Chapter Three
1154 Words
Lizzie’s face heated again, and she looked away from him.
“Uh, as much as I’d love to, I have to go straight home tonight,” she said, looking back. “It’s my turn to make dinner.”
His face fell, and he looked down at the ground.
“But if you’re free after school tomorrow, we can hang out then,” she hurried to say.
When he didn’t respond right away, she slumped and added in a weaker voice, “If you want to, that is.”
He looked up at her with a grin and said, “Sure, I want to.”
Then the smile left his face to be replaced by a worried look, and he added, “But I have football practice after school.”
Giving her a hopeful look, he asked, “Would you like to come watch me practice? Then we can hang out for a little afterward?”
She thought for a moment, looking up at the ceiling and her finger tapping her lips. Then she looked at him and nodded.
“That sounds good,” she told him, a smile lighting her face.
Before they could speak further, a female voice called out, “Get to your seats, everyone! Class is about to start!”
Lizzie looked toward the front of the class and saw the redheaded teacher standing behind her desk, watching her students and smiling at them as they entered the room.
“Let’s sit here,” Deon whispered to her, taking her arm and guiding her toward two desks at the back of the room.
She could feel herself blushing yet again as she allowed him to lead her to their desks, and she looked around to see if anyone was watching them. Relieved no one was paying them attention, she allowed Deon to lead her to the back of the room. The bell rang just as she sat down next to him.
“Welcome everyone, and good morning,” the teacher said, walking to the blackboard where she’d written her name.
Pointing to it, she continued, “As you can see, I’m Ms. Arbor, and if you’re not supposed to be in English class this period, then you’re in the wrong class.”
She waited to see if anyone rose from their seats to slink out of the room, but no one did.
“Excellent,” she said, clapping her hands together once. “I will now call your names to make sure I’ve got everyone I should, then we’ll pass out the books.”
Lizzie tried to pay attention to Ms. Arbor, but her thoughts kept drifting to Deon sitting next to her. Luckily, it was the first day of school, so she knew she wouldn’t miss much if she didn’t pay attention.
“What’s your next class?” Deon asked as the bell rang, ending the period.
Checking her schedule, she said, “Math.”
Then, hope in her voice, she looked at him and asked, “You?”
He checked his and frowned.
Shaking his head, he said in a regretful voice, “Spanish.”
“Spanish, huh?” she asked. “I’m taking French this year.”
“The language of romance, huh?” he asked, a sly grin on his face as he winked at her.
She giggled and said, “So they say.”
“I can’t wait to hear you say something to me in French,” he told her, winking at her again.
She grinned at him through her blush and said, “I hope you can respond in Spanish.”
“So far, this is the only thing I know in Spanish,” he told her. “I’ve got to get to class, so adios.”
“À bientôt,” she told him.
At his confused look, she laughed and shook her head, saying, “You didn’t understand the first thing I told you in French, I see. It means I’ll see you soon.”
“Ah!” he said. “Either way, it still sounded nice.”
Grinning, he waved at her as he went down the hall to his next class. She stared after him for a moment, sighing with a dreamy smile on her face, before something else caught her attention, wiping all thoughts of Deon out of her mind.
A scent drifted toward her. She inhaled, not understanding what she was smelling. She closed her eyes and inhaled again, feeling her heart start to pound and butterflies to fly around in her stomach.
“What is that?” she whispered, opening her eyes and looking around, confused.
She couldn’t tell what had made the scent that caught her attention. She inhaled again to see if it was still in the air, but it had vanished. Shaking her head, she headed to her next class, a frown on her face as she thought about what had just happened.
Seeing Elle standing outside of the door, hugging her books to her chest and watching for her, her mood lifted. Smiling at the sight of her friend, she broke into a trot, dodging around other students trying to get to their classes.
Stopping in front of her friend, she threw her arms around her friend, hugging her and squeezing the books into her friend’s chest.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you,” she cried out in mock despair.
Elle hugged her back with her free arm, laughing.
“Has anyone told you that your love hurts?” she asked.
“All the time,” Lizzie said. “But yours hurts too.”
“You’d think it had been years since we’ve last seen one another, but it’s only been about fifty minutes,” Elle said, once they broke apart.
Lizzie laughed and said, “But it feels like forever to me.”
“Me too,” Elle said, chuckling and nodding.
“I’ve got so much to tell you,” Lizzie said, her face glowing.
“So much happened in fifty minutes?” Elle asked, a look of surprise on her face.
Lizzie nodded, grinning ear to ear.
“I can’t wait to hear it,” Elle said, linking her arm through Lizzie’s and guiding her into the classroom. “Nothing happened to me in my last class, so I can’t wait to hear your news. But first, we should start our class.”
Lizzie let Elle lead her to two seats toward the front of the class, and they sat down just as the bell rang.
- Writer
