Porcelain Roses || Solby

(4)

~ A cringey author note by younger me deleted by yours truly ~

I walked into the lunchroom and instantly spotted Sam at his table. Looks like Piper's late.

I walked over and sat next to him, ignoring Devin and Reed's eye-rolls as I passed them. He glanced up quickly before returning to his lunchbox. I smiled at his shyness, thinking it was cute.

I blinked. What's wrong with you? Shut up, yeah? 

I jumped slightly when Piper dropped her lunchbox loudly on the table next to me. 

"Hola!" She announced cheerily. 

"Bonjour!" I replied, getting her to smile.

"Comment allez-vous?" She came back instantly.

"Goshdangit! You know French?" 

"Yes, quite a bit actually." She sat down across from me and Sam. "I took French for two years, and I just kinda got the hang of it."

"That's cool. I only speak English.. Took Spanish for a year or so but that's never gotten me to learn a single word. Sam do you speak any other languages?" 

His head shot up as his name was mentioned. "What? Oh, no."

"Hah, you're like me, then." I pulled out my turkey and cheese sandwich.

"Maybe." He went back to eating.

I glanced at him, wondering what that meant. I shrugged. "Whatcha eating?"

He looked up again, squinting at the fact that he was being persuaded into actually participating in this conversation actively. "Nut-tella and peanut butter," he stuttered, taking a bite of his sandwhich quickly.

"Never tried one of those. Is it any good?" Piper asked, trying to coax him into talking to us.

He finished chewing slowly, seeming like he was trying to avoid answering. He looked up. "Yeah. My favourite." he said flatly.

"Do you just not like talking to us?" I asked, rather annoyed with his stand-offish responses. Piper gave me a warning look.

I waited patiently as Sam thought of a way to respond. "I just don't like t-talking in general. You might not understand; you seem t-to say whatever's on your mind. Which is not a b-bad thing by-by the way; I admire that."

Once again, I was a little stunned into silence. I congratulated myself on getting him to say that much. As I contemplated his answer, I thought of how soft his voice was. It was a pleasant change from Reed and Devin's banter that I was used to. I liked it a lot.

What? That's perfectly normal.

"Alright, that's fine. Like I said before, I like silence too. I just think that lunchtime, the only time where were allowed to talk freely for a long period of time, should be spent in conversation or at least companionship." I patted myself on the back for using big words and sounding almost as smart as Sam.

"Companionship, I g-get. Companionship can b-be silent and peaceful. I think often t-times actions speak louder than words, and silence can be a calming break between the... the chaos of the day." He took another bite of his sandwhich, his gaze fixed on the table and his cheeks flushed. I couldn't help but watch his clear blue eyes as he blinked.

"I-uh, yes, I agree," I stuttered with difficulty. I felt my face heat up a little bit, from either embarrassment or the fact that I was admiring him, I couldn't tell.

He nodded quickly, going back to his lunch. I followed suit and looked at Piper, who was looking between us with a bewildered look. I grinned at her, guessing what she was thinking, and popped a piece of cookie into my mouth in triumph.