How It All Seems

"I'm sorry?"

Right as soon as Mallory got home that day, she went straight to her desk so she could get her homework done. She put on her playlist of soft, instrumental music and she started to write down a quick to-do list of things she needed to accomplish. She needed to submit her analytical essay online, finish the last 3 problems in her trigonometry class, get her reading for her macroeconomics class, and quickly review for her history of the World Wars class.

She started to log on to her account on her laptop when her doorbell rang. She quickly paused her music and left her room to go to the front door. As she walked through her house she took notice of the temperature. It was steaming HOT. She passes the thermostat and then walked back to it so she can turn it to where the air conditioner would kick on. When the doorbell quickly rang three more times, and Mallory realized the person on the other side was getting impatient, she ran to the door and rushed to open it.

She swung the door open and found Carter on the other side holding her light grey jacket.

"Hey, so I found this on your stool in art. Saw that you left this, so I figured you might like it back." he said. She let out a sigh of relief and took the sweater from his hand.

"Thank you, Carter. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, and this might come in handy." She folded it over her arm. "Want to come in?" she asked pointing behind her.

"No, I'm good. Thank you though. I have to head over to the grocery store to pick up cereal for Ben." Ben was Carter's little brother who he took care of endlessly. Mallory really admired the fact that Carter always took care of Ben no matter what they were going through. "I'll see you tomorrow, though?" Carter asked.

"Yeah. Sounds good." Mallory said. "Wait, do you think you could pick up a bag of chocolate chips and give them to me tomorrow before school? I have to make Jamie cookies for his class next week." Jamie was Mallory's 7 year old brother whose birthday was coming up and he really wanted to bring cookies to school that day. Carter nodded and put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Of course. See you around, Mal." He turned away and walked towards his car.

"Thanks. See you." Mallory closed the door behind her, hung up her jacket on the tall coat rack by the door, and headed back to her bedroom where her cellphone started ringing. She walked around her blue covered bed and grabbed the phone off of her nightstand. After she read the caller ID, she answered it.

"Hello?"

Vincent's voice came through the phone. "Hey, what are you up to right now?"

Mallory smiled. "Just finishing up some school stuff. Why? What are you doing?"

"Just playing basketball with the boys. We were wondering if you were coming to the kick off party after the last football practice before the big game?"

"Oh. I had already made plans with Tilly and Carter to go to the fall festival tomorrow night after school. Uh, I could maybe stop by for a little while, if you want-"

"No, that won't be necessary. You're fine babe. Love you!"

"Okay, love-" Vincent hung up the phone before she could finish. She disliked being called "babe," but she ignored it anyway. Vince seemed to be in a hurry and he probably didn't think about it. She looked at the phone weird, then set it down on her bed dismissing his behavior as stress from cross country.

She rolled over onto her stomach, propped her head on her hand, and then sat there in silence, just thinking. She looked around her room, the white walls covered with pictures of her family and her friends, taking special notice of one specific picture. It was a picture of her, Vince, and Jamie. It was one of the best days she spent with Vince. He had picked up her and Jamie and went to the amusement park for the day, just to surprise her.

She then started to think about how things suddenly changed when school started back up again. Her mind wandered off the from there. Thinking about school, college applications, her friends, the three odd encounters with James that day. When she got focused again, she stood up and went back over to her desk and pressed play on her music while she continued with her work.

***

The next day Mallory was walking to art class when she was stopped by a hand landing on her shoulder. She turned around to see James. He was wearing jeans, band t-shirt, high top converse, a beanie, and a brown satchel on his shoulder-- basically his signature.

The hallway was crowded with students trying to get to their classes, couples exposing a little too much of their relationship for comfort, and teachers rushing to the lounge to refill their mugs with coffee before class started.

"Hey." he said.

"Hey." She took out her earbud so she could hear him. "What's up?"

"So, I have a proposition for you." James stated matter-of-factly. Mallory's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Okay? Shoot." She said, cautiously.

"Just, before you say no, think about it. Like, you don't need to give me an answer immediately." he was moving his hands around trying to further prove his point. Also, instead of avoiding eye contact like she was trying to do for no reason, his eyes were dead locked on hers.

"Okay. James, you're starting to freak me out a little." she laughed nervously.

"I know we barely know each other," James started, "but I was wondering if you would be open to the idea of being my project for the art show."

"I'm sorry?" Mallory asked. "Project?" She pressed for a little more information.

"For the Art of Storytelling Show. I was thinking, you could be the story. You know? You growing up, finding your friends, first heartbreak, first triumph. You." He slowly explained. He had his hands in his pockets and was moving back and forth from his heels to his toes.

"Um." Mallory hesitated. "I don't know, James. We met, like, yesterday."

"Just. Think about it. Yeah?" Mallory nodded. "Okay, cool. See you around." James turned on his heels and entered the classroom to her left.

Mallory felt an arm wrap around her shoulders. Vincent looked down at her. "Hey, what did photo-boy want?"

"James? Just wanted to talk before class. What's up? Don't you need to get to class?"

"Yes, but I wanted to see you." He leaned down to give her a kiss. "Also, how do you feel about cancelling dinner on Saturday? The boys wanna do a road trip. I told them you wouldn't mind."

"Oh, I mean, Vince Saturday is our anniversary. But if you-"

"Okay cool. Thanks. Love you." He kissed her on the forehead and started to rush to class. Mallory noticed he smelled like he had a hint of alcohol. It made her feel slightly agitated. He was never like that in the past. Mallory wasn't used to being such a pushover, but lately Vince seemed to get frustrated with their plans and change them last minute. So she figured rearranging plans a few times wouldn't hurt.

"Love you, too." Mallory said, annoyed, before joining Carter at the table in her art classroom.