"Cheer up, Chels! You can have this," Ashley said, thrusting her dessert—a scrumptious-looking strawberry fruit tart—in my face. "Just study harder next time, okay?"
"Thank you," I said, mock sobbing as I took it from her. "You really are the best, Ash."
"You're so melodramatic," Derek said, rolling his eyes. "It's just a quiz. It's not like it's the final exam."
"I don't remember asking you for your opinion," I said, glaring at him. "When was the last time you even did any proper revision?"
He looked as though he was earnestly trying to recall it from his memories. "When we had finals last year ... maybe?"
"It was a rhetorical question!"
Melissa yawned and slumped against the table we were sitting at. "Derek, I can't believe Mrs. Henderson gave us two essays to complete for the weekend."
"I'm pretty sure it's just because she's in a bad mood," Derek said, sending her a semi-sympathetic look. "Simply looking at you sends her into blind rage."
Ashley broke out into laughter, which she quickly converted into hasty coughing when Melissa narrowed her eyes at her.
"No, it doesn't! Mr. Robinson says I'm a delightful student," she said, straightening up in indignation.
Out of everyone in our little group, only Derek shared the same biology class as Melissa. Ashley and I just watched them having their little squabble while we ate our food. I wished we had popcorn available as a lunch option.
"Yeah, only in gym. You're always sleeping in Mrs. Henderson's class," he said with a snort. "It'd be weird if she finds you delightful."
"At least I try to stay awake. It's not my fault she's so boring!"
"Are you sure you try? You sleep in her classes almost as often as Nolan does," he said, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't understand why she hates on me but totally ignores Nolan snoozing just three tables away," she complained, tearing open her third ketchup packet. "I swear she sends me to detention far more times than she's done that to him."
"Maybe because he's indiscriminate about the classes he sleeps in," Derek said dryly. "I bet all the teachers know that Mr. Jameson's class is the only one you actually pay close attention in."
"Makes sense," I said, finishing the last bite of my fruit tart. "I can't blame Mrs. Henderson for bearing a grudge."
"Please! With the whole racket he was causing in class today he should be punished twice as hard as I was," Melissa said. "This is favoritism!"
I stared at her. "He caused a racket? I'm having trouble believing that."
Derek sniggered in the middle of chewing his California roll, and he had to cover his mouth with his hand to avoid spraying us with his spit.
Melissa wrinkled her nose at him. "Gross! I'm sitting right next to you. Can you not?"
He made a visible effort to swallow his food. "Man, I'm never going to forget what happened today. Mrs. Henderson looked like she was going to faint."
"If she hadn't assigned us two essays, I would have felt bad for her," Melissa said, swirling a fry in her deep ketchup pool.
"Why? What happened?" Ashley asked, leaning forward in her seat.
Melissa pointed her ketchup-dripping fry at her. "It's too bad you guys aren't in the same class as us. You missed the show!"
"I know you guys have never been taught by Mrs. Henderson, but her classes don't have arranged seating," Derek said, grinning. "Nolan came into class with this girl earlier."
"I wanted to talk to you about that, but I forgot because of these stupid essays," Melissa said to him. "Her name's Ariel, by the way."
"How did you know that?" Derek asked, frowning at her.
"Jonathan mentioned it in gym class earlier," she said, snickering. "Half the guys we play soccer with are in our literature class. News spreads fast."
"That's not news," Ashley pointed out. "It's just gossip."
Melissa was unfazed. "It's the same thing."
"Okay, her name is Ariel. Now stop cutting into my story," Derek said.
Nodding, Ashley said, "That's right. Raise your hands if you have any questions, guys. Mr. Valentine will make you stand out in the hallway otherwise."
Both Melissa and I chortled at Derek's irritated glare.
"Anyway," he said loudly, "he went to his usual seat by the window, and Ariel followed him. There was someone already sitting at the desk next to his, so she started making a big deal about wanting to sit beside him."
"Oh man," Melissa said, shaking her head. "Poor Carrie. I did a project with her once. She's a nice girl—she didn't deserve this happening to her."
"She actually told Carrie to sit somewhere else," Derek said, snickering. "Obviously, she got turned down."
"I actually thought it was because she wanted to continue sitting next to her friend," Melissa said, deftly nabbing a tater tot off Derek's tray.
"Who would want to give their seat up to someone that entitled?" Ashley wondered.
"Here's the answer—nobody," Melissa said. "At that point I'd turn down money to continue sitting there just out of spite."
"I would've just surrendered and gone to sit in front of the teacher's desk for protection," Derek said. "Her level of delusion scares me. Now quit interrupting me."
"My bad," Melissa said.
He continued, "Carrie insisted she was there first, and then she said she wasn't going to move just because she was told to. Ariel suddenly blew up at her and told her she didn't deserve to sit next to Nolan."
