Science was Gru's best subject, but he could not focus on anything the teacher said. He stared at his textbook, pretending to soak in the information, while Ms. Melandrano walked through the syllabus. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
Her hair stood out more than anyone else's in the whole room. It was a vibrant red color. He didn't think he had ever seen hair like that. She doodled absent-mindedly in the corner of her paper. He looked closer and saw her name.
Lucy
"That's it for today, class" Ms. Melandrano said, turning off the projector.
Gru cleared his throat, working up the courage to say something to her.
Then the bell rang.
She was out of there so fast he almost missed it. He sighed and looked at his schedule. He stood up and moved toward the door. English - 210. He stepped inside and his heart stopped.
She was there.
She was sitting toward the back of the classroom and no one was sitting by her. He tentatively made his way over.
"Um, can I sit here?" He asked, barely raising his voice above a whisper.
"What?" She said turning her head to him. His voice sounded so different from what she had expected. "Oh, of course."
The teacher passed out the syllabus and Gru flipped over to the required reading page.
"Ha! This stuff is basic. I've already read almost everything on here." He set the paper down on his desk and leaned back.
"What?" She said, flipping to that page in her syllabus. "Really?"
Gru straightened up. He didn't really think that she would pay attention to what he said.
"Yeah. I like to read." Gru replied shyly.
Lucy smiled, and he thought she had the prettiest smile he'd ever seen.
"Well, I've never read any of these." She said, scanning the page. "Maybe you could help me out?"
Gru felt butterflies in his stomach.
"Of course!" He said, a little too excited.
She smiled that smile again, and his heart melted.
As it turned out, Gru and Lucy had every single class together, except for study hall. They walked together to their next class, art.
Gru did not like art. He excelled in academics, but art wasn't like that. There was no formula or fact to memorize. There was no equation to solve. He had to use a whole other part of himself, and it was not a strong part. This was not the class that he wanted if he was going to impress her. But then he looked over at her. Her eyes were fixed on the teacher, hanging on to his every word. She sat up straight in her desk, eager and excited.
The teacher released them and the class milled about, grabbing supplies and setting up their stations. Gru stood awkwardly behind Lucy, staring at all the colors. He honestly didn't know what would even look good together.
"Come on Gru." She said, going back to their table. He hurriedly grabbed what was right in front of him and followed her.
When the bell rang, Gru put his supplies away as quickly as he possibly could and waited at the door for her.
From then on out, Gru and Lucy's friendship only grew. They spent every class together, and when they weren't in class, they were in the cafeteria or the library.
But each day, 4pm would hit, and Lucy would have to leave.
One day, Gru mustered up the courage to ask her.
"Can I walk you home?"
She froze.
"Sorry, but I don't think so." She replied. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Then she was gone.
