You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

71

"Hey."

I looked up to see Nolan sliding into the empty seat beside me. Both Ashley and Cody, sitting opposite me at the table, glanced up from their notes.

"Hey," I said, beaming up at him. "Thanks for coming."

Cody nodded at him. "Hey."

"Hi, Nolan," Ashley said.

As she caught my eye, she shot me a funny look. I blinked, but she returned her focus to her notebook without another word.

What was that about?

"No problem. I said I would," Nolan said, unzipping his backpack and rummaging through it. "Sorry I couldn't join you for lunch earlier."

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I know you were tired."

He returned my smile. "So, what are you having trouble with?"

This morning, he had been so sleepy, he went to the library during lunch period to take a nap instead of coming to the dining hall with me like he usually did.

Truthfully, I was kind of glad he did that.

I wanted Nolan to be comfortable with doing what he needed to do to take care of himself. I didn't want him to feel obligated to join me for lunch every day, especially since I knew how hard he had to fight off the urge to sleep.

He would always insist that it was what he wanted, but I felt a little bad for being the reason he couldn't get the rest he needed.

I'd asked him earlier if he could join our after-school studying session, admitting that I could use his help with a topic that I'd been recently struggling with, and he had agreed without hesitation.

I could tell from his half-lidded eyes that he'd probably just woken up from a nap. He'd taken time out of his precious resting time purely to help me out. I still couldn't believe how sweet he was to me.

He raised his head from his bag, pulling out his stationery.

I started when he squinted at me.

"Yeah?" he asked. "Is there something wrong?"

Immediately, I felt my face grow warm. I hadn't even realized I'd been staring at him.

"It's nothing," I said quickly, sliding my notebook towards him. "Can you help me with this?"

------------------------------------------------

"See you guys later," I said, getting to my feet and picking up my lunch tray.

"Going to the library again?" Derek said, looking up from his plate.

I narrowed my eyes at his raised eyebrows.

"Yes," I said. "Why?"

Melissa nudged her elbow into his side, and they exchanged glances. Already, I could feel my eyebrows drawing together at their behavior. What was up with them?

Sometime last week, Nolan went straight to the library for a nap during lunch. When I decided I'd go there too after I'd finished my food, my friends had this same weird attitude about it.

They appeared displeased that I wanted to go and basically hinted to me that maybe I shouldn't. At least they hadn't outright said it, but I still didn't get what their problem was.

"What?" I asked. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Melissa eventually answered when Derek remained silent. "We were just wondering."