From Conundrums to Kisses | ONC 2020

Chapter 7: Assumptions

Colton's POV

Colton stood there, still reeling from the fact that his little sister had so casually embarrassed him in front of his crush, Teagan. She had no shame, that little...annoying... he figured that he had better stop before he said something he would regret.

Teagan looked back at him with a massive grin on her face. "So... that's your sister?" she asked.

Colton snapped out of it quickly, suddenly remembering that Teagan had asked him a question. "Unfortunately. We do pick on each other from time to time, but we're still closer than ever. Her name's Diane. As sweet as that name may sound, don't let that fool you. She's more mischievous than people realize."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Teagan gushed. "You must be the best big brother in her eyes."

Colton looked to the side, rubbing his neck. "Yeah, we watched Frozen 2 together last week."

When he mentioned the movie, there was a sudden sparkle in her eyes that wasn't there before. It was cute.

"I saw that movie with my sister too! Where did you see it? What was your favorite part of the movie?" Teagan said, her eyes lighting up as she fangirled over the movie.

She suddenly stepped back, then went to sit back down in her chair. "I'm probably acting kinda crazy, huh?"

Colton walked over to her, putting his elbows on the table, table manners be damned. "Not at all. I've been wanting to see the movie for quite some time now, so I decided to take my sister and me to go see it. Into the Unknown sounds so much better than Let It Go, don't you agree?"

The pair continued to talk between themselves, as they went on from the topic of movies to musicals. Colton learned a little more about her in the time they spent together that day. Through their conversation, he learned that her favorite song was Fallin by Alicia Keys and that from that time on, she knew she wanted to be a songwriter. Her favorite dessert was cheesecake, she hated spiders with a passion, and that she ran track on their school's sports team.

Colton came to the startling realization that he had known nothing about Teagan up to that point. He knew he was to blame for their friendship, ending. It was their sophomore year in high school when they were both in their respective classroom, each student bubbling the answer to the answers on the test while their teacher read a book at the front desk.

While trying to answer the last few questions, Colton looked across the room, seeing Teagan answer the questions too...or at the very least, attempt to.

She had fallen fast asleep, the eraser of her mechanical pencil in her mouth. Suddenly, the pencil had tipped to the side, the movement just enough to startle Teagan from her little nap. She had suddenly looked up, darting her eyes across the room. The horrified expression on her face was priceless as he looked at her like she had grown two heads.

His attitude then morphed into a silent chuckle, but he knew he had dug his own grave when he walked to her desk to say something to her.

"Miss Valdez, is it?" He asked, a smile gracing his features.

Teagan looked at the desk, probably embarrassed at being caught. "Uh, yeah?" she asked, sounding a little timid.

"You should really be more careful with that habit of yours. Wouldn't want you to injure yourself, now would we?" He replied in a serious tone while biting his cheek to restrain the laughter that bubbled up from inside.

He sighed. He probably shouldn't have teased Teagan about that. He knew that she was sensitive about her habit of nearly falling asleep in class, so why did he? That question had remained unanswered up to that day.

It was clear that she wasn't happy when she saw him the next day when his mom invited her family over to his house for dinner. The strained smile she had worn that day was nothing compared to the pain he felt when she inconspicuously gave his hand a tight squeeze, her family oblivious to the pain she had caused.

Maybe that's why Teagan hated him so much. Well, perhaps hate wasn't the right word. Strongly disliked, maybe?

He ran a hand through his hair. At least he was trying now, right? He knew that some people held resentments, no matter how nice they were or appeared to be, and Teagan was no exception.

"Hey." Teagan's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"You okay? You've been quiet for a while there." Teagan asked, her small voice conveying concern.

He dismissively waved. "Yeah, I was just thinking about the reason why you hate me so much..."

"Oh..." She stayed silent, mulling over his words. "I don't hate you per se. I'm just..." She took a deep breath, struggling to get the words out. "I'm jealous, okay? You managed to get your family's bakery so popular in a short amount of time while it took my family years."

She blew a strand of hair away from her eye. "Same thing with school. I kinda had a bad habit of beating myself up any time someone looked like they did better than me." She continued. "When I saw you had finished answering the last few questions to the test, I was so upset that I was struggling while you weren't. I was also tired that day from finishing up my essay the night before. I never fall asleep in class, so the fact that you saw me in that state was pretty embarrassing, to say the least."

Colton had a pensive look on his face. "You know my family has worked hard to get to where we are now, right? Same thing for my grades. Just because you don't see me struggling doesn't mean that it was easy." He shrugged. "I just prefer to stew over my day in private when no one's around."

"I never knew that," Teagan said, astounded at how vulnerable he was towards her and vice versa.

Colton paused, allowing himself to think for a moment. "How about we both try to get to know each other better instead of just assuming?" He brought out his hand to shake.

Teagan shook it, happy that the matter was resolved...for now. "Deal."