Girl's Love | Editing |

Chapter 7

Gary's eyes lit up when he received the news. "For real? You're coming?"

I felt bad for not matching his enthusiasm, but what can I say? Someone had to remain calm. Also, did he not experience the post-lunch energy dip?

"Yeah," I said, nodding.

"Awesome! But please, whatever you do, don't cheer too loudly. Our director-"

"Will murder me. Yeah, Amber told me."

Gary breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, good! But I'd also advise not staying for the whole rehearsal. Sometimes one practice takes hours."

"Got it. I'll take the late bus when it comes, then."

"Sounds good! And since we have last period together, we can walk there together. Is that alright?"

I'm pretty sure my brain buffered as if it was a video with poor internet connection.

My hearing is ok, right? I thought. Neal didn't slip anything into my breakfast? No, Gary is inviting me to do something. A popular kid wants to hang out with me?

After the initial shock wore off, I nodded with the energy I lacked before. "Yeah, sounds good!"

The bell rang, signaling the end of Psychology. We both swung our backpacks over our shoulders and stood.

We were both going to French, too, weren't we? I debated whether to make a request. Once I had a winning answer, I prepared with a deep breath.

"Hey, uh... maybe we can walk together now, too? To French?"

I had no idea how I managed to be that bold. I also had no idea how Gary nodded and agreed.

We left Psychology and headed down the hallway... or at least, we tried to. At least once a day, there managed to be five people lining up horizontally and walking slowly. Not only were they holding up the entire half of the hallway, but there was also a ton of empty space in front of us.

"Oh, come on," Gary groaned, throwing his hands up.

"I don't want to sound like a nerd," I began, "but have these people ever heard of osmosis?"

"I would hope so! You learn in freshman year."

"Well, do they know we're the water cells that need to diffuse through their barrier?"

"Guess not."

Gary cupped his hands and shouted. "Yo! Let us diffuse, or the gummy bear is going to shrink!"

I laughed out loud. "You remember that?"

"Of course! I was in a group with you, Amanda, James, and Elliot."

"You were with us for the gummy bear lab?"

Before he had a chance to reply, we managed to move forward and get to the staircase. He let me go in front of him; I'd like to think it was out of chivalry, but I was also smaller and able to fit in the space between the students and the door.

Once we were downstairs, Gary went on. "Yeah, remember?"

"No," I said. "I mean, I remember you were with us for that one where we had to measure arm span. I think for proportions, right?"

Gary laughed and grabbed the back of his neck. "Yeah... my arms are really long."

"That's an understatement. You threw off the whole results because your proportions were so off!"

"That's not my fault!"

I laughed again. "You're right, it's not." 

I took a deep breath to recover, and I couldn't help staring as we approached the French classroom door. His chocolate brown hair always managed to look good, no matter how it was styled. His plain pink t-shirt shaped his torso nicely and looked good with his tan skin. His eyes were the same color as his hair, and unlike my sister's, they were welcoming.