That time I got rejected three times on the same day!

Chapter 20

We were sitting quietly at one of the desks. I had taken a book about the natural sciences and Lorenzo was reading a Spanish book from the language section.

"What does caballero mean?" I whispered.

A partition was hiding us from Mrs.Jackson. He leaned in; it was a habit of his, like someone or something was always trying to listen in on his conversation.

"Caballero is a Knight. It is your new nickname caballero," he whispered back.

It was another one of Lorenzo's habits, deciding things without looking for anyone else's approval. Like it didn't matter to him what others thought. It was another of his enviable traits. Lorenzo was a little bit like me, but he had been at the school longer. I wondered why he didn't have many friends. He seemed to be able to make them easily enough. I flicked to the next page of my book. This section was explaining geology and sedimentary rock. I wasn't particularly interested in geology, but all science fascinated me. Knowledge was knowledge, and the more you had the better. Suddenly my vision went dark and I felt two cold hands on my eyes. A voice whispered into my ear and my heart jumped.

"Cold attack," she said. "Guess who?"

I didn't need to guess. The plot was becoming too predictable.

"Neris," I whispered back.

"Ding ding ding—correct."

From across the library I heard a loud 'Shhh'. Neris giggled and sat down with us, behind her was another girl I had never met. She was much taller and older than Neris. The girl looked at me warmly and smiled. She was also pretty, not as beautiful as Neris, but still.

"This is my friend Rhea, she's in 10-A," she whispered.

Rhea, daughter of Uranus and Gaia and 'Mother of the Gods', what was it with Neris and Greek Mythology references? I extended my hand to her and we shook. She also extended her hand to Lorenzo who, instead of shaking, kissed the top of her hand.

"Who's your friend Henry?" Neris said.

I gestured to him with my hand.

"This is Lorenzo the Spaniard."

Lorenzo raised his eyebrows. If he was going to make nicknames I would make one too. She extended her hand to him and he also kissed it.

"Encantado de conocerte, señorita."

Neris blushed.

"Gracias."

Lorenzo's eyes lit up.

"Habla Español?"

"Si señor," she said.

They were getting on too well. I was intensely jealous. Lorenzo was a smooth operator. He controlled the situation and knew how to work everything to his advantage. It was instinctive to him. He was the exact opposite of me. Neris must have noticed something; she grabbed my hand and pulled me away. Lorenzo didn't miss a beat and started chatting with Rhea.

We were standing in front of a bookshelf labelled 'Science'. She pulled out a book and flipped it open. I didn't catch the title, but the pictures were all of muscles and bones. As she turned the pages I saw human organs, eyes, and parts of the brain. We were nearing the end of the book when she stopped. The page depicted a man and a woman, completely naked, standing next to each other. I blushed.

"Why are you showing me this?" I whispered.

"Just look."

She continued slowly from those pages onwards. I had discovered that in year 8 and 9 students were exposed to a unit called 'Sex education' which was a part of Physical Education. So instead of running around and playing ball games, they were inside looking at penises and learning about sex. I thought it was disgusting and a complete waste of time. I didn't really get the whole sex thing at all, it was gross. There we stood, together, side by side, looking at pictures of dissected sexual organs and learning about the reproductive cycle.

"I don't get it," I said.

"Get what?"

"This!" I said pointing to what looked like a woman's body a few months into a pregnancy.

"How old are you Henry?" she said.

"Um... 12."

She closed the book.

"You said you loved me. Do you even know what that means?"

I didn't know what she was getting at. I had looked it up on the internet. The definition was still clear in my mind.

"Love is an intense feeling of deep romantic or sexual attachment," I said.

She turned to me. She was more beautiful than ever.

"And the purpose of love?"

The purpose of love... what kind of question was that. You spend time together and stuff, hold hands, kiss; what was she getting at.

"Um, spending time together?"

Neris looked over at Lorenzo and Rhea, they were laughing about something. Rhea caught her gaze for a moment and pulled her hair back behind her ear.

"This is why you don't get it Henry," she said.

Don't get what! Why was she so vexing? This made no sense.

"I like you Henry, but you need to grow up."

I what?

"I don't get it!" I said.

She pressed the book into my chest and looked back at her friend.

"Then figure it out."

Neris went back to Rhea and they left. Lorenzo looked at me from the desk. He was holding up his hands and wordlessly mouthed something. I knew exactly what he was saying 'What did you do amigo?'.