Wonderstruck (t. chalamet)

f o u r

~ Timothée ~

I was late to school this morning because of my job as a carpool driver. Ever since I got my license I've been driving the neighbor's kids to school every morning. You'd think it would be pretty simple, but it's kind of a pain in the ass. There are two girls, Jamie and Kyrah, who are both eight and one boy, Mason, who is ten. Today was supposed to go as normal, but one of the twins spilled chocolate milk on her shirt right as I arrived, so it took her an extra ten minutes to choose another shirt.

I pulled up to school and parked quickly before rushing to my first period. I was a half an hour late but turns out the teacher didn't care.

"psst Timothée," I hear someone whisper from behind me. I look back to see Oliver.

"What?"

"You're my partner for the project we were just assigned," he explains.

Oliver Green was my best friend in freshman year. I didn't have anything against him, we just grew apart. He started to hang out with other people and I started to hang out by myself. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

"Oh shit, a project, already?" I ask.

He shifted a little in his chair before pulling out his phone.

"This is you, right?"

I looked at the screen and immediately regretted it. It was a video of me and Rowan's skit we performed the other day in class with the caption, "this class is pure comedy".

"Uh-yeah," I responded, slightly embarrassed.

"I saw it on someone's snapchat story, I didn't know you took drama still?"

"I don't, I just TA, but the girl needed a partner."

I felt bad trying to explain myself to someone like Oliver. He never understood what it was like to live without the acceptance of others, which is something I feared.

I went to third period trying not to think about the video of me, but I couldn't. As soon as I got there I sat at my usual clutter-filled desk and looked around. Something was missing. I looked again to the far right corner of the class to find that her seat was empty.

tchalamet: hey where r u ?

seen

I rested my phone on the table and sighed.

rowrowan: not coming to class today. meet me by the big tree in the garden at lunch?

tchalamet: okay, but you're explaining later

When the bell rang I let everyone trickled out before I started to leave.

"Not in a rush to get out like the others, are we? Mrs. Anderson questioned.

"No I guess not," I chucked, "thanks for letting me help out this year, I really enjoy being apart of the drama program here."

"Oh no problem, you're the only student that seems to have the passion for it, unlike the rest."

I laughed a little, knowing that she was right. Sure people liked drama class, or even enjoyed it a lot more than they would've thought, but acting is really what I wanted to do.

"I'll have to agree with you there."

She smiled and looked down at a stack of papers on her desk.

"Yesterday you were Rowan's partner, correct?" I nodded slightly.

"You guys were great together, that girl really has it in her," she chuckled.

I nodded in agreement and said goodbye as I made my way out of the class. I walked past the crowded tables full of students and headed towards the school garden. Our school has had a garden since my sophomore year when this girl passed from cancer. Usually, no one sits in it, but I've used it a couple times when practicing my lines for shows. I took a deep breath before walking over to the big oak tree in the center of the garden. There, propped against the tree was Rowan, who was clearly fascinated in her reading.

"You look occupied," I laughed, tearing her attention from the tattered book she held.

"Oh yeah, I got this book a few days ago at a thrift shop and I can't put it down." I sat down beside her as she tucked her book away in her bag.

"Why weren't you in class today?"

She let out a long sigh before speaking.

"Well I saw the video of us a-" I cut her off.

"I saw it too, but you know you can't let that stuff get to you," I said, "plus I thought we did pretty good up there, I mean you were a natural."

"You really think so?" She asked in a curious tone.

"Yeah, don't let it get to your head though, I wouldn't want you to win an Oscar before I do," We both laughed.

She looked down at her hands and then back at me, breaking the moment of silence between us.

"So you want to know about me?"

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Okay so I know it's been forever since I updated, but I don't really have an excuse besides finals this week. I hope you guys like this chapter cause I don't like it too much, but I really wanted to update. Thanks for reading and there will be new chapters soon!