White as Snow | Paul Lahote

3. Enough About Me

After class, Sarah waited outside the door for the Jock from class, the one who couldn't seem to take his eyes off her, hoping to put a name to the face before it was too late. After waiting around for almost 10 minutes, Sarah was about to give up and head to her next class, until he approached her. Confidently striding towards her, with a toothy grin, almost seeming cocky, as if he knew she'd be there waiting. She tried to hide the nervousness she was feeling, hoping not to come off as desperate.

***

Paul was in a rush for the bell to ring, signalling that it was time for second period. For the longest time, he'd been trying to avoid imprinting on someone, and for a while it seemed to work. Until the first day of Junior year. He didn't understand why it happened, nor was he much of a fan of the whole concept, but he knew he couldn't avoid it, no matter how hard he tried. As the bell rang, he grabbed his bag in one fell swoop and nearly bolted out the classroom. Pushing past the crowded hallways, ignoring the looks he'd gotten from others, heading into the boys bathroom, where Jared just happened to be.

Jared could tell by the distorted look on Paul's face that something was wrong. He wasn't steaming, nor was he on the verge of shifting, as he was when he was mad. He didn't appear to be sad, not that anyone had ever seen Paul sad. Nor did he look happy. Almost confused. "What's up man?" Jared asked, putting his arm on his buddy's shoulder, as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Nothing man. I don't wanna talk about it" Jared nodded his head, knowing not to push his quick-tempered friend. "Okay dude, I'm heading to class, see ya after school" Jared said, nodding off as he left the bathroom. "Yeah, see ya" Paul grumbled under his breath.

He stared at his reflection, contemplating what to do. "I shouldn't have snapped at her," he thought to himself. "She probably hates me now". "Ugh, why did I have to go and imprint on somebody, how stupid could I possibly be". Paul did what he did whenever he needed to cool down. He opened the tap, waited till it got cold, then splashed himself with it. The instant rush of the cold water hitting his face calmed him down. He grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser, dried himself off then headed back to his homeroom class, hoping she'd be there.

As he approached the class, he couldn't see anybody standing there. He thought he was too late, but when he turned the corner, there she was. As if she knew he'd be back. With a small smile on her face. Paul felt his heart rate slow. A feeling of warmth overtook him. And before he could think anything through, he introduced himself. 

***

"Hey, I'm Paul. Paul Lahote, but you can just call me Paul" said the handsome stranger. "Nice to meet you Paul, Paul Lahote. I'm Sarah" replied Sarah. "What no last name?" teased Paul, "What's it to you?" Sarah playfully responded, "Touche. Listen. I'm really sorry about flipping out over you tapping your nails, it's just that I was thinking about something and I lost my train of thought for a sec. Still, that doesn't excuse me being an asshole. I'm sorry." Paul said, looking into her eyes with that soulful stare, again.

"Honestly, it's not your fault. I always tap my nails when I'm nervous, sometimes I don't even notice I'm doing it till somebody stops me. Anyways, I'm sorry about that, I must've done it without thinking. Sorry again" Sarah said. "Don't worry about it. Happens to the best of us" Paul said, hoping he sounded smooth, and not cocky. "Shit! It's almost 11:00, you're gonna be late for your next class, who do you have?" asked Paul, "Mind if I take a look?" he asked before taking the timetable out from Sarah's hands as she stopped to think, "of course" she replied, but it came out as a mere whisper.

***

The rest of the day seemed to go by faster than she'd realized. Until she looked at the time and realized that classes were indeed shorter than she thought they would be. She was confused about it, until the bell rang promptly at noon, signalling that school was, fortunately for Sarah, done for the day. As she looked around for the familiar sight of her dad's maroon CRV, she realized that school had ended early that day and she never told anyone.