The Recital of Terrance Reed

Chapter Two

It was a couple of days since Kyle had been to my house. And to be honest, I have not been the same since. Throughout the afternoon, Kyle kept making snarky comments about everything I did and what I had in my room. At first, I let it go, but more ugly words came out of his mouth. The more I felt smaller and felt a bit uncomfortable. We still needed to do homework because he was always on his phone. I sat silently until he left, only an hour into our study.

I lay there afterwards, questioning my judgment.

He was different from the guy I had in mind. I always thought of him as the gentle type to be friendly and humble. But no, he was a jerk. I wanted to scream at him and tell him to leave my house. But since my social anxiety had gotten the best of me. I just held onto my tongue and hoped time would go by fast. I wanted to give him excuses for why he was acting that way. But I couldn't. He was just straight-up mean and rude.

During my English class, I consciously decided to keep my distance from Kyle and avoid looking out the window. Although I still had some lingering care for him, I wanted to spite him for letting me down. I wasn't necessarily angry with him, just disappointed that my high hopes for him as a good person were dashed. He may have been a good person but struggled with negative emotions. Nevertheless, my disappointment remained.

Ms. Hawthorne glanced over to me and was about to open her mouth. But Kyle walked in, wheezing out of breath.

"Sorry if I'm late, Ms. Hawthorne," Kyle wheezed.

Ms. Hawthorne looked dumbfounded. But she smiled, and she nodded her head. "No, Kyle. You are on time. For once."

Kyle smiled and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He nodded his head back to Ms. Hawthrone. He scanned around the room until his eyes laid dominant on me. He waved and quickly shuffled his feet across the classroom. I blushed, mainly because I felt uncomfortable that everyone saw him do that. And now they were all looking at me and whispering things under their breath. Plus, I did not want to speak to him today. But I had to talk, or I was lucky he might not speak to me.

He found an empty seat in front of me. He positioned himself sideways so he could talk to me. "Hey, Wallflower," He said in a beautiful tone.

Damn it, I thought.

I blushed harder. "Hi." My voice fell when I responded. It sounded weak.

"Is it cool if I come over and do homework with you?" He asked.

I didn't respond and acted like that question flew over my head. I didn't want to tell him that I was mad at him. Mainly because he was not the boy of my fantasies that I tried to hone; it was like a slap to my face, even in my head. I could admit that, but simultaneously, my brain sent feelings to my heart.

Kyle tilted his head and gave me these "puppy" eyes. I bit my lips because it made him a hundred times cuter. I couldn't tell if it was teasing or him trying to convince me he was allowed. I wanted to explain to him that I felt uneasy with the idea, but my brain was tugging at my heart to react. I tapped my finger on the base of my desk. Thinking if I should make a stupid excuse or if I would let my anxiety speak for me again.

"Yeah. Sure," I blurted out.

Damn it. It happened again. Why can't I be honest and say no? But instead, I had to throw my integrity away like that-stupid me.

Kyle smiled and chortled. "Thanks, Wallflower," Then he slapped the base of my desk, got up, and left.

"Ummm, yeah..." I slowly mumbled. I watched him squeeze between the other student's desks, letting them get agitated. Then he sat down back at his desk.