will pov
The school day was finally over. It was just one more class after lunch. I am now at my locker with George and Savannah.
"So, anything new happen between you and Shelby?" Savannah teases.
"Nope." I answer and close my locker. "And nothing ever will. It's not gonna happen guys."
"Will, just go ask her out. Or just to hang out. Do something!" George whisper-shouts.
I sigh. "Just drop it guys."
"No." Savannah states, annoyed, and walks away. I had a strong feeling what she was about to do and I chase after her.
Right as she turned the corner, I was stopped. By fucking Ashley! Can she just go away? Maybe if I pour water on her she'll melt...
"Hey Will." She flirtatiously said. "Do you wanna come over later today? I would love to get to know you better." I gag on the inside.
"No thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to go." I try to walk past her, but she shoves me back.
"Can we skip this playing hard to get charade? I obviously like you and you like me, so just say it."
"I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea or if I said anything to make you think that, but I certainly do not like you like that." She gasps.
"I bet it's that nerd girl." I roll my eyes. Here we go. "What is it about her that I don't have?! I'm way prettier." Nope. "Way funnier." Please. "Nicer." PFT. "And I'm popular. What more could you want! We deserve each other!"
"Ashley. Can we talk about this another time? Like I said before, I have somewhere to be." She scoffs and struts away in her high heels.
I continue running in the direction where Savannah had gone. I, of course, didn't see her, since there was an ugly obstactle that stopped me. So I headed where she definitely was going.
Shelby's locker. And, to my shock, she was there!
"Oh look. He's finally here. Hope you guys have fun!" Savannah smiles, waves, and walks away.
"Uhm, hi." I clear my throat and lean against the lockers next to her. "So what exactly did Savannah say?"
"She told me that you wanted to hang out...but I'm guessing you didn't actually." She gives me a small smile and closes her locker. "It's fine."
"No no. Wait. I actually did want to hang out. I just didn't want her to tell you. Sorry." She laughs.
"Was the William Gold scared?" She teases.
"What? No...I just- me? Scared. Oh please. Never in a million years." I say.
"Uhuh. Sure. So, what did you wanna do?"
"Maybe just some coffee? School drained all the energy out of me." I suggest.
She nods. "That sounds great. Do you wanna walk or have me drive?"
"If you don't mind, driving would be better. I know a good coffee shop but it would be like a 30 minute or so walk." I tell her.
"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to. It's just in the students parking lot so we should go out the other school doors." I nod and follow her as she walks away.
"Soooooo-" I drag.
"Soooooo-" She mimics.
"I was trying to find words for it so don't mock me." She laughs and I mentally pat myself on the back. "What I was trying to say is, sorry for what happened at lunch. I know you heard Ashley because she was basically shouting."
"It's alright. Though at the end she seemed upset. What did you say?" She asks.
"I told her I didn't want to sit with her." Shelby furrowed her eyebrows at me in confusion.
"Why? She's perfect." I watch as she hangs her head low while she spoke.
"She is far from perfect. At least what I think is perfect."
"What do you think makes someone perfect?" We walk out the school and head towards her car.
"It's impossible for someone to be perfect anyway. But the closest to being perfect would be someone who is smart, cares about others, knows how to comfort people, is genuine, someone who- Y'know what?" I'm feeling brave today. Also, now we are entering her car and I am having a little difficulty sitting because of my height.
"What?" She says as I finally sit down in the front seat.
"Can I be honest for a second?"
"Of course."
"There is a girl who I think is so close to being perfect. She's just so sweet, kind, generous, friendly, and stunning." I spoke as Shelby started the car and drove out of the students parking lot. "It's ridiculous because she doesn't even know it."
"From the way you are describing her, it sounds like you have a crush." Shelby teases. Little did she know... "What's the name of the coffee shop?"
"Pine Grounds." I reply. I watch her type in the name into her phone.
"And I do. I definitely do have a crush on her. But I don't know if I'll ever tell her." I say.
"How come?"
"Sometimes I think it's better to try to be just friends with her. Because there is no possible way that she could ever like me back." I said and glance at Shelby, but she doesn't notice because she was focused on the road.
After a couple seconds of silence, she started speaking. "Don't say that. You are incredible. I know I've only actually known you for less than a day. But how you were describing what someone close to perfect would be like earlier? I would say that all those fit you."
I turn my head towards the window and smile. My crush saying that I was close to perfect? Nah. I'm sure she was just saying that to be nice.
"Thank you." I smile at her and she gave me one back. The two of us sat in comfortable silence as she drove. It wasn't too far from the school as a drive so it was only about 2 minutes of us not talking.
We entered the coffee shop, the bell above the door ringing as we did, and sat down at one of the booths by the window.
"I love this place. It's so earthy and calming. And it smells amazing in here." Shelby said. I panned around the room.
The shop is just like she had said. Earthy. There are several plants, either hanging from the ceiling or in flower pots. The aroma smells just like coffee too.
"Hi! Welcome to Pine Grounds." One of the workers greeted us. "I'm Tyler. What can I get you guys?"
"I'll just take a cappuccino." I tell Tyler.
"Hi! I'll have a vanilla latte and...ooh. A chocolate muffin sounds good too!" I laugh at Shelby's excitement as Tyler nods.
"I'll be back with your orders in a minute!"
