Rodrick x Reader

Chapter 3 - Elation

You're in such a good mood for the rest of the day that it doesn't matter how hard the work is, or how many lessons you have, it all passes by you in a blur. Even being scolded by your teachers for not paying enough attention doesn't bother you. You just keep replaying the scene over and over in your head, the way your heart fluttered as he looked into your eyes, that slight knowing smirk as he told you what he thought of you. The way it made you feel, it was as if he had professed his undying love to you or something. You almost felt ridiculous falling so head over heels for a guy you just met, especially one that was such an obvious flirt. On the other hand, any feelings of embarrassment were vastly overwhelmed by the pure bliss of knowing he thought you were more than just 'the new kid'. Before you know it, the final bell rings and you're free to go. You head for the lockers, intending to take Rodrick up on his offer of a ride home.

When you arrive, you can't see him anywhere. After looking around for a bit, you decide to text him to ask where he is. While you wait for his response, you sort your own locker out, taking out the books you need to take home with you. An unfamiliar voice calls your name. Surprised, you turn to face what is presumably the owner of the voice, a tall-ish girl with wild curly hair forced into two French braids. She wasn't pretty in the conventional sense due to her large crooked nose and sturdy jaw, but you couldn't deny that there was some otherworldly beauty to her. She had the grace of an an ancient Greek statue and the strength and tanned complection of someone who was definitely on one of the school sports teams.

"Hi, I'm Evelyn." She sounded amazingly confident. "We're in the same English class." For a moment you were confused as to why you didn't recognise her, but then you realised you had probably been too busy staring at Rodrick.

"Hi Evelyn, how's it going?" you ask, unsure of why she wants to speak to you.

"I'm good, I'm good. I was just wondering how you're getting on here. It must be hard starting a new school." Despite her self assuredness, she didn't intimidate you. In fact, she sounded as if she was genuinely interested in what you had to say.

"Well, at first it was a little tough, but I'm starting to get used to it now," you respond with a grateful smile. 

"Ok, well, if you ever need anything come and talk to me, alright?" You nod and she takes off down the hallway. Your interaction is over almost as soon as it had begun, but it was nice to have been noticed. Nobody else seemed particularly interested in welcoming you so far, excluding a certain somebody.

You decide to wait a little longer for that somebody, despite the gnawing worry that he has gone home without you. You're about to leave to check for his van in the parking lot when you see him saunter down the hallway towards you. 

"Hey!" You try in vain to disguise your excitement at seeing him. 

"Hey. Sorry I couldn't reply to your text, I was in detention." Why were you not surprised? You smiled up at him, meeting his deep brown eyes through his messy bangs. It was probably for something stupid, like throwing paper aeroplanes or doodling all over his work. 

"Hello? Earth to Little Miss Daydreamer!" He crouches down to make his eyes level to yours. You hadn't realised how long you'd been staring at him for.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." You're a little embarrassed of how obvious it is that you're into him, but you can't help it. He makes you feel things you've never felt before.

"Long day, huh? Yeah me too. Let's go home." He puts his arm around your shoulder and squeezes it before walking off in the direction of the parking lot. You stand there a few moments, a little too surprised to move, and then jog to catch him up.

Both of you get into the van and he starts the engine. There are a few agonising minutes of silence and you're worried that you'll go the whole journey without saying anything to him, but then you remember what he'd said to you by the lockers.

"So what was the detention for?"

"Oh, nothing really. Passing notes in class, isn't that stupid?" He smiles. 

"Yeah." God, why couldn't I have said anything better than that? 

"I bet I'd never see you in detention, goody two-shoes." He takes a quick playful glance at you through the corner of his eye before looking back at the road.

"I don't think you know as much about me as you think you do," you say slowly with a teasing smile.

After having broken the ice, the conversation runs smoothly and you feel like you're talking to a good friend. You talk about the teachers you like and don't like, who to avoid in the halls, which days the canteen has good food and so on, but also about more serious things. He tells you that after he graduates high school (IF he graduates) he wants to try and make it big with his band. You tell him more about the party, and about how boring and adult it was going to be. You even tell him about meeting Evelyn by the lockers.

"She's pretty uptight, don't you think?" he asks, with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"She seemed really nice to me!"

"Ok, ok," he says defeatedly. "If you like her, she's cool with me." You pause.

"Do you happen to know if she lives nearby?"

"Oh, no, she lives up on the north side of town." You breathe a secret sigh of relief. Even though you liked her and wanted her to come, the party was all about you and Rodrick getting to know each other better. At least, it was from your point of view.

Rodrick pulls up to your house and keeps the engine running. Before you get out you feel as if you should make some kind of move for him to remember you by until tomorrow, but you panic and only manage to stammer out a 'thank you'. It's disappointing but probably for the best. Again, you only just met the guy. After hopping out, you watch him as he drives away until the van becomes obscured by buildings. You feel a strange kind of longing knowing that his house is within walking distance of yours. There was nothing besides social convention stopping you from knocking on his door whenever you wanted. 

With that thought, you sigh and enter the house. After grabbing a snack from the kitchen and yelling 'I'm home!', you go straight up to your room to get your homework out of the way. The last thing you want to be worried about this weekend is having work to finish. You're just about to get started when you feel your phone buzz in your pocket. Your heart skips a beat. A name flashes up on your phone screen, but it turns out that the message was just from one of your friends in the groupchat. You're not disappointed, in fact you're almost relieved. If it was from Rodrick, there was no way you'd be able to keep your mind on your work. You tap out a quick 'haha' and get back to the task at hand.

The rest of the evening passes by much the same as normal, with you eating dinner, washing up, watching a few episodes of your favourite TV show and keeping your friends updated on the events of the day. To say you're glad that you've stayed in contact despite the move would be an understatement. Of course, you hoped that you would keep in touch, but you knew how these things usually happened. You'd exchange numbers and say, 'We should hang out sometime', and then never speak to each other again. You feel a warm glow inside you knowing that your friendship is stronger than that.

Just as you're about to go to sleep, the phone on your bedside table buzzes and lights up. You glance over to read the notification. Rodrick. Maybe you should wait a few minutes so you don't seem too eager? No, that was childish and you couldn't wait. You open the message.  

"Hey. You awake?"