Together (Chris Sturniolo)

2

CHRIS

"Using Albert Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, a possible outcome could be that Malia believes she can write a good paper, so she does her research and gets a good grade from her teacher," Lilliana says with nothing but pure confidence in her voice.

Our teacher, Mr. Harrison smiled and pointed at Lilliana with his computer pen.

"That is correct! Very good, Lilliana!"

Lilliana beamed as Mr. Harrison wrote her answer on the board.

We were sitting in our psych class and Lilliana was answering every question per usual. I sat two rows over from her and one seat back. I caught myself staring at her ever so often and noticed a lot about her.

She was right-handed and only ever used BIC mechanical pencils. Everyone else used pens, But not Lilliana Larsworth. She bit her lip and furrowed her brows every time she was deep in thought. She somehow managed to look pretty all the time. Even when she wasn't trying.

"Now, There is one more possible outcome using Albert's theory," Mr. Harrison looked over at the clock and smiled.

"If someone can get it right, first try.. I'll end class early and I won't give homework tonight."

Suddenly everyone in the class sat up in their seats and smiled. They knew Lilliana would get it right and save the day. She always did.

Lilliana's hand had shot up and Mr. Harrison grinned.

"Lilliana can't answer."

Lilliana lowered her hand slowly and frowned. Everyone in the class sunk back down in their seats again. 

I looked around and no one looked like they knew the answer. I sighed. I never volunteered to answer questions in this class, but the look on Lilliana's face prompted for me to start.

I slowly raised my hand and Mr. Harrison spotted me. He smiled and pointed at me with the pen.

"Chris? That's new. But okay, yes, give it a shot."

Everyone turned to look at me.

If I get this wrong, everyone would probably hate me. If I got it right, I'd be a hero and maybe Lilliana would talk to me again.

"The other possible outcome could be the opposite." I said, looking over at Lilliana. She was staring at me and she smiled while giving me a nod. I almost didn't finish my sentence because my heart skipped a beat.

"Malia is unsure whether she can right a good paper , so she procrastinates and ends up not doing well."

I looked over at Mr. Harrison with the rest of the class in anticipation. After a few moments of silence, Mr. Harrison lips twitched into a smile.

"It's your lucky day guys. Chris got it."

Everyone in the class let out a deep breath.

"Thanks man!" One of my lacrosse teammates Roman exclaimed from behind me. He slapped my back in a joking fashion as he walked over to the door. The rest of the class murmured thank you too and I kept looking over at Lilliana to see if she'd look at me again.

She was texting away on her phone when she suddenly looked up to catch me staring.

I quickly looked away and put my eyes on my shoes. After a few moments, I looked back up again to see Lilliana walking up to me.

Momentarily I wondered if my hair looked good and wished I decided against wearing PJ pants to school.

"You really saved the day today," Lilliana said with a smile when she reached my desk. I didn't really know what to say and Lilliana could tell so she kept talking.