is it alright?" asks Wren softly, stopping my train of thought and dragging me back into the present. I look up at her. She has a strand of dark hair wrapped around her finger, looking at me with a nervous expression. I smile to ease her a little.

   "It's excellent," I say, handing the paper back to her. She grins and takes it from me, sighing with relief. "The writing is very eloquent, as well as extremely mature for your age. The topic is presented very clearly and is backed up by several details, which strengthens it a lot. Great job."

   "Told you that you had nothing to worry about," says Gabriel quietly, ruffling her hair. She smiles up at him, and his eyes soften.

   He still doesn't want to smile at people.

   Suddenly, he looks at me. "Thank you, Cassidy."

   "Yeah, thank you," Wren says. "It really means a lot to me that you read my paper and critiqued it. Gabriel talks about your writing skills a lot at home, and I know you're good."

   I look up at Gabriel, whose cheeks are turning red. He talks about me? He thinks that what I do for my essays is good?

   Trying to avoid making things more awkward for either of us, I smile a little wider. "Thank you. And it was no problem at all." Pete and Erin rise to their feet, realizing that the conversation is about to be over. I can tell that they're ready to leave, so I decide to quickly invite him to go along with us. "Hey, um, we're going to the theater. Would you like to come with us? I'm sorry it's such a short notice, we just planned it today," I ramble, hoping that I don't sound like a complete idiot. Something flashes in Gabriel's eyes for a moment, something like hope, but he looks at the ground and it disappears.

   "Thanks for the offer, but I have to study. I wish I could, though." I know that he's lying. Though we don't have the same periods, our teachers always give us the same material. We're not having a test for a while.

   He's nervous, I can tell. It's probably because he doesn't really know the others well, and that may make him uncomfortable.

   "It's fine. I understand. Maybe one day this weekend, we can get together and...study." I look at Pete and Erin, who are both staring at me suspiciously. Still looking at the ground, Gabriel shifts his weight around on his feet, trying to find something to say.

   "Alright. We can discuss a day and stuff," he finally says. I nod and smile, then suddenly remember that Audrey's still inside.

   "I'm gonna go see if she's found whatever she's looking for," I say quickly, pointing at the school and heading towards it.

   The hallways are nearly silent, the comforting whir of the copying machine the only sound echoing throughout. As I walk down the rows of lockers, a thought comes to me. Maybe it'd be best to get my textbooks out of my locker and make sure that I'm ready to make up everything I missed today. I walk over to my locker, putting in the combination number. It swings open, revealing Gabriel's notebook. That's odd. I brought it with me when I came back here, and I remember coming in for a moment, but I don't remember ever putting it in here. I must've just forgotten. Shrugging, I grab it along with my Spanish and English textbooks before walking down the hall, my footsteps echoing as I go further down.