Crush Support Group

Chapter Five

Sophie was trying her hardest not to freak out, but it was difficult when Nicola was sitting right there beside her, chewing on her pencil in thought.

Sophie wanted desperately to ask Nicola how close she and Hort were, to demand to know if they were dating or even just ask what she thought of him.

But Sophie was already on thin ice and she didn't want to ruin the, very little, progress she had made.

~

Crush Support Group

Ani: I'm taking bets on how long until Sophie screws this up

Beatrix: I give it five minutes

Ravan: Are you kidding?! I give it three

Anadil: You're both wrong. It's a minute

Tedros: To be honest I thought she would have already

Dot: Oh, ye of little faith, I give her ten minutes tops

Ravan: Uh oh, everyone shut up

Ani: Why?

Ravan: Sophie's glaring at us! We can't mess this up for her!

Ani: Weren't you even listening? SHE is going to ruin it!

Ravan; Just stop laughing!

Dot: That's a lot to ask

~

Sophie tried to listen to Nicola as she spoke, but it was hard when she was so close.

But she forced herself to, not wanting to mess this up.

Nicola suddenly grinned, smiling so wide that it almost split her face in half.

"Looks like we finished!" she said.

Sophie's eyes widened in surprise and she looked down at the paper in front of her.

She found that, indeed, they had finished the Spanish paper.

She deflated a bit, but she didn't let that show.

Instead, she returned Nicola's smile.

"Yeah. Thanks for working on it with me," Sophie said, hoping she sounded smooth.

Nicola glanced at her and nodded.

"Of course. Maybe we can do it again sometime," she said, picking up her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder.

Sophie found herself unable to respond and just watched the other girl walking out of the classroom.

As soon as the door closed behind Nicola, everyone gathered around her desk and Sophie was bombarded with questions and comments alike.

"That went surprisingly well, all things considered," Dot said.

"Definitely didn't expect Sophie to do okay," Anadil added.

Sophie normally would have been very upset at the words, but she was far too distracted by what had just happened with Nicola.

Nicola had smiled at her.

Nicola had smiled at Sophie!

It still had her heart racing.

She'd been so beautiful.

She was always beautiful, but when she smiled... she was absolutely gorgeous.

Sophie tried to think about something other than the way Nicola had spoken to her, how she had looked at her, but she couldn't.