Reece's Haven

56

"Nothing makes sense except you..."
– Nautica

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~ D O R O T H Y ~

February 1998

Jenny and I are sitting in the cafeteria, eating lunch, when Nolan stomps towards us. He pulls out a chair next to mine, sits on it with a thud, and pouts, crossing his arms, like a five-year-old child.

"What's wrong, Nolan?" I ask, chewing on a grape.

"She hates me," he snaps. "She absolutely hates me!"

"Rachel?" Jenny asks, plopping a slice of orange in her mouth.

"Who else?" he drawls, before he drops his head onto the table.

"What happened this time?" I ask.

He turns his head to face me.

"I finished reading that stupid biology textbook you told me to read," he says, making me frown.

"You finished it? In four days?"

"I did," he replies.

Goodness, I guess Nolan is capable of studying hard. He just needed to be leveraged. 'Rachel'-leveraged. The thought of that makes me smile. I mean, the fact that he is willing to try new things only to understand her just shows how much he cares about her.

"But every time I mention anything biology-related, she just runs off," he sighs, catching my attention.

"She runs off?" Jenny asks with wide eyes, to which he nods.

Oh... My... Lord...

Jenny and I glance at each other knowingly.

"I blame you," he then grumbles, glaring at me. "Ever since I started listening to you, she has been running away from me as if... as if I've got the cooties or something."

"What did you say to her?" I ask.

"Well," he begins, sitting up straight. "I wanted to hit on her, and I thought it'd be great to mix in some biology, sort of like what you told me to say the other day. By the way, the DNA helicase line – hilarious! So yesterday, I said, 'Hey Barns, if we were like chromosomes, we'd be a homologous pair'."

"Awww, Nolan, you know what a homologous pair is!" I coo, resting my hand over my chest, touched and proud.

"I wish Barns had the same reaction as yours," he mutters, pouting. "But no, she just bloody ran off, making me feel like the most stupid person in the world. Why does she run away anyway? Am I just so dumb to her that she can't stand it when I try to sound smart?"

On the contrary, you sounding smart turns her on.

But I dare not tell him that.

"I thought she'd be flattered," he continues. "Any girl would be, right?"

Oh, her body is deeply flattered, trust me.

Again, I do not tell him that.

"Why can't she just see that I'm trying?" he begins, rambling. "I am living today because of her. I know I told her that I won't owe my life to her, but I... I realised that I am actually willing to do anything for her. Anything. Even if she wants to keep my soul, I'll let her. In return, I only ask that she lets me devote the rest of my life to... loving her..."

Then, his eyes immediately widen and he snaps his head to look at us.

"HOLY SHIT!" he gasps, as if he has seen a ghost. "I-I-I think I l-l-love Barns!"