String of Fate

Chapter Forty Six

My brother, Adam, sat next to me on the settee, holding his old school notebook and staring at me. I turned to him from the pages of the book I had been trying to read, but I didn't speak to him. I didn't need to for him to know that I wanted to know what he wanted. I knew he wanted something and I liked winding him up by not asking first. He always looked so annoyed. He started waving his old school book in my face. Finally, he gave up and spoke to me. "Is there a Ross Weston in your class? I know he's in the same year as you but I don't know if he's in the same class."

"Yes, he is in some of my classes but I've never spoken to him. He's the popular guy and is always surrounded by people, and you know how I feel about people." I replied, trying to go back to my book. I had to shuffle a bit to get comfy again. I hated it when people disturbed me when I was trying to read, which happened quite a lot.

"Use this as practice to get to know people then. He's stuck with one of the maths equations and he can't understand his brother's notes, either." Adam explained. I wondered how he knew Ross' brother. He must have seen the confusion in my face because he sighed and started to explain things to me. "His brother is my roommate in the dorms and we have a lot of classes together. He asked if I could lend him my notes to see if it would help him better than his own notes did."

I looked at him with surprised. Did he really want me to speak to people in my year? I hated speaking to the people in my year. I only talked to people when I needed to. I really wanted to say no to him, but then Adam gave me the face. The puppy dog eyes, the sticky out bottom lip and the eyebrows. I sighed, rolling my eyes and taking the notebook from him. "Fine. I'll take it and give it to him tomorrow."

"Thanks. I bookmarked the problems for him." Adam replied, getting up. He smiled down at me. "I'm going to go and pack. Can I borrow some books? I've been getting bored in the dorm."

"Yes, just don't take the Heroes of Olympus books. I'm reading that series at the moment." I called after him. It was really strange that I had missed him since he had gone off to university, but now I couldn't wait for him to go back. I'd probably miss him again in a few weeks.

Still, I really didn't want to have to talk to Ross in front of people but there was no way that I was going to get him on his own. He was always surrounded by people, especially his fangirls. This was going to be so awkward. Especially considering that he probably didn't want them all to know that he was struggling with his studies.

The next morning, I had gotten to school a little later than usual – and Ross was already there with a lot of people crowding around him. I wouldn't be able to talk to him with all those people. Instead, I headed straight to my desk, pulling my book out to start reading. Maybe I could find him between lessons or during breaks. I would have to talk to him some time. I shouldn't be putting it off because I would only get more nervous about it.

I was surprised when someone sat in front of me, facing me. I continued reading, not sure why they had sat there at all. Usually, people avoided me just as much as I avoided them. The person cleared their throat, clearly wanting attention. I looked up, ready to have a go at the person. I stopped. I had not expected to see Ross sitting there, smiling at me. He spoke quietly. "Hi."

"Hello. I have something for you." I replied. Ross had been staring intently, so, I looked in my bag instead. It didn't take me a moment to find Adam's notebook. I placed it on the table and slid it across to him. "You should know that if you are stuck with maths then I could help you. It's my best subject."

"I'll keep that in mind, Diane. Thank you." Ross spoke, smiling brighter. He took the notebook and slipped it in his bag, but didn't move from the seat. His eyes shone behind his glasses. I didn't realise that brown eyes could be so pretty. Then he ran a hand through his blonde hair as the teacher came in to the room. "I got to move. I'll speak to you soon."