The Quiet Types

Chapter 12

I waved as he stepped away and I looked down at my hand. I hadn't tugged on my hair tie in so long that I had forgotten how it felt.

"So how are things between you and Henry?" asked Theo behind me. I looked over to see him leaning against the railing of the bungalow we shared for first hour.

"There's no between him and me, Theo. You know that," I said as I slipped my book into my bag.

"You tend to ruin potentially good things," he accused as he set the helmet he had in his hand on the flat edge of the rail.

"What's with the helmet?" I attempted to change the subject.

He shrugged. "Mom got me an early Christmas gift slash birthday gift. I got my license a little while ago and sitting in the driveway Sunday morning was my newest mode of transportation. Tess was just as excited because she gets the car all to herself now."

"Well congrats on that," I said as I tucked my hair behind my ear. I turned my body so I was now facing him and I set my hands on my lap.

"Thanks," he thanked and I nodded.

We sat for a few moments in silence before he decided to break it.

"Where were you yesterday?"

"You apparently knew where I was because your sister stopped by," I reminded and he shrugged.

"Doesn't answer my question," he countered and I sighed.

"I was visiting with Dr. Felland and it's getting a little uncomfortable to know that you're following my every move. I'm not your personal mess that you have to clean up after all the time," I replied.

He chuckled as he slipped underneath the railing. He grabbed his helmet and then walked over to set it beside me.

"You sound like Tess," he commented as he took a seat, "and maybe both of you are right. I jumped into the boat forgetting the oars ashore. I've managed to swim back and now am ready to try it again. This time oars in the boat."

"I'm not much of a sailor," I teased and he smiled as he pulled my hand into his.

"I'll stay on my side of the boat," he insisted as he stroked the new polish on my nail, "You know for such a tomboy you wear a lot of stuff."

"I'm not a tomboy," I clarified as he laced our fingers together, "and this is nothing. You see the girls back home and we'll talk."

"You read books about serial killers for fun and wear '80s horror classics to bed. That doesn't really put you in girl territory," he countered and I rolled my eyes, "I like you either way though."

I felt a hint of blush rise to my cheeks, "Oh my god. Just shut up."

"Make me," he replied leaning in closer to me.

"At school?" I asked and he nodded.

He kissed me and it took me a couple of moments before kissing him back. We shared a few very short kisses before I decided it was time to pull away. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about PDA yet.

"Be my girlfriend?"

"Stay on your side of the boat?" I joked and he gave me a half smile.

"I'll try," he agreed as he gave me another quick kiss.

That's when the first bell went off signaling it was time to go to class.

"It's time for an education," I announced as I tried to pull my hand from his, but all he did was stand up with me.

I shook my head in disbelief and collected my things as he grabbed his helmet. We walked up the ramp side by side, but before we could go inside he pushed me up against the walk beside the door to share a very deep kiss.

"I missed that," he commented as he pulled away and looked down at me.

"You are insane," I replied as I shooed him off of me.

He smiled drunkenly at me before walking into the class. I followed close behind and made my way to my seat. Ms. Xavier watched him curiously as he set his helmet underneath his desk and then followed his gaze to me. I smiled awkwardly before breaking eye contact to pull my things out of my bag.

***

"Come on, please," pleaded Theo as we walked through the flooded hallway. He had come to get me from fourth to see if I would sit with him and his friends this afternoon.

"We just got together officially. I don't think we're on sharing friends terms yet," I replied as I went over to my locker to set my Calculus book back in it.

"It is when those friends consist of my twin sister, the guy she likes, and like three other people," he said as I tried to shut my locker door. He quickly grabbed it though, "We have two days of school left before Thanksgiving break. I want to spend those two days at least for half an hour before you go to New York."

"How about we hang out at lunch after the break?" I asked as he placed his helmet into it. He shut it afterward and I rolled my eyes.

"At least stop by to say hi to Tess," he offered.

I laughed in disbelief. He just wasn't going to quit.

"Fine. I'll stop to say hi to Tess, but then I'm heading over to the library. My Physics final is today and I'm not about to fail it," I agreed reluctantly.

"Alright," he agreed as he took my hand into his and basically dragged me into the courtyard, "and you swear like you're going to fail a final."

I laughed knowing he wasn't wrong, but still. I needed some sort of excuse to just get away from it all. We walked over to the small group sitting at a table on the further side of the courtyard.

"There he is," announced an unfamiliar boy as he shook Theo's hand, "And you are?"

"Bryce, Sam, and Victor this is Lauren. Lauren these are my friends Bryce, Sam, and Victor," he introduced as he pointed at each of them while saying their name, "Then you know Tess and Henry."

"Wow," commented Henry as he looked down at our hands, "I should have known."

"What?" asked Tess curiously and Henry shook his head no.

"Nothing," he assured as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

I tried to ignore Henry's reaction towards Theo and I. It's not like it was any of his business to be pushing another date when Tess was obviously into him and he was clearly pulling some sort of strings with her.

"So the famous Lauren," laughed Bryce as I felt Theo's thumb stroke across the top of my hand, "We've heard a lot about you. I think we might share Physics together."

"I think we do," I agreed now that I thought about it. He sat a few lab stations in front of me, but nonetheless he was there.

"When did this become a thing?" interrupted Henry before Bryce could make a comment in return.

Theo laughed, "What do you mean, Henry?"

"When did you and she decide to make each other a thing?" he clarified and I shrugged weakly.

"We've been talking off and on for about a month now," I said as I looked over at Theo for help.

"But I asked her to officially be my girlfriend this morning," he added and I nodded weakly.

"It was a long time coming," confirmed Victor as he picked around his sandwich, "She's all he would ever talk about when we hung out."

I looked over at Theo curiously and he shook his head in embarrassment.

"Really because I don't remember him mentioning her ever," replied Henry.

I peeked over at Tess to notice how uncomfortable she was suddenly getting. I took a deep breath and fiddled with my hair tie. If I had known Tess was into Henry I would have never hung out with him after school.

Guilt was suddenly what I was feeling. So much for having a good day.