Her first crush

13

Pascal opened his locker and a letter fell from it. The letter had a pls read sign on it. He opened the letter and read the contents. There was no name on it. He held the letter and shook his head in fury. He put the letter into his pocket and walked off.

LEONA'S POV
I walked into the class and sat down. I brought out my French dictionary, notebook and textbook. By now, I had forgotten about the basketball match completely.
Pascal walked into the class just before the teacher and sat down next to me. He only brought out his notebook.
      Madame Chère walked into the class with a pile of textbooks. Soon, the teaching began and I listened with rapt attention. Suddenly, the teacher stopped and looked at something. Her brows became drawn together in a frown and the whole class followed her gaze.
"Pascal Brown, can you stand up and tell the whole class what I just said? "She asked, obviously irritated by the half smile on his lips.
I was surprised. It was the first time I would see him smile.

PASCAL'S POV
I heard her call my name. I wasn't surprised because I was distracted. She must have noticed that. I stood up and looked straight at her.
"Le français est vraiment une langue internationale".
The look on her face told  me she was thrown a back.

MADAME CHÈRE'S POV
I was sure that he hadn't been listening. I wondered why he was smiling to himself.
"How sure are you that that's the exact thing I said? "I asked in a bid to confuse him.
"Because I wasn't deaf, I was listening ". He replied me in a cool manner".
"Asseyez vous"
He sat down and I continued to teach.

PASCAL'S POV
The look on Leona's face made me smile. I drew a face in my book and passed it to her. She collected the notebook from me.

LEONA'S POV
I wondered why he was acting funny. I looked into the book and frowned. The face was disgusting. I drew a big ugly duck and sent the notebook back to him. He laughed and wrote QUACK QUACK. I laughed.
"Mon dieu! "Madame Chère exclaimed and I wondered what was wrong this time. "Leona et Pascal, levez vous"
We both stood up and she muttered, "les enfants terrible ".
We burst into laughter and she was frustrated.
"Go and report yourselves to the principal at once! "

                       *      *      *
Leona and Pascal were picking tennis balls up and putting them into a basket when Leona spoke up.
"You're not the Pascal I know, so what's with the sudden change? "
He picked up a ball and threw it into the basket. "Because I'm about to expose someone".
She stood straight, "who? "
"You don't wanna know".
"You're full of mischief ", she said with disgust and continued, "so you feel cool when you expose people".
He shrugged. "Of course".
She was angry but she continued to pick the balls.
Matilda walked in at that moment.
"Chewing gum", Leona said under her breath.
"Hey, Pascal"
"Hey"
"You mind if I pick those balls for you? "
Pascal loomed at Leona then back at Matilda, "of course not ".
She bounced to where they were excitedly.
"Pick those too", Leona said and walked away.
Matilda didn't care. "Can I be your slave? "
"I don't need one", he retorted.
"I mean I would help you with your notes, your assignments, I'll pick these tennis balls, and so on. "
Pascal smiled, "with pleasure".
He walked off and she humped up excitedly.
"Don't forget to scrub the basketball court when you're done. "He said over his shoulder.
She stopped jumping, "huh? "
"You're my slave, remember? "
"Oh! Sure", she was glad she was getting closer to him.
He walked off, smiling. "Today's a good day".

                       *     *     *

Matilda drove her Porsche home at 9:35pm. Mrs Wesley was furious.
"You shouldn't come home late, and you know it".
"I know", Matilda fired.
Her hands ached because she scrubbed the court single handedly. The cook came in that instant and bowed. "What would you like for dinner, Miss? "
"I don't want anything for dinner "
"We prepared........... "
She didn't allow him to finish his sentence. "Get out! "
The man trembled and walked off.
"You need to work on your temper", Mrs Wesley spoke calmly.
Matilda shot her an angry look and walked to her room. She slammed the door and the older woman shook her head.

LEONA'S POV
I was assisting Kane in the kitchen. She was baking some chocolate cookies while I was bringing the baked ones out of the oven.
"Did you write a letter to Pascal? "She suddenly asked and I carefully transfered the cookies to a tray.
"No"
Jane put her hand into her apron and brought out a letter. It looked crumpled. "Found this in his pocket while sorting his clothes out. "
I  collected the letter from her.
I know you don't have any idea about me, but I want you to know that I love you. I try to let GI of the thought, but I can't. You regard me as if I don't exist and it hurts so much. I've fallen for you.
I  didn't know when Jane walked out of the kitchen. Pascal walked into the kitchen with his headphones around his neck.
"Found your letter, huh? "
"Excuse me? "I quickly hid the letter behind me .
"Gimme that"
"No! "
"Don't push it"
I had  my back  to the refrigerator and I  squeezed the letter behind me.

PASCAL'S POV
I moved closer to where she was standing, till I was in front of her.
"Give it to me", I snapped. "Now", I added with a commanding tone. She looked at me and shook her head.

LEONA'S POV
He covered the little space between is and bent like he wanted to embrace me. My fingers tightened around the letter.
Nelly walked in and cleared his throat. He looked at both of us and we separated.
"The cookie's ruined", he said.
"Oh my gosh! ", I exclaimed rushing to the oven to bring them out. They were burned already. Nelly scampered off but Pascal wasn't ready to let go.
"Why did you write that? "
"I didn't ", I replied.
Instead of believing me, he narrowed his eyes. "Only two people can write this kind of note. You and Matilda ".
"I......... "
He raised a finger and I shut up.
"And Matilda would have written her name on it if she was the one", he said in a as a matter of fact tone. "That leaves you".
"I wouldn't have written a letter of I had feelings for you", I noted and he continued looking at me in disbelief. "We're not the only ones falling for you". I blurted out before I could stop myself. Dang! I blew it out. I ran out of the kitchen, embarrassed.

PASCAL'S POV
I smiled to myself. "So who can this anonymous writer be?"

                       *    *     *