Generation Infinosil

Chapter Sixty

Chapter Sixty

2043 

"You're Kaitlyn's Mum?" Shane asked, smiling.

"Yeah, why? Do you know her?" 

"Well there's a girl called Kaitlyn in my class, it might not be the same one, she does look a little like you though now I think about it." 

"Do you go to St. Lucian's?" She asked.

"Yeah I do, so you are Kaitlyn's Mum!" Shane said excitedly.

"Are you friends then?" Robert questioned.

"Uh... I guess, we've spoken a few times." Shane mumbled, scratching his head with cheeks turning rosy red. 

"I think someone has a crushhhh!" Robert teased, whispering in Shane's ear. That earned a shove from Shane, who apparently didn't appreciate the teasing. 

* Later that day *

Walking through the door, she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time - a glimmer of hope. She was determined to treasure that feeling, she didn't know when it could be taken away after all. 

"Sarah," her husband called, having heard her close the door behind her, "how's your day been?"

"It's been interesting, very interesting." She replied, receiving a curious glance and a quick cuddle. 

Sarah walked into the living room where her daughter was sat on the sofa, drawing in her sketch book. "So how was your day sweetheart?"

"It was okay thanks Mum." Her daughter replied, still engrossed in her drawings.

"Did you see Shane today?" Sarah asked, grinning slightly. Even though Kaitlyn was looking down at her lap, her mother could still make out the tops of her ears rapidly turning rather pink.

"Shane? How do you know Shane?" She asked suspiciously, looking up from her art for the first time, with narrowing eyes. 

"You spoke about him in your sleep last night." 

Kaitlyn's eyes grew wide. Sarah loved teasing her. "What did I say?"

"Kaitlyn, I'm joking dear, but your reaction says it all." She revealed, feeling rather pleased with herself for being able to read her daughter so well.

"What do you mean it says it all?" But the blush on her cheeks proved that she knew exactly what her mum was talking about.

"You have your first crush."

"I do not," she insisted, "I've barely even spoken to him. How do you know him anyway?"

"I met him today, I work with his Dad." 

* The next day at school *

"Ergh," Kaitlyn thought, "school photo day, I hate school photos." She was looking in the mirror as her mum fussed around with her hair.

"Mum, I'm ten years old, I don't need you to do my hair anymore you know." She complained, acting beyond her years. 

"Okay, if you insist." Sarah said, releasing her daughter's hair that she had tried to braid into a perfect plait. 

"Besides, I much prefer it when it's down, I look silly with a plait." Kaitlyn said, receiving a tut from her Mum, who still wasn't quite used to the idea of her daughter already being so worried about her appearance.

So Sarah and Kaitlyn walked to school and Kaitlyn went to the hall as instructed for the class photo. In the corner of her eye she spotted Shane, and it took her a moment to realise he was looking right at her. When she turned to smile at him, he turned away, embarrassed that he was caught watching her. He often did that, and Kaitlyn found it rather sweet that he was so shy. When he turned to face away from her, pretending to be preoccupied with something else, Kaitlyn decided to silently walk up behind him and say hello. He couldn't run away if he didn't know she was coming. She had done this a few times before, she knew it was the only way she'd get to talk to him, and she loved their conversations. 

"Hi Shane!" She exclaimed, tapping on his shoulder. 

He turned around, smiling shyly, "hi Kaitlyn." She noticed his cheeks immediately go pink and suddenly felt self-conscious. She wondered if he actually wanted to talk to her or if he was embarrassed because he didn't want to be seen with her. 

"How are you?" She asked, careful not to sound too enthusiastic. 

"I'm okay thank you, how are you?"

"I'm good thank you, are you never good?" She responded, curious.

"What do you mean?" Confusion presented itself in his furrowed brows.

"Well, whenever I ask how you are, you always say you're okay, but never good." She explained.

"Well I guess I'm waiting for something good to happen in order to be honest when I say I'm good, I don't want to lie to you."

"That's sad, don't you think that lots of good things happen every day?" She asked, concerned that he evidently didn't see the world with as much brightness as she did.

"Perhaps good things happen on some days." He said, thinking of the brief moments that he gets to be with her. Strangely, he considered her his only true friend, despite the fact that they rarely spoke. Maybe it was because he felt she understood him more than the others, and that she took time to speak to him despite the fact that he would seldom make the first move. 

"Like what?" She asked, with an encouraging smile.

"Like when you come and talk to me." He said, blushing, and unsure what gave him the courage to make such a bold statement. 

"Well in that case, we can make a deal, if I come and speak to you every day, then when I ask you how you're feeling I expect you to say you're good, deal?"

"Deal." He said, smiling uncontrollably and not worrying about how stupid he looked. Kaitlyn was going to speak to him every day, he couldn't believe his luck.

So when it was time for the class photo to be snapped, although they weren't stood beside each other, he still smiled. 

Both Kaitlyn's parents and Shane's parents bought the class photo that year.