The Arabella Conundrum

Part Sixteen- The Expanding Understanding

"You don't want me to come to your house do you?" Theo asked in a monotone a few moments after my grandmother left. I frowned at his tone but kept my gaze firmly on Ellie.

"It's not that I don't want to. It's just..." I sighed, trying to figure out what I was going to say.

"Ok, I get it, you're not ready yet."

I could tell the sincerity in his voice but something in me compelled to open up and tell him the real reason.

"No, just give me a moment Chipmunk." I held onto Ellie's hand tightly as I contemplated how I was going to express this.

This bit of information shouldn't really expose that much. Come on Arabella, just talk to him. I decided to tell him part of the reason why I didn't want him to come to mine for tutoring. The biggest issue was that I didn't want him find out more about me and find out about...

I decided though to tell him one issue, one issue that I hoped wouldn't unravel the web of secrets. I knew this confession probably wouldn't but my apprehension to expose myself to somebody was not a nice feeling. A feeling I hated with a deep passion.

"Right," I began. "So you know when we first met you said that I must be really rich to go to our school because it costs a fortune."

He nodded silently.

"Well I'm on a scholarship, it might be hard to believe but an academic scholarship. I might not seem that intelligent but I passed the entry test." I joked. Most people found it hard to believe that I actually care about school work.

"You are clever Arabella." He whispered.

I looked at him curiously at the statement and didn't really know how to respond.

"Yeah... well what I'm trying to say is that I'm not really rich like the majority of the kids are at school and I certainly don't live in a massive mansion like you do."

"Yeah, why is that a problem?"

"Because people look down on you when you aren't rich and go to that school and you live in the place that I do." I admitted my insecurity to him. I knew I didn't fit into the school very well. One look at the car park of the school confirmed that. People who had barely just passed their driving test have sports car and 4x4's.

"Let me get this straight. You, Arabella, the girl who back talks to the principal, is scared of what pompous idiots will think about you because you don't have money?"

I didn't reply to him.

"You Arabella are many things but you are not insecure. Do you really think I will care where you live?"

I noticed him looking at my intently, waiting for my response.

"Uhmm... Yeah I guess so." I sounded unsure.

"I couldn't care less where you live."

"Really?"

"Yes!" He pressed, laughter in his tone of voice. "Stop being so insecure, it really doesn't suit you."

"You don't know me very well do you. I would never judge people on stuff like that." He said.

I turned to face him and saw him smiling at me.

I smiled back and in that moment I realised that I didn't know him very well at all but equally he didn't know me very well either. 

If only he knew how insecure I actually was. The beauty of talking to Theo was he was under the illusion that I was this confident, outspoken mysterious girl.