Saving His Smile

chapter: iv.

When Grace exited her vehicle and started speed-walking her way through the parking lot and onto the school grounds, she felt much more at ease around Zachary than she had for a good while. The two of them walked side by side and would have been nearly shoulder-to-shoulder if Grace weren't so exceptionally short. The top of her head barely made it to the mid-point of his bicep. Inwardly, Grace cursed her Asian ancestry. She didn't like being short.

"Where are you headed to first?" Zach asked as he took a few extra-long strides forward to reach the doors before her. At first she thought he was racing her in but soon realized that he was merely being chivalrous and opening the door for her. When she stepped over the threshold and into the bustling hallway she felt both flattered and sheepish. 

Grace consulted the class schedule she had tapped into her phone a few days before to distract herself and answer Zach's question. "Calculus with Parkes," she said. "You?"

The blond boy pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of the pocket of his pants and frowned down at the words in front of him, his brow wrinkled as he squinted his eyes. "American Lit with Sheaff." He shoved the wrinkled paper into Grace's face. "Trade?"

Reluctantly, she handed her phone over to him and took his paper in return. It didn't do her much good to look at it though; she hadn't memorized her own schedule. 

"It looks like we have lunch same period and then Health with Yates," said Zachary, handing Grace back her phone. 

The first bell rang. 

"See you around, Grace." Zach snatched his paper back from Her fingers and dashed down the hallway, making a sharp left to race up the stairs. 

As soon as he was out of sight, Grace let out a pent up breath. She may have felt more at ease around him, but she definitely still wasn't entirely comfortable. On her short walk to her classroom, she mulled over the decision that she had silently made on the drive to the school. 

The thought had just popped into her head, without much forethought. Granted, she had thought about bringing that smile back, but she had never really considered making it an ongoing task for herself. Was this really a good idea? Would she even be able to do it? More importantly, would she be able to stand being around Zachary long enough to restore the smile? 

The day she had gone over to apologize really hadn't been that bad, neither had the car ride to school, but still... Eight years of disliking someone didn't just disappear after a summer of guilt. 

Grace had to push all thoughts of Zachary out of her mind as soon as she walked into the Calculus classroom and sat down at a desk in the middle of the room. She'd always liked the middle desks the best; they offered the best vantage point for observing just about anything in front of her. While not exactly a straight-A student, Grace took even the smallest amount of pride in her school work that earned her solid B's and occasional A's. The C's that appeared from time to time she would rather not mention. 

Another reason she enjoyed sitting in the middle was because from there, she had a perfect vantage point from which to admire the side of Justin Moore's head. 

Justin seemed to have a thing for sitting in the front row of every class--always to either the far left or right. While not completely fitting Grace's physical 'type', she certainly didn't mind looking at him. His Hispanic heritage--taken from his mother's side--had afforded him permanently tanned skin and curly hair the color of pitch. In the four years that Grace had been in school with him, she had never said a single word to him, nor he to her. Little nods of recognition would be exchanged between the two if they ever happened to cross paths outside of school. but for the most part the only role Justin played in Grace's life was something attractive to stare at when the class she was in became too boring for her brain to focus on any longer.