Relatable

08

I actually felt a little more comfortable around Dylan now. I could muster up casual conversation or laugh at his jokes without making a fool out of myself.  

"Hi, Dylan," I said kindly, while putting my backpack down beside me as I took my seat near him.

"Hey, El," Dylan smirked.

I tried not to smile too hard when he used my nickname.

"Did you get number seven on the homework?" Dylan asked, pulling out a piece of paper from his backpack.

I pulled out the homework from last night and saw my work neatly printed on the sheet. I handed him the paper with a bright smile on my face so he could copy whatever he needed.

"Thanks," he said with a smile. "So Cameron told me that you tutor him in precalc?"

I nodded, looking over at Cameron for a second. He sat on top of his desk, surrounded by a couple of other classmates.

"So you must be pretty good at math, huh?" Dylan asked, nodding to my homework.

"Eh, enough to pass," I said honestly. 

"Do you want to do homework together?" he said, raising his eyebrow.

Oh my goodness. One on one time with Dylan Torino. 

Not trying to sound too eager, I replied, "Sure. Sounds good."

He handed me his phone to put my number in, and I could feel my heart thumping inside my chest. 

For the entire class period, all I could think about was being with Dylan outside of school. This was going to be new, but I was excited. I almost forgot that he wasn't exactly single but hopefully that would change soon.

I couldn't contain my excitement any longer, and the second the bell rang to dismiss class, I ran across the school to find Layla.

Once I found her walking out of her English class, I yanked her arm to drag her to a spot with fewer students.

"Okay, ow," was all she said.

"Layla, Layla, Layla!" I exclaimed. "Dylan asked for my number!" My smile was so big it was starting to hurt my cheeks.

Layla widened her eyes, "He did!? Wait, so is he single? Are you two going out now?"

"Well, not exactly. He just asked me if we could do homework together," I replied.

"So he didn't exactly ask for your number, he asked for your help," Layla said chuckling. I glared at her for bursting my metaphorical bubble.

We slowly started walking to our next class, and I sighed knowing there was still a lot of work to get Dylan to actually like me. But looking back at what I've accomplished so far, I felt proud.

My eyes found Cameron at the end of the hallway, and I smiled. I wanted to tell him I got Dylan's number and if he happened to find out what's going on with Nina and Dylan. 

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw a hand waving in front of my face. "Earth to Ellie?" Layla said, looking at me concerned. "Did you not just hear a word I said?"

I shook my head, and looked at her confused. "What did you say?"

"Well," she said raising her eyebrows, "Before you completely spaced out on me, I was telling you that I wanted to just do a movie night for my birthday. Keep it simple."

"Layla, that's a really good idea. It can be really laidback," I said, knowing that she didn't like making things all about her on her birthday. But of course, as her best friend, I still needed to make her feel special.