Learning To Fall

two

"How was school today?" Rachel asks as I walk in the door of the diner.

"You'll never guess who I started talking to again," I say in a sing-song voice, sitting at the counter. Rachel couldn't resist gossip, so she comes over to the counter in front of me with a dark brow raised.

"Who?" She questions, and I laugh a little.

"Calum," I state with a smile. Rachel's face is taken over with a wide grin.

"So, does he still love you?" She jokes as she goes to pour coffees. I stand from my chair and make my way to the kitchen of the diner, where the dishes are washed and the food is prepared.

"He never did," I laugh as I put my bookbag down on a chair in the corner of the back room. Rachel goes to the carry out window and makes an effort to raise an eyebrow at me.

"Andy, he's in love with you," Rachel teases. I roll my eyes and take the dishes she dropped off.

"No he's not," I sigh as I put the dishes in the sink and plug in my over the head headphones to my phone.

"Not those things again," Rachel says as she hands me more dishes through the carry out window. I jokingly roll my eyes at her statement.

"Yes these things again, I love them. And they won't let us use them at school," I pout, and Rachel scoffs.

"By the way, our new guy to wash dishes is coming in today," She warns, and I nod.

"Finally." I sigh, beginning to wash the dishes that have been sitting in the sink all day. I lose myself in my music as I begin to wash the dishes. When I turn around to put them away, I come face to face with him.

Michael from AP English.

>>

"Why didn't you tell me the name of the guy?" I whisper as I pull Rachel into the supply closet.

"I didn't think it was important," She whispers back in defense.

"He goes to View Point," I reply, pinching the bridge of my nose. This diner was my only escape from both high school and home. Ironic, because home should be the place where you feel completely at ease.

"And does a certain someone have a crush on said guy?" Rachel jokes, and I resist the urge to hit her with the broom in the corner.

"No, he's in my AP English class," I defend, grabbing the dish soap from the middle shelf. Before opening the door, I turn back to her with a warning glance.

"Don't try anything, Bell. I will literally have your ass," I warn before walking out of the closet and back into the kitchen.

>>

"Andrea, how was your day at school?" Lillian the step-monster asks at the dinner table. I resist the urge to roll my eyes at her fake behavior and force an answer out of myself. It had only been a week, and she was already trying to pry into my school life.

"It was good," I state before getting a mouthful of mashed potatoes so that she wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"And you, Elliott?" She asks my older brother, who has as little tolerance for her as I do.

"All of my AP classes are really hard, but if I want to graduate early I'll have to take them," He says, rubbing the dark hairs on the back of his neck.

"That's right, Eli. Don't you want to get into a good college?" Lillian questions, and he nods.

Once again, I resist to roll my eyes. She was so blinded by good grades and good education that she either didn't see the bags under Elliott's eyes or she blatantly ignored them. I look down at the table to see my dad staring lifelessly into his mashed potatoes, green beans, and macaroni. I stand from the table and grab my plate and cup.

"Where are you going?" He asks, jolted out of his stupor.

"I'm excusing myself to my room," I reply as I walk into the kitchen.

"What about family dinner?" Lillian asks innocently from the table, and I wash my dishes before making my way out of the kitchen.

"It must be all that AP work." I reply innocently with a shrug before ascending up the stairs to my room, not missing the glare from her eyes after I said so.

>>

"Have you seen this assignment?" Calum asks, and I can hear the scowl on his face through the phone.

"No, why?" I laugh, grabbing my laptop and sitting on my bed.

"Just take a look," He tells me, and I sigh of exasperation before logging onto the school website and looking under the section labeled 'AP English.'

"'Your assignment throughout the year is to write love notes to a teacher picked student. The student will be in your class, so don't get any ideas. The letters have to be at least seven words, and must be sent on a monthly basis. At the end of the year, the person will be required to give you a grade. That means ; use proper grammar. This assignment will make or break you, so be careful. It begins after homecoming,'" I quote out loud, my eyebrows coming together in confusion. "This is bullshit," I groan as I log off the website.

"I know, and there's no way that we would be assigned to each other," Calum complains, I nod in reply and then realize he can't see me.

"No, really Sherlock? I had no idea," I sass, running my hand through my chest length chestnut hair. He laughs and I can hear him typing on the other end of the phone call.

"Might as well type them all out beforehand," The maori boy sighs, and I laugh.

"What if you get assigned to Luke?" Slips from my mouth before I can stop it, and my heart immediately regrets it. There's an awkward silence before he chuckles in reply.

"That'd be so awkward," Calum finally answers. "What if you get assigned to Michael?" He questions. I laugh and shake my head.

"Now that would be awkward," I laugh, still shaking my head at the idea.

"Oh please, you're in love with him," Calum teases, and I laugh harder.

"All I know is that he's smart enough to make it into AP classes and that we work together," I say defensively.

"That's not a no I'm hearing!" Calum exclaims, laughing even harder. I roll my eyes, joining in on the laughter but hoping nobody else heard him, he was that loud.

"Shut up Calum," I giggle, and his laughter dies off eventually.

We talk for another hour before he hangs up, and I'm left alone to think about the possibilities of me getting assigned to Michael Clifford.