He looked at me for seconds before he could open his mouth and say two words. ''That's tough.'' Was all he could say. Tough? It's worse than that. He was probably shocked by the fact that I figured him out.
But then again... Who knew of his doings? The school? The boys? Clearly not Callie. Or else she didn't seem to be bothered by him.
''You're incredible'' I ironically breathed and frowned at him. He seemed confused but didn't bother to question me, which came to my surprise.
''I guess we can't make this work, can we?'' He questioned me, with a sincere voice.
And that's when it hit me. It hit me that he was being the professional one, not me. All he did was asking for my opinion, my thoughts regarding the brainstorming, and all I managed to do was throw it on his face, taking everything personally. I was the one who was harsh on him, and even tho his cold attitude bothered me (A LOT), he was somehow still trying to make it work.
''I'm sorry about my attitude. I'm just having a bad day'' I silently apologized.
''Alright students. The class is over. I'm looking forward to some great presentations.'' Mr. Cullens dismissed us.
As I turned my chair around back to my seat, I began to pack my things. ''Don't worry about it.'' I hear Shawn's voice from behind. ''Well, that was a slow answer,'' I whispered to myself. ''Malliah.'' He mentioned my name at last. It was almost like goosebumps appeared on the back of my neck.
As Shawn was packing his things, the boys told him they were waiting outside in the parking lot. That made the two of us the last ones in class. I intentionally slowed my packing when I knew I had to say something to him. I wanted answers, and I wanted to ask him privately.
''Shawn.'' I finally had the courage to turn around and face him. ''You really don't remember me?'' I asked him, in hope that the ten-year-old boy would still be there somewhere. I guess some part of me was hoping to see through him, hoping that the story about the girl was just a rumor. And that he'd never hurt anybody, especially not like that.
He was so slow at responding and I couldn't take the silence so I continued.
''I just feel like you do it on purpose. You haven't even said anything to me since I came here. And if it wasn't for the class project, you'd still...''
''I'm sorry to disappoint you Malliah. I don't know what you had expected after 7 years, but I'm not that little boy anymore. I'll work with you on the project, but that's all.'' He looked at me with silent despise and walked out the door.
That's when I realised my dad was right. I was hopelessly searching for a little boy from my past, a boy who used to be my only friend. And now, he's the only one who's most likely never going to be a friend of mine. I shouldn't have made it worse than before.
