Love, Aurélie | REGULUS BLACK

Chapter Thirty-Three

She was certain nothing could dampen her mood as she walked to the Owlery. It felt as if the puzzle was nearly done and she knew exactly where to place the puzzle pieces handed to her.

There weren't many students around as most were still in the Great Hall. It worked in her favour, however, as she didn't have to constantly move out of the way for others. Once she was in the owlery, she sent the letter off and went to walk back down the owlery when she came face to face with Benny. She hadn't seen him since she left the hospital wing yesterday.

She waved and forced a smile to her face, though she was sure it looked more like a grimace than it did a smile. The bubbling energy she had before was still present in the pit of her stomach, but she couldn't quite forgot the conversation she had with Naomi the night before.

"Oh. . .Odette! I didn't know you'd be in here," he said. Odette nodded and they stood in uncomfortable silence. "Actually. . .that's a lie. I followed you here."

"Oh."

Had it not been for the flapping of wings or shrieks from the owls, they would have been in complete silence. Odette was quite glad that they were in the owlery as the noise made it less uncomfortable. Still, she could barely look up from her shoes. She focused on a small rip near her toe. She figured it was time to take Liu's advice and throw them out. Liu had gifted her a pair of Mary Janes for Christmas. They had originally belonged to Mei, but Mei never wore them. Odette didn't understand why as they were nice looking and were a comfortable from what she could tell in the short half of an hour she wore them. If anything, they were a lot nicer than the loafers that Mei always wore.

"Well, I should get going. . ." said Odette. She scratched the back of head and avoided to look into Benny's eyes. "I have class soon and I still have to get my stuff from my dorm."

She walked passed him in a hurried manner and was about to step off the first step when he called her name. Odette put her foot back down on the ground and bit her lip to stop a sigh from emitting. Odette stared down at the steps before she turned around and smiled.

"Yes?"

"I — I — well, I was — I wanted to know — I'd like to — no. . ."

He sighed and pressed his forehead against his palm, "Oh, I'm awful at this."

Odette didn't say anything. She didn't know how to comfort him when she couldn't comfort herself.

"It's okay. Just tell me," she said.

"I won't make things awkward, will I?"

She doubted he could make things more awkward than they already were. She did not say that, though, and instead settled for a simple question of, "What could you possibly say to —"

She was not given the opportunity to finish her sentence as he interrupted her, "I noticed you last term."

Odette nodded, slightly annoyed that he interrupted her, "Yes and so did many other people." She had to keep herself from asking him where he was going with the pointless conversation. She took back what she said about nothing ruining her mood. Benny had done nothing, yet she was already slightly annoyed. He was kind and friendly, but she was acting as if he had insulted her. She didn't understand.

"I wanted to know if you would go on a date with me, so will you?" He had said it very quickly that Odette hadn't even realized he had asked her a question until he stared at her with hopeful eyes. She snapped back into reality and took in his words.

Her eyes widened, "D — Date?!" She let out a shriek and it was not a cheerful one either. She did not want to go on a date with Benny, it was nothing personal. She just did not want to go on a date with him, she did not want to touch him, she did not want to get distracted by him.