Lionheart

Chapter 6

                Mallory watches with apprehensive eyes as Seth chases after Nick, who’s briskly walking towards the library in hopes of escaping the two of them. As much as she is loath to admit it, she’s worried for both Nick and Seth. She’s not sure if Seth believed the lie Nick fabricated to cover for her mistakes, but if he did, then that would mean she’s caused the rift between the two to expand. And just the thought of it is deplorable to her.  

                As she stands there, slouching and sweating out of misery, she debates on whether or not she should intervene. She knows it’s a bad idea, but she just can’t stand there when she just quite possibly ruined a budding relationship.

                She groans, turning around and clutching her head. Oh the things she would do to be able to listen to music right now!

                Running her hands over her face, she slowly and diffidently walks away in melancholy, wishing that she can do something to make it up to Seth and Nick.

                I’m such an idiot! She curses herself for roughly the fifth time in the last two minutes, and begins melodramatically dry sobbing into her clammy hands.

                Someone clears their throat right in front of her. Rude, she thinks as she peels her hands away from her face. She grimaces in distaste at her sweat-covered cheeks and wipes them with the sleeve of her shirt. “What?” she grumbles crossly before glancing up at the oaf who interfered with her floundering. But her breath hitches in her throat and all of a sudden it’s a great time to die.

                Well, maybe not die. Just have my brain spontaneously combust… which is the same thing, but oh what am I even doing I have to get out of here.

                It’s almost funny, Adam’s expression; he obviously looks torn between showing his concern and feeling utterly debased. The latter, Mallory assumes, must have something to do with making the mind-numbing gaffe of approaching her. Still, she muses, cutting herself off, she finds it sweet that Adam decided to be courteous and check up on her, an acquaintance. He still looks like he’s about to wet himself, but Mallory knows that she’s no different right now. She just hopes her anxiety isn’t oozing out like Adam’s is. Not that there’s much anxiety in her compared to Adam. Mallory just knows that whatever it is she and Nick heard meant the most to Adam.

                Should she talk to him about it?

                “Oh, hi, Adam.” Then, she smiles, casually, charmingly—she can’t really tell anymore.

                Adam busies himself by glancing around frenziedly, dodging Mallory’s pressing gaze as long as possible. His eyes fall on her for a split-second as he tells her, shyly, “Hi… Mallory.”

                She assumes the fleeting look was done out of respect for a fellow human being. “Yeah, hi,” she says again. “Wanna talk?”

                No surprise comes from Adam looking a little put-off by the idea of talking to a freshman who probably humiliated and scared the hell out of him just a few hours ago, but Mallory is not to be deterred. She has things to make up for, and what better time than the present to start?

                The silence between them stretches out along with the seconds that pass them by in quick progression. Mallory tries not to sneak a look at her wristwatch (it would be rude) as she rocks on her heels and puffs her cheeks at Adam expectantly and a little bit impatiently. Lunch break doesn’t really last forever—as much as it sucks for Mallory to admit it to herself.