The Risk Of Falling (Edited)

FORTY THREE

I sighed, staring at my homework. Of course my AP Psychology teacher had to give my class a huge project that was due in two days. I leaned back in the uncomfortable chair at the coffee shop. A huge yawn escaped my lips, and I quickly covered my mouth.

I wanted to go back to my dorm, but I needed to work on my project. If I went back now, I would just crawl into bed. I put my head down on the table and sighed loudly. I needed to focus on this project. A war was going on in my mind: on one side, I knew I needed to do the project; on the other, I just wanted to go to bed and get some rest. The coffee shop wouldn't be open for much longer anyway.

I lifted my head. My eyes opened slowly, and my heart just about stopped. A guy was standing in front of me, his eyebrows scrunched up in worry. "Luna? Are you okay?"

"Drake?" I asked, placing a hand on my heart. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get some coffee," Drake said, sitting down at the table. "But then you distracted me. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said, chuckling slightly. "I was having a war in my head about whether or not I should work on this project."

"That's it?"

"Yup."

"I thought it was something worse," Drake said, sighing. "My mind always jumps to the worst possible scenario."

"You choose for me," I said. "Should I do the project or quit?"

"When is it due?" Drake asked, grabbing my computer and turning it to face him. I watched his face as he stared at the screen. His eyebrows were scrunched together, and he was biting his lower lip. My heart started hammering at the sight of him, and I wished it would stop. "Hm. You have a lot of information already. Do you have the plans for the video?"

"Yeah," I said. I cursed silently when I heard my voice shake. Hopefully Drake didn't hear it. "I feel like I should work on it, but I'm exhausted."

"I think you have enough information," Drake said, handing me my computer back. "Why don't you just quit working on it for now? We could go do something if you want since we've never really hung out before."

"I don't know," I said, shrugging. I really wanted to hang out with him. "It's getting pretty late."

"Yeah," Drake said quickly. "It is getting pretty late. I won't bother you then." Drake got up with a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. His body language was shut off, and he was slouched down. "I'll see you later, Luna."

"Wait!" I said, standing up. My chair almost toppled backward, but I caught it before it fell over. "I changed my mind."

"About what? The project?" Drake asked, frowning. "Because I can still leave if you need to work on that."

"No," I said quickly. I grabbed his arm before he could leave. "No. I want to go do something with you. I mean, if you still want to."

"Oh," Drake said, his eyes widening. His eyes flickered down to my hands, so I let go of him. "Yeah, I still want to go out."

"Okay. Good." I smiled and started shoving my AP Psychology things into my backpack. I slung the backpack over my shoulders and grabbed my coffee. "Would you like anything to drink before we go?"

"Actually, yeah," Drake said, grinning slightly. "That's why I originally came here."

"Nah. You were just stalking me," I joked, smiling. Drake let out a short laugh, and I melted on the inside a little. He walked up to the front desk, and I watched him as he spoke to the barista. His shoulders seemed a little tense but otherwise he looked okay. It was probably his facade, though. I knew from studying psychology that people don't like to show their depression. They'd rather put up a happy facade than to let people help them. I wanted him to be truly happy and to let me in.