IMAGINES ▹ ROSS BUTLER

↳ compliments

( COMPLIMENTS )
by liamrabnud

The class emptied seconds after the dismissive bell rang. The previous silence that reigned over the halls was now shattered by hundreds of voices, hundreds of footsteps hitting the ground.

Usually, you'd be out of the classroom in the blink of an eye but for some reason, on this particular day, you took your sweet time placing your notebook and pens in their designated bag.

That slowness resulted in you seeing something unexpected.

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted a certain tall and broad shouldered guy quickly walking up to the compliment bags near the windows. You saw as the star athlete Zach Dempsey casually and quickly checked his bag. You also saw his shoulders slump, his forehead creasing as he retracted an empty hand from the paper bag that had his name on it.

The two of you made a very brief eye contact as he looked around the room to check if anyone had seen him looking for compliments. As soon as your eyes met, both of you looked away in embarrassment.

You looked down into your bag and acted as if you were looking for something in it.

Zach turned around and left the classroom.

The compliments bags got hung up at the beginning of the year –or so you think. You never really paid attention to them or even bothered to check your bag, figuring you'd spare yourself of unnecessary feelings of sadness, loneliness and disappointment that came with the lack of compliments.

Throwing your backpack over your right shoulder, you took one glance at the bags and then left for your next class.

After that day you noticed a pattern that you hadn't been paying attention to before. When the class emptied after the bell's ringing, Zach would quickly go over to check for compliments, and each time he had none. So he'd leave with a saddened expression, slumped shoulders and glance to the floor.

So, one night as you sat alone in your room, with music slowly playing in the background, wet hair and fresh painted nails, you'd decided to write a compliment for Zach, the dark haired boy who sat behind you in Communications and English.

You ripped a small piece of paper from the back of the nearest notebook and sat down at your desk. The red pen swayed in your hand as you tried to think of a nice, cute but casual compliment that would make him smile. You tried to picture the boy in your mind, but you thought complimenting his appearance would be dumb and generic. You couldn't write down something about his physique that he hadn't heard being hushed on the hallways before.

Minutes flew by as you sighed and groaned and tapped on the table trying to come up with something. You could see him, hear his laugh from behind you but you couldn't write anything down.

Your closing eyes eventually forced you to scribble down something before going to sleep, and you decided it was good enough.

The next day you got to class earlier than everyone else and quickly slipped the note in Zach's bag before anyone could see you. The intention was to make him smile, not to let everyone think you had a crush on the guy.

During the entire hour, your leg kept bouncing up and down rapidly. Each time you heard Zach snicker from behind you at something his friends said, you grew more anxious. Was it even a good idea? Were you being stupid? What if he found out you wrote the note, told his friends and they all made fun of you?

You left after the bell rang, and with a racing heart you looked into the classroom from the outside because you really wanted to see Zach's reaction even if you were fearing it.