A thousand nights

XX

We stayed like that for what felt like hours, but were really less than thirty minutes. 

We had to get up at the end, and finally make a proper start of the day, and more importantly get to class before getting caught.
I stood up first and gave my hand to Hamlin to help her up. She had taken her hair down and now, with her wild curls and the puffy eyes she reminded me of little Alisha.

She rubbed her hand on her eyes as she looked down on the elevators floor.

'Okay?' I asked her, trying to find her gaze. She nodded as the corners of her mouth twitched in an ever so mild smile.
I opened my arms wide and, at the sight of the gesture she wrapped her arms around my neck and I around her waist once again.

'Thank you,  for not asking questions' her voice came out muffled. I nodded in her hair even though an odd thought was occurring inside my mind.

Her heart was pounding against my chest, like a scream of help. It screamed for understanding, for empathy to mine who simply seemed unmoved and confused at the other's agitation.

I patted her back not knowing really what to do at this point. She took a step back from me and smiled again.

'Shall we go then? We've already lost an hour of physics I think' she nodded towards the doors of the elevator. I pushed the button to open them and I instructed her to just go, that I would be getting to class a few minutes after her, so that we wouldn't look suspicious. She nodded again and said her goodbyes.

I closed the elevator's doors and pressed my back on them. What was up with her?
Deep down I knew exactly what was going on but I didn't want to allow myself to believe it.

Not for a second.

I damned my stupid acute analytic eye, and my ability to make quite accurate conclusions in almost any situation because, for once, it wasn't helpful.

She couldn't like me.

Not me.

I was Parker Mitchell, the damned creep or freak or whatever they called me those days at school. She couldn't..she couldn't...

Aim so low.

She would make a nice couple with Matthew if he wasn't a total bastard, and even Aaron  would suit her best, they were popular, relatively clever and good-looking.

I slammed my fist on the side of the elevator, right where the open button was as I groaned in frustration at my thoughts. The doors opened and because of momentum I found myself struggling to keep my self from falling, but inevitably my butt ended up colliding on the cold tiles of the school pavement.

Great.

I got up quickly hoping that no one had seen my excruciating humiliation. I guess it wasn't my lucky day.

'Park, are you okay?' I could have recognized her voice anywhere. Mallory walked over to where I stood, a look of concern over her delicate features.

'I'm fine' I lied. My back rather hurt, but I was certainly not going to tell her. Her bottle-green eyes searched mines for some kind of proof for what I just said. Only then I realized that we were standing quite close to each other. I automatically took a step back, feeling my face getting hot.

Mallory face flushed of a vivid red, her freckles risking disappearing in the new tone of her face.

'Well look at who we have here, Parker Mitchell' I hadn't notice that she didn't arrive alone. Approaching her was Hayden Williams, the school's Head Boy and the umpteenth Park hater. I've always wondered how many rumors Mallory and her friends had spread around to make me so hated, even by some teachers.