Book Girl and Chestnut Boy

Chapter Five

Although May tried to dismiss the issue – and had a small amount of success over the weekend – she wasn't sure what to expect when Monday rolled around again. The way Layton had left the library seemed like he wasn't too keen on being friends after all, but she was pleasantly surprised when he came to stand next to her as they waited for Andy to arrive and let them in for Lit. He gave her a smile.

"Hi." he said.

"Morning." she replied. "Why'd you take off at the library?"

He shrugged. "It looked like you were about to get busy so I thought I'd leave."

"That was stupid. I thought I'd offended you or something."

"No, no, I just..." he shrugged again. "Anyway, doesn't matter. Do you want to...hang out after?"

"After college? I have to pick my brothers up from school."

"No, I meant at, like, lunch...or something..."

She laughed. "What are you getting all shy for? It's just lunch at the cafeteria."

"I am not getting shy!"

"Sure. Your face is red."

"It isn't!"

"You can see your face without a mirror?"

Before he could respond, Andy breezed past to open the door. "I see most of you have arrived. Good, good. Good morning, everyone." They got in and scrambled to their seats. "This week," he continued, commanding their attention as they settled in, "I'm going to introduce the first of your essays and I've just printed off the questions, which I will now hand out. I expect it to be in by November so you have plenty of time."

Most of the class groaned. "First thing on a morning, Andy?" Justin said, looking unhappy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Justin! Should I have let you in with a bow to welcome your Excellency to the lesson and then asked after your health and invited you for a meal?"

"...That would be awesome."

Andy chuckled and shook his head. "Get your books out."

There could be no better words in the English language, May thought as she set her copy of Henry V before her.

After Lit, she had one hour of English Language until lunch. She parted ways with Layton in the corridor outside. She was quite surprised that she was looking forward to lunch today.

She found him right away when she walked into the cafeteria. He was sitting at one of the first tables and waved when he spotted her. She split from her classmates and then went to sit opposite him. "Hi."

"Hey."

She smiled as she opened up her bag, having seen the copy of the Two Towers in front of him. "How's the book?" she asked, digging out her squished foil-wrapped sandwiches and a bottle of water.

"It's good," he said, pulling out his own lunch. "I'm up to chapter five so far."

"Have you read the first one?"

"Yeah, I decided to check it out when I saw you reading it." He smirked. "It took a bit of effort to get into it, to be honest. The language is a bit difficult. But I stuck with it cuz I thought if someone my age was that into it that they could read it while walking and not even care that they'd bumped someone, then it must be good."

She grimaced. "...Those are some standards for judging a book's value you have there."

"I wasn't the one who walked into someone."