Bursting into a guffaw, Melissa clutched her stomach and groaned. "My sides! Guys, you really should have been there. Wait, wait—let me tell you exactly what she said."
She cleared her throat and composed herself, before speaking in a pitch higher than her usual voice, "You aren't treating this seat with the proper appreciation you should have for it. I'm the one who deserves to sit here!"
Ashley and I stared at her. "Are you serious?"
Derek said, "Right after that, Carrie snapped—"
"I've never heard her shout before," Melissa interjected.
"—and yelled at her that she wanted to sit here, right next to Nolan, and that there was nothing she could do about it."
Mid-laughter, Melissa gasped for breath. "Her friend looked so shocked! I think she didn't mean to blurt it out like that."
"They started arguing with each other, and I bet it would have turned physical if Mrs. Henderson hadn't come in then," he said.
"Tell them the best part," Melissa prompted, nudging him with her elbow.
"I'm getting to it!" He frowned at her. "Right when Mrs. Henderson stepped in, Carrie screamed at Ariel that she liked Nolan before she ever did, and that she was never going to give her seat up to someone like her."
I winced a little. "Oh, just hearing this hurts me. Poor girl."
"She was actually in tears. I can't believe she did that in front of the whole class and the meanest teacher in our grade," Melissa admitted. "I feel bad for her, but at the same time I'm kind of glad she had the courage to stand up for herself."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Henderson forced Ariel to sit at a front-row table so that she could keep an eye on her," Derek said. "Justice was served."
"Kind of," Melissa said, her expression dissatisfied. "She didn't even get detention!"
"Nolan was sleeping the whole time, just so you guys know," Derek added. "So it's not like he was actually involved in any of it."
Melissa scowled at him. "Whatever. He brought her in so it's basically his fault."
"Um, no," I said, before I could stop myself. "I'm pretty sure she just tagged along without his consent."
Derek brightened up at that. "Really? I guess I didn't really see him talking to her much. That makes a lot more sense."
"It's the girl from this morning," I told Ashley. "Do you still remember her? The one who glared at me for no reason?"
Shaking her head, Ashley said, "Oh yeah, that sounds exactly like what she would do."
"Hey, are you sure they aren't friends?" Melissa said, resting her chin on top of her intertwined fingers and staring at me. "You've been talking to Nolan a lot lately, haven't you, Chelsea? Did he ever mention her?"
I said firmly, "I'm sure they aren't friends. He just complained to me this morning about how she's been following him around, even though he keeps telling her to leave him alone."
"That's funny. I've been hearing people talk about all kinds of things today," she said with a thoughtful look on her face. "At one point, people were saying that they were dating."
"Oh, that I heard," Derek said, nodding. "That's why I thought it was weird he was ignoring his own girlfriend."
I almost choked on my mouthful of pasta. "Who's been spreading all these rumors?! I can assure you none of them are true."
"Apparently, he helped her find her earring although he was running late to class," Melissa said, snickering. "As if Nolan would do anything like that!"
"Okay, that one isn't fake news. He did help her," I said, feeling dismay wash over me at how the truth had been wrung dry and contorted through the rumor mill. "But that's all."
"Seriously?" Derek looked at me, clearly perplexed. "Are you sure he helped her?"
"The same guy who treats everyone like they're invisible, and who smiles at nobody?" The skepticism on Melissa's face was just as prominent.
That wasn't true. He smiled sometimes ... when he was with me. For some reason, I found myself unable to say that aloud.
"He personally told me that," I said. "So, yes. I'm sure."
"Whoa, really? Maybe the rumors were right, though," Derek said, raising his eyebrows. "This girl must really be something special for him to go out of his way for her."
Starting to feel annoyance twist into me, I said, "He was just being nice. Can't anyone do anything nice for someone else out of the goodness of their hearts anymore?"
"Sure," Melissa said, snickering. "If it wasn't Nolan, definitely. But this just seems out of character for him."
I looked back down at my pasta, finding that my appetite for it had suddenly diminished.
I had never thought that I would feel bad for Nolan over something like this. After all, he had earned this reputation of apparent heartlessness through his own hard work.
Maybe it was because I was the only one who had gotten to catch a glimpse of what was under his cold exterior—the thoughtful consideration that shone through the tiny cracks every once in a while—but I felt a pang in my chest at how alone he had to be feeling.
Nolan had done something kind for someone, and no one believed that he did it just to be nice.
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AN: This too shall pass! Storms don't last forever. Also, there will be more actual in-person Nolan next chapter. (which is why I posted this today instead of waiting till Monday so you won't have to wait 2 weeks to see him :'D) Every single one of you who is reading my story, commenting on it and/or voting on it, thank you! I'm so thankful for each and every one of you.
We're almost reaching the exciting part, guys. I'm looking forward to it. See you soon on Monday!