It's Just High School

Chapter 8

Sam is still silent whenever we have lunch in the café, but what I observed about her is that she doesn’t protest that we eat here or I my offer of help. I was half expecting that she’ll claw her way out of my arms when I hauled her over from the bleachers to my car. More so expected that she would give me a total of how much we ate. She actually obeyed my order to her that she meets me at the parking lot. And she’s even early sometimes. She also doesn’t protest when I do some of her assignments for her

This side of her is what I haven’t seen yet from her. I haven’t seen her comfortable. I haven’t seen her silently obey as well. There are far less time she crumpled her forehead and ever less times that she looks weak or hungry. More even less time that she rained me over to give her my ‘true intentions’ or refusal for help.

What I noticed more is that she’s not the type to make things difficult by idling over her looks. She’s not the type to slather make-up on her face like its cake that needs icing. She’s not the type of person who obsesses too much on how she looks like. She doesn’t complain, nor brood too much about things that she doesn’t have. And she doesn’t mind that. It’s that that’s making me even like her more.

There were a lot more things that I liked about her like her dirty blonde hair, her independence, the exactness of her Chucks on her foot, the redness of her lips, her appetite. I can go on forever with the things I like and I don’t like. The only important things I can point though is her being her.

It was obvious, I can tell, that it was obvious for everybody else. Sam didn’t notice though. I hoped she didn’t actually. Admitting it isn’t that difficult for me. Doing it this early though might just spoil what we have. It wasn’t much, but at least I am gaining her trust over not having any ulterior motives.

Right now, our dynamic is that she let’s go of her assignment, I take it, do it, and return to her. Some of the time I remind her to eat by giving her her food. Some of the time, I take her assignment from her because she wouldn’t admit that she can’t do it. And some of the time I take her glasses away to remind her that she needs rest sometimes and I’m here who she can ask help from. In other words, I was her personal gauge.

This is not something I’ve done to anyone before. But then again, I haven’t met someone like her before. A lot of girls that I dated were independent and simple, but they were nothing like her who knows what she has to do. I like that. She has a good idea what is and what is not.

“Christmas break is coming up, what do you plan to do?” I asked her to loosen her mood.

“Work.” She said while eating.

“Do you really have to?” I asked her.

“I don’t exactly have any other choice.”

Somehow, her voice there sounds defeated. Although I would have wanted for her to share why, I can’t rush her into it. It was a personal matter, and we’re not that close yet. For the past few days, I was contemplating on the idea to ask her all about it, but like any other day of the week, I’m hesitant. I don’t want her to be uncomfortable. It took her this long to finally relax, and I just want my company to be something that she could rely to not be stressful.

I was about to let it slide but then she said, “I know that look on your face Dean.”

“What?” I asked her.

“You want to ask don’t you?” She invited me to ask over what I have been thinking.

“Would you mind?” I asked as lightly as I could.

“Go ahead.”

“You need to work during Christmas break because?” I started gently.

“I can’t depend on anyone to make a living for me.”