Splinters: Part One

Part One | 5

I looked up at Collie and smiled, nodding my head. She let out a small breath of laughter.

"Colleen, can you answer that question?" Mrs. Beck asked, interrupting Collie's and my silent conversation.

Collie jerked her head towards the teacher and smiled. "1492. That's when Christopher Columbus found America."

Mrs. Beck didn't even flinch. "Read the next paragraph, Colleen."

Collie's face paled. 

I nudged her elbow, slyly pointing at where we had left off on the page. 

"Can you read the next paragraph?"

Collie glanced at me. "Yes."

"Go ahead, then."

She read the paragraph with ease and was somewhat shocked when the teacher asked someone else to read the next paragraph. She sighed quietly next to me, then wrote something else in her notebook. 

Thank you!

...

Collie had gathered her belongings faster than I did and stood at her desk, waiting for me. She was smiling, watching as I scrambled to gather my things. I picked up my book and notebook and then slipped on my backpack with one hand. 

I faced her as she and I made eye contact. She really was nice. It was beyond me how Ursanne didn't see it.

Collie and I both exited the room together. She tried to say something, but her friend had beat her to it, jogging up next to us. She had short brown hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a lot of makeup, but if I had to be honest, I felt like she was probably prettier with it. She didn't look bad, in fact, she was really pretty.

Not as pretty as Collie though.

"Um, Collie?" her friend asked. She looked at me for a second and then turned back to Collie. "My house?"

Collie nodded. "Yeah, I'm just gonna talk to Brayden for a second, okay?"

"Collie-"

"It won't be long, Tay."

Collie's friend, Tay, stared at her for a moment, then at me, and then she said she'd wait in the front for Collie.

"Okay."

Tay didn't acknowledge me as she left and once she did, I let out a breath.

"You okay?" Collie asked.

I nodded, staring at my feet as she and I headed towards my locker.

"Do you need to go to your locker?" I questioned.

Collie shook her head. "No."

I wanted to ask why she was following me then, but I felt like that would be rude. So instead, I tried to start a conversation, but we both started at the same time.

"So-"

"How come-"

She let out a small laugh. I liked her laugh.

"You first," I said.

She cleared her throat. "Um, so why did you come into class with that one weird kid?"

My smile fell. Weird kid? Collie was like everyone else?

"I, uh, think he's my friend." I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Him? Really?" she laughed. 

I furrowed my eyebrows, genuinely confused. She wore a sad facial expression and for some reason, it angered me.