reticent

11

• AMALIA •

Frankie and I continue to talk for twenty minutes until someone else walks into the room. I faintly recognise him, but it isn't until Frankie says his name that it clicks.

     "Hey, Nathan." He says.

     He was the guy who picked my friends and I up for the party.

     "Hey." He replies, voice deep. He walks over to the other side of the classroom and sits down, pulling his phone out of his pocket. I turn back to Frankie, who's gathering his things.

"Are you going?" I ask.

"I can stay for a bit longer, if you want." He tells me.

I smile. "Only if you can."

His smile matches mine as he sits back down. He's about to talk again when someone else walks through the door.

Archer.

He sighs, but not at me. I look up and see his attention zeroed in on Frankie, who's completely oblivious to the fact that my project partner is staring him down like he's about to lunge.

He catches my gaze, but almost immediately returns it to Frankie.

He begins to walk toward us, and I notice Nathan's attention from the corner of the room on him as well.

"Get out of my seat." He says.

Frankie looks up at him. "I'm talking to Amalia."

"Yeah. In my seat. Move."

I turn to Frankie. "I'll talk to you later."

He smiles at me. "Okay."

He stands up and leaves, glaring at Archer, but he doesn't seem to care, dropping down into his seat without looking at me.

"That was rude." I say.

He glances at me as he pushes his bag onto the floor. "Okay?"

     "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?" I ask.

     He rolls his eyes.

     I frown and return to my sketch. I have art today, and I can't wait. It'll be my first lesson of it since I've come back to school.

     Archer doesn't talk to me for the rest of form, and I don't try to have a conversation with him either. When the bell rings, he practically runs out of the room.

•

By the time lunch comes around, I'm finished with the sketch I've been taking every chance to work on all day, just in time for my next class. But there's an hour until then, so I decide to relax my hands and eat in the library with my friends.

     "Hey guys." I say as I drop down into a seat between Ollie and Mia.

     "Hi." Edie replies. I look around the table, furrowing my eyebrows.