"He seems nice!" Shelby said with a smile. "Oh! I actually have a something to ask you."
I start to get nervous but I don't know exactly why because it's just a question. "Yeah?"
"Why did you want to hang out? I mean, like, I'm not mad that you wanted to or anything, but why...basically- why me?" I didn't expect that to be the question. I hesitate before answering. Cause half of the reason is because I like her. "We're going to be sitting together for the rest of the year so might as well, right?" I lie.
"I do not believe that one bit. What's the real reason?" She asks. I debate on whether telling her the real other half of the reason. I soon decide to.
"Its just that all my other friends besides George aren't necessary people I would go to if I was sad or needed comfort or something. And usually that's what friends are supposed to help with." I explain.
"Mhm."
"What I'm saying is, I honestly only have one real friend, them being George. I guess I could also count Savannah, but I don't know her that well. And after our conversation in Algebra, I learned how sweet and supportive you are without even knowing me. And I knew that after that, I wanted to know you better and possibly become friends." It wasn't the full truth, but it wasn't a lie. I just altered the story a bit.
"I'm sorry that your other 'friends' are like that. I'm happy you do have George and Olivia. And I gladly would like to become your friend."
My eyes widen and light up. "Really?"
"Yeah. You are also very sweet and supportive. And I can also tell that you care a lot about your friends. You're just overall a great person and being your friend would be an honor." She smiles.
"Thanks. That means a lot to me." I say back.
"Hello! I'm back with your orders." Tyler walked up to us and placed our drinks and Shelby's chocolate muffin on the table. "Those add up to €8.95. You can pay whenever."
"I'll pay now." I say and pull out a 10 quid from my pocket.
"Do you want me to pay for my own stuff? I feel bad." Shelby says.
I shake my head. "I'm the one who asked to hang out so I am perfectly fine with paying."
"Thank you." She gives me a thankful smile as I hand the money to Tyler.
He takes a quick trip behind the counter and comes back with my change. "Enjoy! Have a good rest of your day." Shelby and I thank him before continuing our conversation.
I really didn't think this day could get better. When I woke up this morning, I would have never guessed that I would end up getting coffee with my crush?!
Shelby and I were having a nice talk about school. If we needed to let any frustrations out, reasons why we were stressed, and more. It was very relaxing.
"Which teacher do you hate the most?" She asked. I was about to answer, but then my phone buzzed.
"Sorry, one second." I say and pull out my phone from my pocket. I open it to see a text from my mom on the home screen.
I enter my password to read the full message.
i know that you are with your friend right now but could you come home? your grandmother called and said she wasn't feeling too well so your dad and i are going to check up on her and we can't leave Tommy by himself
I sigh. I didn't want to end Shelby and I's hangout, but knew I had to listen to my mom.
"Everything okay?" Shelby questioned. I look back up at her and give her an apologetic look.
"I'm so sorry, but I have to start heading home. My parents are going somewhere and they can't leave my brother alone." I tell her.
"That's fine. Don't apologize. Do you need me to drive you?" She says.
"That'd be great. Thank you so much." We leave the coffee shop together with our drinks in our hands and head to her car.
"My house is pretty close. You just go straight that way and turn right at the traffic light." I said and pointed in the directions.
"Alright." She started the car and began driving. "I had a lot of fun today. Thank you for asking me to hang out. I probably would just be sitting in my room doing nothing if you hadn't."
"Of course. You're gonna be stuck with me for the rest of the year in Algebra. I can't have you despising me." I joke. She laughs and I mentally pat myself on the back.
"I could never despise you. Not even if I tried." I turn my head toward the window because I could already feel my face heating up.
We sit in comfortable silence for the second time today. This one only being a couple seconds before she had parked in front of my house.
"I'll see you tomorrow William."
I look at her a take a deep breath. "Do you wanna come inside? I was really hoping we could hang out for more than just 15 minutes."
"Are you sure? Or are you just saying that because I implied that I have nothing to do for the rest of the day?" I shook my head.
"I just genuinely enjoy your company Shelby. You don't have to say yes though if you don't want to." I say.
"No, I'd love to. I agree, 15 minutes is a little too short for my liking." I get that rush of excitement before opening the car door and stepping out, Shelby doing the same.
We walk towards the door as I pull out the keys from my pocket. I opened the door and let Shelby go inside first, for I am a gentleman, and shut the door behind us.
"Wilbur! Thank you so much for doing this. You know my mom means a lot to me a-" She stops her sentence and I assume it's because she spotted Shelby.
"I am so sorry! I didn't see you dear. And you are?" My mom turned to Shelby and asked.
"Oh. Hi, it's nice to meet you Mrs. Gold. I'm Shelby." I cringed when my mom smiled wide and immediately went in for a hug. She was always the touchy type.
"It's very nice to meet you. I though George was Wilbur's only friend."
I groan. "Mom!"
Shelby and my mom laugh at me. "Honey! Are you ready to go?" I hear my dad's voice shout through the house. A couple second's later, I see him rushing down the stairs.
"Yes, let's go. We told her 6:30 and its a long drive." My mom says while my dad takes the car keys from the kitchen.
"Bye kids! Wilbur, make sure Tommy doesn't break anything!" My mom yells as she closes the door, leaving Shelby and I in the living room.