New Beginnings (Charlie Bartlett Fanfic Starring Robert Downey Jr.)

Chapter 10 - Glitchy

The rest of the break from school passed and Nathan found himself back within the halls of Western Summit High just a little too soon. He hadn't seen Sydney before class started, and she got stuck filling in someone else's lunch duty in the cafeteria, but he smiled when his phone rang at the beginning their planning period.

"Hey," he answered, "I was starting to think you weren't here today."

Sydney's voice was bright. "I'm very much here and very much in need of help. Gotta sec?"

"Be right there." Nathan got up from his desk and went across the hall. When he reached her doorway, he heard her mumble a curse at her computer screen. "Bad day?"

She sighed, defeated. "I'm either crazy or stupid – I much prefer crazy – but look at this. All I want to do is enter their grades, but I swear the software is mocking me."

Nathan walked up behind her and looked down at her screen - and accidentally, down her sweater - his eyes couldn't help themselves. From a straightforward perspective, it was an innocent, caramel colored v-neck sweater with no intentions other then to be warm and fashionable, but from where he was standing, it was all but begging someone to look down and catch a glimpse of ample cleavage. He quickly looked back at the screen, ashamed of himself, and saw the problem right away.

"Well, I can promise you're not stupid," he began. "We didn't exactly get the best of the best when we got licenses for this program." Without thinking, he placed his hand on top of Sydney's and moved it, along with her mouse. He pressed down gently on her finger, causing the mouse to click and realign the box that contained the grades. "Glitchy." His voice was suddenly a bit hoarse. He cleared his throat and casually backed away.

"Then I guess between glitchy and crazy, glitchy can win." She smiled, happy that her problem was solved. "How was the rest of your time off?"

Nathan sat on the edge of her desk and looked at her over top of his glasses.  "I am so sorry about Christmas Eve. I can't imagine what you must have thought afterwards."

"Nathan, no," Sydney soothed. "I'm happy that you showed up there rather than, well, you know, and I'm the one who should be apologizing - again. I went into some weird drama queen mode." She laughed nervously. "That whole 'splaying' comment couldn't have been more..." Her cheeks went flush. "I..." Tension sucked the air out of the room.

Nathan diverted his eyes, trying to find anything that could make things feel normal. He spotted a piece of paper on her desk. "So, they conned you into chaperoning, huh?"

Sydney let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Yes!" She composed herself. "Ah, well, not really. I volunteered. A few of the girls in my sixth period class asked if I would help with decorating and I said yes. Though, I'm not used to mid January dances."

"A few years ago, the students voted on when they wanted to have the semi formal and they decided January was neutral; no overdone Christmas themes and no extra drama around Valentine's Day."

"Makes sense." Sydney toyed with a pen. "I'm staying after school with the girls this week and I want to be there for it next Friday, you know?"

"Much to Susan's disappointment, I have to be there next Friday." Sydney shot him a questioning look and Nathan shrugged. "Gotta keep making good impressions."

"Oh, right." She stood up and began to erase the chalkboard. Anything to alleviate some of the nervous energy she had coursing through her.

"Sydney?"

"Hm?" She didn't turn to look at him.

"Are we good? I mean, we're both being a little..."

"We're being so awkward, right?" All too quickly, she turned. "We're fine though, why wouldn't we be? We're two people that said some stuff and were feeling a little low for different reasons and we're friends and we're good..." She sighed. "The English teacher's grammar isn't the best right now, but we're good." As punctuation to her thoughts, the bell rang and her next class began to filter in. She smiled at him.