Him and Her *ON HOLD*

Chapter 14- The Meeting

Crystal's P.O.V

"Ohhh, so this is who Crystal is," Rhys' mother coos. "I only heard about you the other day when Rhys mentioned he wanted to bring a friend over."

"I see..." And I do. Rhys had told me that his parents would be teasing him 'till death's door about having a friend who is a girl, so he didn't mention me until I basically forced him too. I feel a pang of sadness. My first friend, and he doesn't tell his family about me because he's afraid of teasing. But I guess I understand. Rhys' friends tease him so much; he doesn't need more.

"Come in, come in," she squeals.

As I'm being dragged in, I see a face peeking at me from inside the kitchen.

That must be Arelina, I think to myself.

"Sit," Rhys' mother commands, pushing me into a chair.

"Moooom," Rhys complains.

"She's a guest! She needs to try my family's famous cheesecake! I made a new batch today!"

Rhys groans. "We have homework!"

That does it. Rhys' mom becomes quite stern.

"Why didn't you say that earlier?! Go, go!"

Rhys steers me out of the dining room and up the stairs. I feel like I'm a human vacuum cleaner!

Rhys finally lets go of my shoulders. "Right then. Should we do Chemistry, or French?"

Rhys' P.O.V

"Arrgh! What's the name for the past tense that's not passé composé?" Crystal moans, irritatedly.

"L'imparfait," I reply easily.

"Yes, that's it!" She gasps. Crystal hurriedly writes something down on her paper, the pencil scratching a soothing rhythm against the desk.

I look out the window, seeing drops of rain starting to fall. I catch Crystal staring wistfully out, and wonder what she's thinking. She seems to think a lot. I guess usually I'm more of an action person- I just do. But I suppose it's good to have both types of people. If there were just thinkers, nothing would get done, and if there were just doers, everything would end up falling apart form lack of planning. But then there are the hybrids, who have both down pat. Those people are so hardworking and efficient; I'm sure if you watched them work, they'd be done so fast, you'd miss it!

A knock at the door breaks me out of my thoughts.

"I've got chips!" My mother announces.

"Thank you!" Crystal beams.

She grabs a handful, and starts munching.

"I never have plain chips at home. Maybe I should get some- these are good!" She exclaims.

"They get boring though," I interject.

Crystal shrugs. "Shall we start on Chemistry?"

Crystal's P.O.V

"Thanks for driving me home," I say, unbuckling my seatbelt.

"No prob," Rhys comments, reaching over to open the door.

"See ya at school?" I ask, fidgeting with my backpack.

"Definitely!" Rhys smiles widely.

I smile as I walk up my driveway, and I wave to Rhys as I unlock my door.

My mom pounces on  me as soon as I step in.

"How'd it go?!"

"Good," I say tentitavely.

"You have a friend!" She cheers.

"I know that," I smile. I just roll my eyes as my mother beams once more.

Crystal's P.O.V

"Quick! Hide!" Rhys whispers.

We dash behind the racks just as Mme. Brobère turns the corner. Peeking through the shirts, Rhys taps his foot impatiently.

"She's gone!" He sighs in relief.

"Well, I hope you're happy now," I sigh, dusting my pants off.

"It's so awkward when teachers are around! They always want to talk to you!" He protests.

"Fine, whatever. Let's go find your foam sticks," I concede.

Rhys' P.O.V

"Annnnd, ta da!" I shout gleefully, as I place the last stick on the tower. This math project was actually kinda fun... Even though it had to to with angles, which isn't my favourite subject.

"What do you think?" I turn for Crystal's stamp of approval.

"It'll do," she notes loftily.

I snort.

"What you meant was, 'it's really good', right?"

"No, I meant it'll do," she returns cheekily. I roll my eyes. Trust Crystal to pretend to discourage you.

Just then, Damien bursts into my room.

"Hey Rh- woooooooooooo," he stops short of bumping into the wall.  "Crystal's here?!"

"Crystal's here?" Asher asks, stepping in.

Momo smiles at Crystal and she waves.

"It's like a family reunion!" Damien shrieks.

I wince and cover my ears.

Arelina waddles in.

"Stop being so loud!" She complains. "I need to study for my Science test! It's my first ever test in high school!"

"Sorry!" Damien says, abashed.

Arelina nods, then she returns to her room. I see Asher looking at her curiously, and I whack him upside the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?" He mutters.

I ignore his mumbling- "I just healed from my other bruise, now I'm gonna have another one, and I always get bruises..."

I see Crystal giggling under her hand and glare at her.

"What?" She asks, squeaking out more giggles.

"Do you guys want to go bowling?" Momo asks calmly.

It's totally random, but it dissipates the tension pretty quickly. Momo's always hated anything that rocks the boat.

"Ooooooo I love bowling!" Damien crows.

"Shhhh, or else Arelina will yell at us again," Asher cautions.

I scowl at him.

"What's the problem?" He demands, exasperated. "We all know there's an elephant in the room that only you can see, so, please, enlighten us."

Asher crosses his arms, his biceps flexing as he does.

"I suppose I'm just being irrational, don't mind me," I wave my hand lightly.

"Mm. I'm letting it go for now, but please, next time, just tell the rest of us what the issue is, and we'll fix it," he says.

"Let it go, let it goooooooooo," Damien and Crystal yodel.

"I've found my singing soulmate!" Damien pronounces, clutching a hand to his heart dramatically.

"Ok," Momo decides. "Since we've already made two major discoveries/clear-ups today, let's go bowling!"