No Strings Attached

Chapter 4: Nadine + James = Chemistry

"Thank God, your body temperature isn't above 98.6°," he sighs in relief, distancing his face from mine.

"But just to be safe, maybe I should take you to the school nurse."

Wow, I thought dreamily.

How can this boy be cute and smart at the same time?

Giving me a concerned look,  James asked: "Should I take you to the nurse?"

"No, " I politely shake my head. "It's okay."

James frowned instantly, removing his hand off my forehead. "Are you sure?"

"I'm good," I lie again. "Thanks for asking me."

James shrugs his shoulders as if it was no big deal.

"No problem, " he replied.

Then after we picked up our walk to the chemistry lab, James inadvertently returns to the embarrassing subject.

"So, what did you say about my eyes?" he questioned.

I stifled a moan. "Please drop it."

"Make me." teased James. "I know you said something about my eyes, and I want to hear it  from your perspective."

Tightening my hands around my backpack straps, I admit in a reluctant tone that I liked his eyes.

Shifting past an overweight student carrying a large tuba, James smiles at my awkward compliment.

"Thanks, " he says, running his fingers against the cool locker doors. "And I like your hair." 

I twiddled my thumbs nervously. "Thank you. My hair is more of a dirty brown, but—"

"It's beautiful," James stated, giving me a warm smile.

Then strolling across the wooden floor, he gives his curly, reddish-brown hair a messy shake.

"In the meantime, mine looks absolutely crazy," he adds, groaning. "My grandma wants me to get a haircut."

"Oh, " I say. "Do you want to cut your hair?"

"Sometimes, " he admitted.

We watched kids—both junior and senior—retrieve whatever art-related subject they have for the first period.

Several were busy rotating the dials of their locks, whereas a couple of kids are already heading to their designated classes.

Similar to the position of the lockers, the classroom doors were in a horizontal position. 

Drenched in light brown texture, every door has small, ink black numbers to show the kids where their classes are.

Burying his hands into his pockets, James glanced in my direction: "Anyways, Nadine. There is something I want to ask you."

My cheeks automatically grew hot. "R-really? What is it?"

Does James Ryder want to be my boyfriend?

Taking a deep breath, James says: "I hear that you are really good at chemistry."

I grin shyly at his compliment.

It's shocking how a lot of people think I am good at chemistry; normally, I just memorize formulas from charts and measure dissolving liquids. 

Chuckling nervously, I responded: "Well, I am sorta okay with chemistry."

James looks at me in disbelief, avoiding a trio of male seniors.

"Are you kidding?" he snorts. "You've won the science fair every year all because of that beautiful brain of yours."

My entire face flushed red.

Did he just call my brain beautiful?  I thought, touching my frizzy brown hair.

James Ryder smiled at my embarrassment then went on, "you also make cool experiments out of chemical liquids."

That part is true: I experiment chemicals for whitening clothes without any bleach, make natural home products, and other things.

But that doesn't make me an amateur. 

"I am okay." I murmured, scratching the back of my head. 

"You're a natural, " he complimented. "Hell, I have seen no one memorizing the periodic table than you."

"Oh, really?" I ask coyly, staring straight ahead.  "What about you?"

He blushed. "I need some help with chemistry."

I raise my eyebrow at him. "How come?"

"It's the only grade I have a C+ on."

Geez, that doesn't sound good.

"Oh," I said, bobbing my head. "I totally understand, chemistry is a pretty hard subject."

"Yeah, it is." James agreed. "Do you think you can help me with it?"

Soon as he asked that question, my heart begins to pound.

"What?" I breathed.

James scratched the back of his head. "Well, that is if you have plans."

"N-no, " I stuttered. "I am completely free."

James cautiously raised his eyebrow. "Are you sure? Because I don't want you to feel pressured."

"I don't have anything planned for the week,"
I claimed. "Just reading books."

"What about 'Fuck the Prom' party?"

I laughed, "Oh right, I forgot about that. What movies should we watch?"

"How about Ghostbusters?" suggested James. 

"Marco hates ghosts," I stated.

"Pretty Woman?"

I roll my eyes. "We have watched that movie like, thirty times."

"Oh, right."

I ponder for a moment. "We could watch Stranger Things."

James smiled at the idea. "You got Netflix?"

"Yeah." I nod.

"Cool, " James replied. "As usual, Aria will bring her music, and Marco and I will buy the snacks."

"Great." I beamed.

"So for the Chemistry, " began James.  "Is it okay if you give me some lessons?"

Speechless, I carefully bob my head so he wouldn't hear my accelerated heartbeats.

"Yeah, " I replied quickly. "Sure. Positive. Definitely. Other synonyms."

As soon as we reached the chemistry lab doors, James goes into his right pocket, takes out a black gelled pen, and uncaps it. 

"Give me your arm," he smirks.

Though puzzled, I offered him my left arm and James scribbled his number on it. 

"This is my cell phone number, " he explained, putting the cap back on his pen.

"So, in case if you have any plans, just let me know."

I am never going to wash this arm off.

"Okay." I breathed, nodding some more.

"Okay, " he said, chuckling. "Now, let's get to class, Einstein."

"Sure." I chuckled. "See you around."

Minutes after our conversation, I headed into the chemistry lab spending my entire day imagining my future wedding with James.