Accidentally, In love ( UNDER EDITING )

Chapter 5 : Extra Classes

 

                             Chapter 5: Extra Classes. Who knew they were such fun?

As soon as I enter the classroom, Arnaud gives me a big smile. It momentarily distracts me, but I catch hold of myself quickly and get down to work. The things this boy makes me feel can't be described. I never knew I had such feelings till date.

Wait, feelings? Where did that come from? I should be more careful and keep a lookout in the lanes that my mind wanders in.

 In order to avoid any problems later, I start on a serious note, “Mr. Tatou, I hope you have come prepared for these classes, as we have a huge task at hand. Operation: ‘Salvage your grades’ is about to commence. Before we begin, do you have any questions or doubts?" I look into his eyes and nearly lose my trail of thought. 

His eyes have a lot of influence over me.  I could spend my whole life just looking into them. 

His words bring me back to earth and out of the golden sea that I had drowned in.

“Excusez-moi. I don’t have a doubt. It’s more of a request. Can you please not call me Mr. Tatou? Monsieur Tatou is my father. Call me Arnaud. Mr. Tatou makes me feel as though I’m 60 years old, and as you can see ,I’m still quite young,” he says with a small smirk playing around at his lips. Unknown to him, his boyish charms are working wonders on me. I glance at his finely cropped hair, his well put together ensemble of a comfortable green shirt and snug black jeans, his gorgeous smile with his perfect white teeth showing, and those mesmerizing golden eyes. Damn right. He looks so good, it’s difficult to concentrate at the work at hand.

 “Alright, Arnaud. That’s okay with you?”

He smiles and I take it as an affirmation.

“If there are no more requests to be heeded to, let’s start studying,” I say using my serious tone again.

After an hour, I make a startling discovery. Arnaud is a smart student. He can answer all the questions, is quick to remember the formulas and poses really interesting doubts. He is every teacher's model student. I wonder how he scored such low marks. Maybe he really was distracted, and I am to be blamed for it. I give him a few problems to solve to test him and sit down to read one of my favorite novels, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee.

After some time, the room feels too quiet and I look up to see him staring at me with those brilliant golden eyes. I feel a little self-conscious under his gaze. He smiles and points towards the novel saying , “I like this book. It’s one of my favorites. Scout is my favorite character. I like the way Harper Lee writes through a child’s point of view."

I nod while thinking to myself that I like the book for the same reason.

How weird is that.

This boy never ceases to surprise me. Yesterday, he called me beautiful, and today he tells me about his favorite book, which coincidentally also happens to be my favorite. He’s like Pandora’s box, full of surprises. He makes me wonder what else I don’t know about him.

“I like Jem. He is the more serious and responsible one. A  bit like me, I guess. He is an extension of me, and I can identify better with him,” I  blurt the truth without thinking. His next question catches me off guard.  

“Was it the serious Zoya or the more relaxed Zoya I danced with at Indigo?” he looks at me seriously, his eyes fixed on me, waiting for an answer.

I like the way his name rolls of my tongue. It feels so natural and yet somehow so personal, and so intimate. Crap. Did I just think that?I have it bad for this boy. Really bad!  Where are my thoughts taking me? I need to focus.

 This is the first time he mentions our unofficial rendezvous. My mind is swinging with a thousand possibilities and I finally decide to tell him the truth.

“It was the serious Zoya that was tricked into being carefree and careless for one evening.”

He raises his eyebrows, but does not say anything.

I realize that I have not yet expressed my gratitude to him for taking me home safely.

I try to express my gratitude in words, “Arnaud, thank you so much for bringing me home safely that day. You’re a true gentleman. If it was any other guy in your place, I don’t know what would have happened. I shiver just thinking about it. I’m really grateful to you. I will never be able to thank you enough for what you did."

He smiles saying, “De Rien Madame. Please, don’t think about it.”

NOW is my time. I give his words back to him. “Arnaud, please don’t call me Ma’am, it makes me feel so old and ancient. I’m your age if not a little older,” I say.

He smiles once again, making my heart melt.

“Zoya. Happy?” he says with a small smile.

I think he secretly enjoys being on first name basis with me. Or maybe he just likes my name the way I like his.

 I like the way he said my name in that French accent. He makes it sound so personal.

 I never knew extra classes were such fun.

I’ll have to wait and watch where this goes…

AN : Thank you all so much for such an amazing response. Do vote and comment on this chapter. Tell me your thoughts and opinions. If you liked or hated it. I’ll try to upload sooner but I’m really busy, the next few weeks with Christmas followed by exams, and a wedding in the family. A Merry Christmas to you in advance. Hugs and Kisses.