Bringing him back

Forgiven And Forgotten

"Good afternoon, Autumn." Mrs. Hansen says to her. Autumn smiles and nods her head to Mrs. Hansen as she takes her seat. James wasn't in class yet, she had arrived early to Chemistry today. Autumn pulls out a ratty old book from her backpack and begins reading, trying to block out the world. She didn't know what she'd say to him, so she had decided last night that her best tactic was to pretend she didn't notice him. Sitting right next to her. For nearly an hour. Still, it was going to have to do because she wasn't the kind of girl who liked confronting people after an outburst.

Autumn buries her nose in her old book, one she had loved since elementary school - Charlotte's Web. However, she quickly learns that she lacks discipline. Every single time she hears students walk in the classroom, she peaks her head over the book to see if it's James. The classroom begins filling up quickly, she notes, and he still hadn't entered yet. She begins to wonder if he had taken the day off when she sees him run into the classroom seconds before the bell rings.

He takes a seat next to her and Autumn pretends to be engrossed in her book. She can feel his eyes on her. Mrs. Hansen clears her throat, and all the eyes jump to her.

"Alright class, let's begin now. Put your things away, all you need are your eyes and ears right now." she says. Autumn opens her backpack and slides her book back in before giving the attention to the teacher. A few kids are talking quietly amongst themselves so Mrs. Hansen clears her throat. The talking stops. She waits a few more seconds to make sure the silence was absolute before continuing to the lesson.

It was a complicated formula that they were learning, which Autumn normally would have tuned out and began to daydream. However, she feels as if she must look alert and focused. There were several tedious examples that they went through and laws that were discussed. The whole time Autumn has the uncomfortable feeling of being watched - whether she could sense his eyes on her or if she was just being paranoid, she didn't know.

Once there was five minutes left of class, Mrs. Hansen begins passing out the worksheet that was due the next day. Once the papers reach Autumn and James' table, she takes a look at it and sighs. Even though she tried her hardest to listen, she still didn't quite understand. Autumn takes an extra long time to write the date on her paper and her name. At least it looked like she was doing something. She stares at the paper with disgust on her face. When she took Chemistry, she figured they'd be blowing stuff up at least every week. Instead she got complicated math problems and formulas.

She starts off hesitantly on the first problem when she feels a very gentle tap on her upper arm. She turns to James, who was holding out his paper to her.

"Err - do you think you could help me start it?" he asks shyly, as if she had never yelled at him yesterday.

"I can try." she says with a weak attempt at a smile. She puts her pencil down, rubs her sweaty palms on her pants and then picks up her pencil again. Describing what to do to James and talking the problem out made her realize that she had understood the lesson much better than she had thought. Together they had worked out the whole first problem, finishing mere seconds before the bell rang. Autumn smiles as she packs her Chemistry worksheet into her backpack. She waves goodbye to James, extremely grateful for him not mentioning anything about yesterday.

Marie walks over to her with an odd smile on her face.

"What?" Autumn asks. Marie shrugs her shoulders.

"I just think you guys are cute. So what's going on with you two, now?" she asks. Autumn tells her about their date to Eldon, which Marie had requested to hear in full detail. Once they reached the art room, Marie seems satisfied with the information on the date and allowed Autumn to tell her about what had happened yesterday in the forest. Autumn skips over the part where she had yelled at him for nearly no reason. Marie was beaming the entire period, giving Autumn smiles and curious looks.

The period passed quickly and they both went to lunch in good spirits. After lunch the rest of the day had passed in a blur. There had been a substitute in Algebra II, which had told them to catch up on any missing homework. In English II they had taken a test, which Autumn completed quickly so she read her book for the rest of the class period. Before she knew it, she was heading up to her locker to grab her jacket and leave. She turns the dial quickly, in a hurry to get home. The door swings open a a single piece of paper flutters to the ground.

Autumn picks it up, figuring it was an old assignment that she had left in the locker. She glances at it and frowns. It was a letter addressed to her, written on a piece of notebook paper. She sets her backpack down and begins reading. As her eyes slide further down the page, her smile becomes more pronounced. Her cheeks are red when she finishes the letter and she reads it one more time. Smiling to herself, she very carefully takes out a folder in her backpack and slides the letter into it. She stands dazed, with a grin on her face for a couple of seconds before she mentally shakes herself and walks to go meet her mom outside.