The 7 Year Endearment. √

Chapter 6.

So when Mr. Smith barked a new seating arrangement for the class, in which Jason's place was assigned next to mine, my courage drowned like
a hand dramatically stuck out of the water. I could have went upto our biology teacher and requested to change my seat as I cannot see the blackboard from the third bench or something but instead I froze and looked towards Jason who dramatically had his head buried in his hands.

I was already insulted once in front of the whole school and I understood well to maintain my distance with him, Yes, I was head over heels for him but not to the extent that I'd lose my dignity in the process.

Okay maybe I'd be half lying if I said that I didn't like the idea of him sitting beside me But that didn't mean I was going to prance on him like a hungry predator.

"Come on. Samuels." Mr. Smith uninterestineg drawled as he flicked the page of his textbook" "I don't have all day."

Jason sighed as he finally got up before furiously picking up his bag and marching towards his new seat. I kept staring ahead with my chin resting on my palm and made no attempt to look at him. He looked a bit thrown
back that I wasn't staring at him with heart eyes and giggling with excitement. I wanted to smack him on the head for even expecting that from me.

Once we were all seated and removed our textbooks, Mr. Smith announced the seating arrangement would be the same for Senior Year and the person you're sitting next to will be your assigned lab partner.

I heard a low growl and a tsk from beside me. This made me riled up and to make a show I wasn't happy to sit with him either I dramatically whispered a "What?!" laced with fake horror enough for Jason to hear and snap his not-so-subtle shocked face in my direction.

Ha! Take that.

We didn't speak at all during the class and as much as I wanted to focus on what our biology teacher was saying, my attention kept shifting to Jason and the level of proximity between us. We were a few centimetres away from each other and his hands were lazily sitting on the desk covering half of the space which made me consider putting mine on the table. I
didn't want an accidental brush of our hands and him to withdraw like he just touched fire given his behaviour towards me.

I ended up resting my hands on my lap and mentally told my heart to stop bouncing like an excited kid outside an ice cream parlor. Even when I had set my mind to be calm and nonchalant around him, I knew it was going to take time.

******

It had been almost two weeks since Jason was assigned his new seat and I noticed he'd gradually stopped fussing about how he wasn't the most happiest person to sit beside me. The reason could've been me not making eye contact with him even once. As much as I wanted to stare at his gorgeous face, the thought of him insulting yet again made me cold and withdrawing. In one instance, he dropped his pen which rolled under my chair
and he didn't bother to pick it up let alone ask me for it. His behaviour kept getting unacceptable and so I made no move to be the good person and bend down to retrieve his object.

And I didn't understand the reason behind him stealing glances at me. Like calm down I am not going to jump at you the minute you look away.

I was currently sitting in the cafeteria with my friends talking about Sarah's now official boyfriend George. I felt happy for her as her green eyes sparkled with joy as she explained how he stopped by her house, bent down on one knee and asked her to be his girlfriend. We all were sharing the same energy levels and Sarah couldn't stop blushing at every word being thrown at the table.

After a few seconds the bell went off signalling the end of lunch hour. I picked my tray to dump the leftovers in the bin, but my juice box knocked over and the few remaining drops of liquid rolled down the box and splashed on my black sweater.

"Shit." I muttered under my breath as I examined the stain. It wasn't that big or visible but I didn't want a sticky spot on my favourite top.

I told my friends to go ahead as I'd had to go to the washroom and clean up. They all waved me a goodbye and 'meet us after school!" before walking away, their cheery voices fading.

I opened the doors of the cafeteria and was about to take a left for the washroom when I saw a familiar person standing at the turning point with arms crossed on his chest.

He seemed to have been waiting for someone as he kept tapping his feet and checked his watch every now and then. But when he saw me he stopped and peeled himself from the wall.

Jason looked more embarrassed (and flushed?) as he saw my terrifying expression. But after what seemed like forever, I broke my gaze and started walking away.

"Wait!" He exclaimed and jogged up to me. I stopped in my tracks not quiet understanding his sudden change in behaviour but didn't utter another word. He took a deep breath and closed in eyes as if trying to muster up courage to say something.

And when he finally did say those words it sure wasn't what I was expecting.

I expected that he'd say can you talk to Mr.Smith to change seats or something unrealistic like change schools I don't want to see your face.

But rather he said, "I am sorry."