Concrete Angels

Chapter Three: Contact

Lynn POV

Oh god, oh god. He's sitting right next to me. He said hi. I cant reply! He'll notice how nervous I am. I'm sure he saw me blushing earlier, how can he sit there and not feel uncomfortable? What am I supposed to do?! 'What's your name?' He spoke again. My ears turned red as I debated wether or not to reply. On the one hand, I wanted him to like me. I had a chance at a friend here, and maybe more. On the other hand, as soon as I open my mouth weird stuff just tumbles out.

I probably made the worse decision. 'L-Lynn.' Oh crap, I stuttered. I literally wanted the floor to open up and swallow me onto a special twisty slide straight to Hell. I fiddled with my hands on the desk, pulling the sleeves of my hoodie right down to my fingertips.

'That's a nice name. I've never met anyone called Lynn before.'  His voice was like heaven. I know how strange that sounds, but if you heard his voice you would understand. It was like melted chocolate. I wanted to reply, but my mouth couldn't seem to form the right sounds. I just sat there like an idiot, shuffling my feet and hiding my face behind my bangs. I was pretending to listen to Mr. Johnston going on about poetry, when really I was desperately trying not to freak and pass out.

I hadn't even noticed that I was making a hole in my hoodie. That is, until I heard a 'Hey.' I looked up in shock when a large, warm hand covered my shaking ones. I froze. My eyes met his kind green orbs. He spoke again. 'Why are you so nervous? I won't hurt you. Promise.' His gentle words were unlike anything I've ever heard. I wasn't sure how to respond to the kindness. I had never had to respond to kindness, and it was a strange feeling. I carefully  tugged my hands away from his and turned away.

'If you were me, you would understand why.'

We sat in silence for a while after that. I could almost feel Andy staring at me, but I ignored him. If I faced him, I don't think I would be able to keep myself from telling him everything. I already felt like I could trust him, and for me that wasn't good. Everything would come out, the self harm, the suicidal tendencies, the crush...

'And for the rest of the class you can talk to your partner about the poem, your assignment is to create your own which must be done for homework, I recommend you meet up over the week outside of school.' I vaguely heard Mr. Johnston's droning voice from across the class. My head snapped up at the word 'partner', as I realised with a sinking heart that Andy was my partner. I tentatively turned my head to the side, and was immediately met with bright green eyes. I noticed that small dip in between his brows, and the way the light reflected off of his emerald irises.

'So, are we gonna do this?' His deep voice broke into my thoughts. I was startled, and there was a moment of panic as my jolt caused me to start slipping off the side of my chair. My eyes went wide, and I prepared myself for the inevitable embarrassment. But a strong hand wrapped around my wrist, and a tan arm snaked around my waist to hold me fast to my chair, stopping me from sliding off.

My heart started hammering against my ribcage at the closeness, but Andy kept his grip tight. He pulled me back fully into my seat before slowly releasing my waist and wrist from his arms. For some reason, the was a hint of reluctance in his movements as he let go. Eh, wishful thinking.

'You okay?' Andy asked, and I nodded, not trusting my voice. He nodded to, and we fell into another awkward silence. It took about five minutes before I realised I had no idea what we were supposed to be doing. I had completely zoned out while Mr. Johnston was explaining the assignment. I couldn't ask the teacher, there's a good chance I'll just get detention again, especially as I was already late. I could always ask Andy.. No. Knowing me that will go terribly wrong.  But I didn't really have a choice here. I resigned myself to my fate.

Turning slowly to the left, a opened my mouth. 'Um, Andy?' Andy's head immediately shot up from were it was hunched over his book, and he looked straight at me. I resisted the urge to squirm uncomfortably.

'And he talks!' Andy was joking, but I couldn't help but feel a little offended at the comment. I bit back a sarcastic retort. I steeled myself again.

'I don't know what we are supposed to be doing.' There, that sounded confident. I didn't sound like I was talking to the guy of my dreams at all. To my dismay, Andy's face broke into a smile. 'Aww, was Lynn not paying attention to the teacher?' His voice was mocking, but his eyes were good natured and playful. He went on to explain the assignment again, which made a lot more sense to me than when Johnston explained. We continued the rest of the lesson in silence, with the occasional murmur of a questions crossing the air between us.

'Hey, um Lynn?' For the first time today, Andy seemed nervous. Which was strange, because I had only seen him with a confident grin on his face. 'Yeah?'

'Since we have to work on this for homework, I was thinking we should go to your house, cause I can't get into mine until late. I, uh, kinda forgot my key.' He added sheepishly. My heartbeat sped up again. Was my dad at home tonight? No. He had work. But the house was a mess, and my mum would ask questions. And what if he didn't like my room? Why was I even worried about this? I don't even want to know.

And then I made the possible worst decision. 'Yeah, sure.'