Story Requests

"'I'll take it home'"

"Oh my gosh, I am  so  sorry!" Victoria exclaimed. She rushed past him and grabbed a tissue box from the teacher's desk. "I'll clean it up." 

Elliot simply stared for a few seconds, then he bent down to help her wipe up the mess. He didn't say anything at all. 

Emmeline and Ashley ran over to help. A few others did too. Zoe stifled a few giggles behind her hand, but soon her laughter bubbled out and some others joined in too. Victoria felt heat rising to her cheeks. She let a few dark brown strands of hair hide the tears of frustration and embarrassment behind her eyes. 

"Elliot, you go clean up, we'll finish cleaning this," a boy said. He was scrubbing the floor with a wet tissue, rubbing it over and over again in a vain attempt to rid of the gooey paint, which was beginning to dry. 

Elliot nodded, holding the ends of his shirt. He pushed past a few on-lookers and staggered out the door. Victoria bit her lip. She felt she owed him something, she knew an apology wasn't enough for completely ruining his property. 

Miss White beckoned to the doorway. "You go help him, Victoria. Give him an apology." 

Victoria nodded and ran after him. Her rushing footsteps echoed throughout the empty halls. 

He was heading towards the bathroom, striding quickly. She decided to speak. "Elliot." 

No answer.

"Elliot, I'm so sorry. I really am. I should have looked where I was going, and dropping the paint tray made it worse. Can you forgive me?" Her eyes were staring at the floor; she couldn't meet his gaze. 

Elliot stopped. "Victoria... it's ok." His fingertips brushed her skin. She looked up. 

He was smiling. His piercing blue eyes had a slight twinkle to them. Then his eyes wandered away as the moment passed, and he started to walk again. He tilted his head slightly to the side as his brown hair fell over his eyebrows. Pushing open the door to the Unisex bathroom, he ran straight over to the sink. 

Victoria meekly followed him, looking about her as she entered and placing her hands on both sides of the of the doorframe as if she wasn't quite sure the floor was solid. 

She was most surprised though, when he whipped off his shirt and twisted the tap so cold water gushed out in torrents. It soaked the stains quickly, but the colours blended into each other and considerably made it worse. Victoria walked over, her boots echoing on the white tiles. 

"There's a rip." 

"What?" 

"Your shirt. It's ripped," Victoria repeated. "Can I show you?" 

Elliot handed it over. The fabric slipped through his fingertips as he gave it to the girl standing beside him. She held it up, holding the ends and pointing to the big tear on the side. 

"Here." 

Elliot bit his lip and took the shirt back. "Could... could you fix it?" he asked timidly. 

Victoria nodded. "I suppose. My mom has a needle and thread at home." She took it from his hands, rolled it up in a tight ball and tucked it in one arm. "I'll take it home today." She paused. "Are-are you sure?" 

Elliot grinned. "I'm sure. Just don't forget to bring it to school tomorrow." A small chuckle escaped his lips. "And, please, don't tell anyone you saw me with no shirt on. That's the story all the girls have been waiting for." 

"Ok. But what will you wear?" 

"The principals office has spares. And don't worry about getting in trouble for it. I'm the most popular boy in school. The teachers will understand." 

Victoria nodded again, in approval, and then she rushed out the door without looking back. 

When Victoria returned to the art classroom, everyone was back to painting. There were a couple whispers, head turning, stares and giggles but otherwise it was all back to normal. The last of the paint has been wiped off the floor; dirty coloured tissues from cleaning the mess piling up in the bin. 

 Just as Victoria sat down in her chair, Emmeline spoke. "What happened?" she whispered. "Where's Elliot?" She looked behind her at the empty desk in the section where all the Grade 11's  were. 

Her friend ignored the question and picked up her brush. 

And then the morning bell rung, signalling the end of class and ringing over and over in their ears.