I go inside and find him sitting on his bed, with two three-books sprawled open. I smile lightly and sit on the bed. He hands out a gummy bear to me and I take it instantly.
"So its this trigo problem bothering you?" He confirms and I nod.
"Yeah. I can't figure out how to prove this one." I say puzzled.
"Well. You don't have to worry Sammy because you are gonna learn from the best." He says proudly and I smirk.
"Really? Is someone else coming here to teach me? I don't see any best people here." I retaliate and his face falls slightly.
"That's your jealousy speaking Sammy." He says lamely and I smile smugly.
"Whatever what you want to believe." I say in a sing song voice. I am relieved that there is no awkwardness between us.
"Do you want to know the solution or no?" He asks, folding his arms and leaning back in an I-am-the-boss-here kind of way.
"Of course I do!" I narrow my eyes at him and just then Della enters with chocolate milkshake and some chips for us. I thank her and Xavier dives into the food tray immediately.
"Behave Xavier." Della says as she closes the door behind her.
"Behave Xavier." I tease him as he looks up at me, popping a handful of chips in his mouth.
"Sure Sammy." He says and empties the entire bowl of chips on my head. I scowl at him as he laughs and grab as many crumbled chips as I can and throw at him. He dodges and picks up another handful and shoves them towards me. We play our chip game till the chips get crumbled to the point that we can't pick them up.
"Lets study now.. I need to go to home." I say, slightly out of breath with all the laughing and fighting. He nods and finally after 10 minutes I understand the solution. He explains me a couple of other similar sums and I thank him as I leave his room. I offer to clean up the mess we made but he refuses, boasting about how he can manage to do anything.
The rest of the day passes by normally and as the night falls, I prepare my stuff for the next day. As I get into my bed, a note lands in my room and I pick it up.
'You owe me for today.'
I smile as I read it and immediately write back a reply.
'Friends don't owe..Friends don't repay.' I quote Moira Young and throw the note into his room. I am surprised how better my aim is getting at this. I wait for his next note, I can't help but laugh as I realize that we could easily draw out the curtains fully and talk face to face with each other. But we still do this. And I have no idea why. His note drops in and I read it immediately.
'You're mean.' I smile as I read this.
'You finally realized that now.'
'I'm serious. *huffs*' I laugh out at this one and write back.
'Okay. How do I repay you?'
'Now you're talking. I'll let you know when I need something. Good night Sammy.' I pick up all the notes and put them in the trash and head to bed.
I arrive in the school feeling a new buzz of talk everywhere. I walk to the English class and find my best girls already seated. I sit beside Bella and Carly turns around to talk to me.
"Hey whats all this excitement about?" I question and Bella answers excitedly.
"Its the 25th founder's day of our school and that is why there is a masquerade ball. I can't wait for it. Its on Friday so we have four days until we can shop, decide our make up and hairstyles and then rock the party as we arrive and charm all the boys." Bella says almost jumping in her seats. A founder's ball sounds amazing but I don't know if I will really attend it. I am into parties and all this dressing up stuff is too much to handle.
"Charm boys or charm Alec Bells." Carly suggests and Bella blushes.
"Yeah just like you will charm the already charmed Jacob." Bella says in turn.
"What do you mean?" Carly asks and we both roll our eyes.
"Oh my God, I was quite till now because I thought you would back into your senses but no. Don't you understand, that Jacob guy is nuts behind you. He has been crushing on you from like forever." Bella discloses and Carly's eyes widen.
"No-no that can't be. I mean we are just friends." She says and we both give her the 'you-think-we-are-dumb-like-you' look. She is about to retaliate but the teacher enters and starts the class. We quickly disperse after the class and decide to meet in the break time.
I see Chase walking across the hallway and quickly look away, moving as fast and far as I can. I enter the chemistry lab and stand beside my partner Zack. He smiles at me as we listen to our teacher for what we have to perform for today's class.
As I pour the hydrochloric acid into my test tube, I hear Zack stand beside me. I carefully finish the task at hand and he notes down the observations.
"So did you hear about the masquerade ball?" Zack asks after a while and I nod.
"Yeah. Its pretty hard to miss since everyone is talking about it." I reply with a shrug.
"Yeah I agree." He says with a small laugh and his voice trails off. "Can I escort you to the ball. You know everyone has to bring a date." He asks and I blink in surprise.
"Oh-um actually I am not even sure if I am going. so.." I trail off awkwardly and Zack nods quickly.
"Of course. But if you do decide to go, let me take you?" He asks hopefully.
"Yeah of course." I say after a while and he smiles from ear to ear. I never expected this coming from Zack.
The chemistry class ends and I rush to my next one. I am relieved as it is break time and walk to the canteen with quick steps. As soon as I take a seat, Bella bombs on with her plans for the ball.
"We meet at 4.00 today for shopping so we can change our outfits if something goes wrong. Also tomorrow, I'll decide how we are going to style up as per as what we choose today. Then-"
"Bella wait. I don't think I am coming for the ball." I say and both of them look at me as if I have two heads.
"I AM NOT TAKING ANY EXCUSE YOU GIVE ME. GET IT?! " Bella scolds and I try to reason. But Carly interrupts.
"Come on Sam. There is no way you are missing this. The ball is happening for the first in twenty five years and this is our last year. It will be fun as seniors." Carly points out and I can't help but agree. I will never get to experience this again. My school. A ball. With my friends. I sigh and nod my head in agreement.
"Yeah I think you're right. I'll come." I say and Carly winks at me.
"Why is it that every time Carly explains something to you, you immediately agree." Bella pouts and I laugh.
"Maybe you should try explaining instead of forcing your decisions on people." Carly teases and Bella huffs.
"Come on Bells. I agreed because of both of you." I say and she smirks triumphantly at Carly.
"You know Alec asked me out for the ball. And I said yes!" Bella squeals excitedly and we both nod. We already knew this was going to happen.
"What? You guys aren't surprised!" She blinks at us.
"There is nothing to be surprised Bells. We knew Alec would ask you out." Carly states as a matter of fact. Bella slumps in realization and we both laugh slightly.
"Zack asked me too." I say after a while and Bella turns around in full force, whereas Carly looks surprised.
"You mean that guy from your chemistry class?" Bella questions and I nod.
"Wow. We never knew he had a thing for you." Carly says.
"Its nothing Carl. He just asked me. Because we are good friends that's it. And I told him that I am not sure about going." I say.
"And I bet he said that if you decide to go, you let him escort you." Bella more like states than question.
"Wow Bells. You're smart." I say a bit surprised. She flicks her hair dramatically and then suddenly turns serious.
"What if Xavier asks you too?" She asks and I chuckle.
"I don't think he will." I say confidently.
"Well I don't think so." Carly pipes in and I look at her confused.
"He is coming right here. Almost behind you." She explains and before I can comprehend what is happening, I hear Xavier from behind my chair.
"Hey Sammy. Got a minute?"