The Girl At The Last

Chapter 5

Elaine

His laugh was beautiful. Like the swift wave of the sea, smooth and demanding, demanding of attention. It had a life of itself like they were precious and rare.

It was all I could muster up though the whole class turned to notice us. Mr.Carmen glared but said nothing. He was too lazy for interrogation and detention.

Alex cleared his throat.

"Mr. Carmen?" He said aloud. My eyes widened.

"Yes, Mr.white?" He said adjusting his specs on the bridge of his nose.

Alex winked at me before turning his undivided attention to the teacher in question. Silence befalls as everyone awaits the intention of Alex, crucially I pinch the side of his jacket before I could tug at it and warn him to stop-

"You might wanna check your fly once"

He.Did.Not.

The thick quietness multiplied an octave high.

A moment later sprinkle of mirth kept slipping

Then the roar of laughter resonated through every corner.

Luckily we or more like he was not thrown out of the class. Mr. Carmen's face was red with embarrassment. I hate to admit, it felt good.

No. Not the way he was made fun of. I know how much it hurts or more like did. Now I am used to it.

It felt good because Mr. Carmen did get a dose of what I went through all this time. He knew. I saw him turn blind towards the vandalized boards and hateful notes.

My locker was right in front of his office.

The last bell rang as students rushed out of class. I got up to do the same. But my reason was to stay away from a certain boy.

I was afraid. After so many days I was. He was nice to me and I believed. A little.

"Wait up. Elaine!" I could hear his running footsteps behind me.

I kept walking as he joined me.

"You need a ride back? I know you live just a few blocks away" he offers.

"I like to walk" I decline as I play with the strap of my bag.

"You do? I like to walk too" he smiles. I wished to return that smile, genuinely equal and with comfort.

But when you smile you are happy, when you are happy you begin to cook expectations. And expectations lead to disappointment.

So I nod instead.

I am such a coward.

The corridor was at the time being almost empty. Just a few students from soccer practice loitered around in their sweaty jerseys. I spotted Tyler among them. As a wise person, I start walking faster. In the opposite direction. I decided to avoid a heart-to-heart conversation. That's why.

Alex notices this and joins me.

"Do you and Tyler have a history or something? I know literally you guys do. I see him in the history class. But you do understand what I mean right?" he asks, flicking the stray hair out of his face with a jerk of his neck, his eyes deep and distant, like he was forcing this conversation on himself

I bite my lip as I come to a halt. We were now outside as the wind blew my hair in all possible positions. "You know, Tyler wants to be friends with you" I start, gnawing at the inside of my lips as I wait for him to return my statement with his input.