Love Me, Again?

Chapter 11: In His Arms

Chapter 11: In His Arms

 Two months passed by quickly. Leila looked over her index cards, preparing for her presentation. It was Thursday, the day of her and Mason’s presentations. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she headed for her mom’s car.

“Do you have everything you need?” Her mother asked as she slid in the car.

“Yes mom.” She replied.

“Okay then. Louis is sick. He’ll be seeing the doctor today,” her mother smiled at her weakly.

“Alright,” Leila mumbled. They arrived in school.

She got out of the car and walked towards the entrance. She sighed as she saw Mason approach her.

“Morning! Ready for the presentation?” He grinned at her. The bags under his eyes showed that he lacked sleep.

“Morning to you too. And yeah, I guess.” Leila looked down at the floor. The truth was that, she hated presentations. She lacked the self confidence.

“It’ll be okay,” He whispered as he gave her a side hug.

“I need to get something from my locker first. See you in class.” Leila quickly walked to her locker. She stuck her head inside and took deep breaths.

Lately, Leila has found it very hard being around Mason. Her heart beats quickly, her knees get weak and she finds it hard to talk to him without stuttering. She pulled her head out of the locker and came face to face with Mason himself.

“What were you doing?” He looked at her, amused.

“Uh… My locker smelled funny… So I was trying to look for whatever made the smell.” She mentally slapped herself for stuttering.

“Oh… Okay. Want to walk to class with me?” He held out his hand.

“Okay.” She took his hand.

Ever since that day at the park, Mason drifted away from the popular crowd. He spent his break and lunch time with Leila. He found himself smiling and laughing more when he’s with her. He asked for her forgiveness and hoped that someday, she will forgive him.

Leila took her hand back and sat on her chair. The other students swarmed into the room. Soon the teacher walked in with a projector in his hand.

“Good morning class. Today’s presenters are Leila and Mason. Try to prepare for your presentations while I set up the projector.” The teacher went on to fix his projector.

Leila took out the small blue poster she made the night before. On the center of the poster was a picture of Mason smiling sweetly. Around the picture were some of the key words she’ll be using during her presentation. She topped it off with some stickers for decoration.

“That’s very nice.” Mason looked over her shoulder.

“What? Since you saw mine, can I see yours?” Leila asked persuasively.

Mason blushed and whispered, “Later.”

“Come on, please?” Leila grabbed the pink poster. Mason snatched it just before she could take a peek.

“Okay class. Settle down. Leila and Mason will be presenting their projects. Who wants to go first?” The teacher and the rest of the class looked at them. Leila turned her head back to the front of the class.

“Leila will,” Mason blurted out.

“What? No,” She refused.

“Come on. You’ll do great,” Mason patted her back.