Mania

Lesson 6. Honesty

'Tim! Hold up before you go!' Clemence jogged across the car park to catch Tim climbing into his car. He looked up in surprise and the familiar crooked smile flashed across his face, making Clemence feel queasy with guilt. After she had been making a conscious effort to avoid him all week, Clemence had finally mustered up the courage to talk to him about Erin.

'Running after me I see?' His grin was almost taking up his whole face, his eyes wide.

Clemence gave an uneasy smile.

'What's up?' He asked, closing his car door to lean against it casually. Clemence stood awkwardly in front of him.

'Well, I wanted to have a word with you about Erin...' She began.

He suddenly pursed his lips, straightening up. 'Look, Clemence,like I said, nothing happened and it wasn't like it-.'

'She really likes you!' Clemence interjected suddenly, not wanting to hear what he was about to confess. 'I mean, I know she only meet you once but she wouldn't stop talking about you. She'll kill me for saying this.' Clemence laughed, trying to ease the situation. 'She just mentioned you gave her your number but she hasn't heard anything so I wanted to...ask you...if you're ignoring her?'

Tim blinked, mouth opening slightly a few times but seeming to trip over the words. 'O-oh. Oh right. Yeah, I gave her my number. I didn't think we were together long enough for me to leave that much of an impression honestly.' He ran his hand through his hair awkwardly

'Yeah but...it was really nice what you did for her and she said you got along so well... and you did give her your number so she was, I don't know, at least expecting you to want to talk to her some more.'

'Yeah...no I see.' He sounded unsure and distant, eyes looking at a spot just above Clemence's head. She watched the twitch of his lip and his eyes suddenly found hers. 'What do you think I should do?' His eyes were hard.

Clemence swallowed. She knew the hidden meaning behind his words. This was his way of clarifying how she felt without uttering the words outright.

Clemence stood straight. She refused to feel awkward about this. She wasn't under any obligation to like him or give him a chance. Just because he liked her, she didn't have to try and convince herself of similar feelings out of guilt. She said this to herself in her head and she held his gaze.

'I think you should text her.' She said coolly. 'Erin's a really nice girl and I really think you should get to know each other some more.'

The finality in her answer made Tim close his eyes for a brief second, a look of sad surprise across his face as he sighed and shook his head. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

'Yeah, I think I will then.' His tone was equally as cool as he straightened up, opening his car door and shoving his sports bag inside.

He turned to give Clemence a glance, suddenly throwing her a small, sad smile.

'Thanks for the advice.'

She nodded slowly. 'No problem.' She muttered, waiting for him to climb into his car before turning away, trying not to revel in the relief.

'Yes, yes, yes!'

Clemence looked up from her computer screen, turning her head to look at Erin who was sat adjacent to her, crossed leg and clutching her phone. A bright smile lit up her face. She looked up at her friend, eyes sparkling and began to wiggle her shoulders.