The Silence Between Us

Fishing for Answers

Chapter 9:

"He's so into you."

"What are you talking about? He barely even knows me!"

"It's so obvious! Have you seen the way he looks at you?"

"Well, no..." I trailed off.

Mae gasped beside me, "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! I'm such a terrible friend!"

I laughed at Mae's outburst, "Don't be sorry, it's fine!" I said, waving off her unnecessary apology.

We were the first ones to arrive at the lunch table, sitting down after we had gotten our food. Mae had always prepacked her lunch, but she waited in line with me anyways. After this morning, I was sure that she would've been distant when she spoke to me, but she acted like nothing had ever happened. After Alex had left, I started worrying that Mae wouldn't want to hang around me anymore if she was going to get bullied too.

But here she was, making me feel even better every second I spent with her. She was just one of those people who knew exactly what I needed to cheer me up. I didn't want sympathy, sympathy never helped and just made me feel worse. What I needed was a friend to distract me from my thoughts and make me laugh. And she was doing just that.

I turned to her, "And what about Finn?"

Mae paused, not taking another bite of her sandwich, "What about him?" She asked me, pretending like she didn't hesitate as she bit into her sandwich seconds later and chewed loudly.

"Don't think I didn't notice how he practically rushed to your side this morning and didn't leave you the entire time."

Mae blew out a puff of air, "Oh please, that was just him being a snobby jerk."

I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing, causing Mae to punch me on the shoulder. Ignoring her jab, I tried to speak through my laughter, "What makes you think that him standing next to you protectively labels him as a snobby jerk? Isn't that supposed to be cute? A sign of him liking you?"

She gasped in mock horror, "Never, ever say those words again!"

"Never say what again? That I'm irresistibly handsome?" Finn dropped into the seat right next to Mae and put his arm around her. I could practically feel the heat radiating off her cheeks.

"No!" She spat, shrugging off his arm. There was a soft thud as it hit his side. "We were just talking about...what were we talking about, Louisa?"

Oh no, she was not dragging me into this. She was going to regret ever turning to me for help. "We were talking about how you were irresistibly handsome."

Mae groaned while Finn shot out of his seat. "I knew it!"

All three of us burst into laughter while Clara sat down on the other side of me, "What are we talking about?"

"Nothing!" We all shouted together, earning more snickers from the three of us and a confused Clara. My sense of being watching kicked in as the hairs stood on the back of my neck, but I ignored it. It felt good to joke and laugh with people for once, that I wasn't going to let anyone ruin it, not even Cora and her lackeys.

I heard someone sit on the other side of Clara, and I stiffened, knowing by the lack of a greeting exactly who it was. I heard the rustling of fabric as he signed to the group, the rest signing back. I took this as an opportunity to show off what I learned and signed hello to him using the alphabet. My cheeks turned red as the entire table applauded.