Bright, Shining Light

Chapter 15

"Hey Garcia." Spencer looked up at her from where he sat at a desk in front of the large, empty classroom.
"Hello. I come bearing gifts." She said, placing the sprinkled doughnut on a napkin in front of him.
"Wow, thank you." He said, feeling curious. It was unusual for her to come find him here just to deliver a doughnut. Kind, but unusual.
"Don't thank me, thank your adorable little lady friend. She brought them in."
"Nora? She's here?" He asked, scooting his chair back in order to stand.
"No, she left. She was here though, and so was Sir Lancelot."
"She didn't come find me?" He said, looking almost disappointed as he sat back down.
"Well, she said she has a doctor's appointment to get to. She didn't realize you were subbing in today."
"Oh. Right."
"You didn't tell her?"
"I didn't get the chance. She's been..."
"Busy?" Garcia finished for him, causing him to look at her curiously.
"Y-yes." He replied slowly.
She narrowed her eyes mischievously at him, wondering if she would be able to pry any information out of him.
"Is everything okay? Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked after a moment.
"I'm not! It's nothing. It's fine. Um, here." She took the envelope out of her pocket. "She also asked me to give you this. Also, she fully denies that it's a love letter."
"Why would this be a love letter?"
"A girl can dream! There's such an adorable chemistry between you two nerds, I know I can't be imagining that."
"She's my best friend and she just spent six years being held prisoner by the one person in her life that she had left to care about her. The trauma she endured with him isn't just going to disappear now that he's gone. Now, I'm the only one she has to treat her like family. What kinda of person would I be if I used her vulnerability as a means to get romantically involved?"
"So you're telling me that when you two kissed, you felt nothing?"
Spencer froze, his mouth slightly open.
"Nora told you that I kissed her?"
"Told me? No, not even close. I'm a genius too, you know. I can figure things out on my own."
"Well, you figured it out. To answer your question, I did feel something when I kissed her. I felt a lot of things, but do you know what happened after?"
"Things got weird." She said, her expression turning sad.
"Yes. They got weird. She's hardly spoken to me ever since, and I don't know if I crossed some sort of line that I was never supposed to cross or if I scared her into shutting down or if she just flat out doesn't think of me that way. All I know is that I miss her. I've barely seen her or heard her voice or gotten a chance to ask her about her day and I miss that. I don't care if I can't kiss her, I just want my best friend back in whatever way I can get her."
There was a hint of a tear forming in Garcia's eyes as she looked down at him. Spencer saw this and sighed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get upset."
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried."
"I'm- I'm glad you did. It actually felt pretty good to get that off my chest."
"It's just so sad." She said, blinking rapidly.
"It is what it is. Nora is entitled to feel any way she feels. I don't want to destroy what we have because I may have wanted more."
"I understand. I'm going to go now. But hey, kiddo?"
He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Please, please let me know if you need someone to talk to, okay? My friends aren't allowed to sit in their sadness alone if I have any say in the matter."
"Okay. Thank you." He replied quietly, and she exited the classroom.
Sighing, he looked down at the envelope in his hands. Tearing it open at the corner, he pulled out a single piece of paper with her near handwriting on it.