HeartStrings (ENG)

Chapter 4: Math Class (Part 2)

His greed to try to get me to react leads him to clench his hand into a fist and slam it lightly against my head as he says:

"Is anyone there? Munson?" he asks as he continues to tap me lightly. "Just as I expected, completely empty".

I open my lips and let out a surprised gasp. That was a good one even for Harrington. I can't help but smile as I turn around and start poking him with my finger just like he had been doing which causes him to start laughing uncontrollably while I keep grinning like a fool.

"Are you ticklish, Harrignton?"

"Yes," he says with a chuckle. "Let go of me," I end up letting go as he gets the strength to pull my hands away from him, a task I didn't even think I could accomplish.

When he manages to calm his laughter I notice how his cheeks are slightly flushed, but his gaze still remains defiant, and he manages to say as he catches his breath:

"You're going to fall in love with me if you keep being like that, Munson".

"Asshole" I say. "Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I'm going to fall for you".

"Don't be silly, if all the girls like me, there must be a reason, aren't you curious to know what it is?" He says in such a sincere way and with such an absurdly cute flirtatious smile, that for a moment I find it hard to believe he's joking. Then he winks at me, which brings me completely out of the fantasy he had imbibed me in, and with thunderous speed I think of the perfect answer to his question.

"No," I say as I look away.

His face falls to the ground, and if I've been lucky, he's feeling embarrassed too. Serves him right for trying to beat me at my own game. I feel completely triumphant and smile as Harrington regains his senses and comes to himself finally looking away from me; which coincidentally coincides with Byers' arrival, completely stressed out. She's probably overslept, because it looks like she hasn't even had time to comb her hair. The more time I spend in her class, the more I empathize with her.

I try, one more day, to pay attention, but the derivatives consume every inch of my soul; so I dedicate myself to watch how Harrington meticulously writes down each of the exercises on the blackboard. When I get too bored I start to imagine myself playing the "Master of Puppets" solo; even inside my head I make a couple of mistakes that make me squint and grimace. When I'm done with it, I start listening inside the gramophone that is my mind to Taylor Swift's "22", and wonder how that song could have ended up in my repertoire. The mental effort to figure out the origin of that song seems to have cut the only vein in my brain, because I start to feel a burning in my nose and seconds later a drop of blood falls on my notebook. I squeeze my nose hard, but another drop soon appears, and I have to use my free hand to catch it before it lands on my clean uniform.

"Joyce? Can I go to the bathroom?" I ask in a squeaky voice, feeling absolutely ridiculous, I look at Harrington but he doesn't seem to be laughing at me, I'd say he's even worried if I didn't know any better.

"What's wrong now, Eddie?" she asks as she turns to look at me and I feel another drop sliding down the tip of my nose. "Ahg. For God's sake, go on, go, but take long," she says, gesturing with his hands for me to get out as fast as I can. "Steve, please go with him to open the doors for him," she adds. "Please don't take too long".

Steve finishes jotting something in his notebook, and stands up as I nod to him to hurry up. The boy gets up and steps forward to open the classroom door for me from which I bolt as I feel my nose turn into a fountain of blood. Ahg. I hate it when this happens to me.

I hurry down the hallway, followed by Harrington who tries, to some extent, to keep up with me. When I reach the bathroom door, I give him the same gesture with my head, tilting it to one side, indicating that he should help me open it.