The Phoenix Stone

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Billie

I stood with Tara and Grace on the school grounds waiting for the bell to go for first period while Jade was probably making out with Brad somewhere. When Tara spotted Noah she cried “the new boy is so hot!” Grace nodded enthusiastically but I just cringed. Grace, noticing my reaction, asked “what’s wrong Bill?” I looked away. Okay Billie it’s time to come clean. 

“Well…I kind of spent last night with him!” I admitted sheepishly.

“WHAT! And I only hear of this now?” grace cried in anguish “details, I need details!” Grace always had been a gossip queen. “It was just a study session, Noah needed help in French and since I’m fluent I offered to tutor him.” I exclaimed quickly before either of them could make any assumptions.

“Right…” Tara said trailing off and one of raising her perfectly arched eyebrows.

“And I might have accidently kissed him!” I admitted and both heads snapped in my direction. “On the cheek!” I confirmed meekly.

“How did he react?” Grace questioned and I felt like an interviewee.

“I don’t know?” I admitted.

“What, how can you not know?” Tara shrieked.

“I kind of ran off?” I said, cringing again.

Both of my friends just stared at me dumbfounded, awkward or what? 

I sat quietly in the corner of Mrs Garcia’s classroom while Grace ranted at me about the importance of friendship. I swear she never stops for breath when she’s ranting! But she did stop as soon as Noah walked into the class. He stood in the doorway for a second, his eyes scanning the classroom for someone and as soon as his eyes landed on me Grace’s stream of words soon came to an end. I watched as Noah walked casually up the isle and towards our table. To my surprise he was smiling!

“Thank you for last night.” He bent down and whispered in my ear. Which part I wondered silently to myself, the tutoring or the kiss or both? “Is next Thursday okay for you, mon chéri?” he asked and I just nodded in a mixture of shock and delight. So he liked it! Either that or it was so horrible that he has decided to block it from his memory completely. I wasn’t sure which of the ideas I preferred!     

Art class, it was my favourite, favourite subject, favourite teacher, favourite lesson. It was my time to be free to express myself in any way shape or form. This term we were looking at natural forms again another of my favourites. I walked over to the easel that held the canvas that I’d been working on for the last couple of weeks.  It was a collage of a rose. The rose was shattered from the centre and each and every part of the rose was drawn in a different style. Some of it was in bright felt tip while some was in watercolour, another entire section was sketched in pencil and shaded and I quote ‘to perfection’ in fact I was quite proud of it if I did say so myself. I picked up my pastels and began on the fifth section of my painting. “Perhaps someone should teach me how to paint as well as how to speak French.” Someone whispered in my ear and I didn’t have to look to know it was. “Are we going to make a habit of whispering in each other’s ears?” I turned to Noah smiling.

“Why not?” Noah bent down to my ear again and shrugged.  

“Because the whole class is staring at us?” I suggested before shooing him back to his seat.