The Quiet Types

Chapter 8

"Henry, hey," I said as I walked over to him in French 4. He looked up from the assignment we were currently working on. "Can I sit?" I asked.

He nodded, "Yeah. Of course."

"Thanks," I said as I sat on the desk in front of him. I fixed my glasses on the bridge of my nose and began to pull on my hair tie, "So I've given your question some thought and even though I still don't want to go to homecoming, I would really like it if we could hang out after school."

"Seriously?" he asked and I laughed.

"Ummmmm...yeah. Big crowds give me anxiety and dances are known to have those so," I explained and he smiled.

"That's fine." His face had instantly lit up at the fact that I was willing to hang out with him. "When would be a good day to hang out?"

"Well, my parents are picking me up late today because my little brother has soccer at the park down the street. We can hang out for a little while after class," I offered and he his smile only grew.

"Yeah. I'd like that," he agreed and I nodded.

"Okay. I'm going to go back to my seat now," I said as I stood up and then rushed to the other side of the room.

I was trying really hard to take Theo's advice. It had taken me a few days to work up the courage to even approach Henry, but I manage to get this far so there's no backing out now. It was an overwhelming feeling to know I had just basically asked a guy out on a date. Even if he did ask me first.

I hadn't done the thing in almost three days, so that was a good start. It had gone from horrible to okay to bad to good. No one said it was going to be an easy habit to kick, but I thought I had it under control for the most part. Maybe Theo was right, maybe I just needed something to keep me from being in my head too often.

I looked over to notice Henry peeking over at me as he talked to the person who sat beside me. He smiled over at me and I quickly looked away hoping he hadn't noticed my stare for too long. I picked up my pencil and tried to work on the skills practice Madame Fiola had given us. Before I could even get halfway through the worksheet though, the bell went off.

Crap.

The worksheet was supposed to be completed and turned in at the end of the period. I collected my things from underneath me before making my way to Madame Fiola.

"Madame Fiola?" I asked and she looked up at me.

She smiled politely, "Yes, Lauren?"

"Can I turn this in first thing tomorrow morning? I tend to struggle with verbs and would really like to take time to review it," I lied.

I never struggled with French a day in my life.

"I don't see why not. Just make sure to bring it first thing, okay?" she asked and I nodded.

"Thank you," I said.

She waved me off and I was the last to leave the class, so it was my job to make sure her door was closed. I turned around to see Henry sitting on the planter across the way.

"Hi again," he said and I waved as I slipped the worksheet in my binder.

"I need to go grab a few things from my locker, if you don't mind," I insisted and he laughed.

"Yeah. Whatever you want," he agreed as he stood up.

I began to lead the way through the wave of students and over to the locker that sat at the entrance of the school. I dialed my combination in and began to pull out my Calculus and French textbook.

"French 4 and Calculus," he commented as I shut my locker and turned to face him, "Overachiever?"

"Believe it or not under," I laughed.

As I took a quick look at Henry, all I could hear screaming in the back of my head was that he was Naomi's type. Blonde hair, blue eyes, athletic build, and overall popular was exactly the kind of guy she looked for at school. If she hadn't been my best friend I would have literally categorized her as a football slut.

"How under are we talking about?" he asked as we walked side by side through what was left of the school population.

"Take smart classes, nearly top of my class at the last school, and now stuck here. I'm smart, but at this point trying to breeze through in hopes of going back to New York," I answered as he chose a table for us.

We both took a seat on opposite sides and I set my things down beside me.

"I forgot you had mentioned you were from New York. Why the sudden move?" he asked.

"My dad got a job offer he just couldn't refuse out here. He's helping build the new football stadium and they offered him a lot of money to do it," I stated as I tucked my hair behind my ears. "Have you lived here your whole life?"

"For the most part. My parents moved here when I was a baby so this is the place I've always known as home. Small town kind of grows on you and anything away from it just doesn't seem quite right. I'm sure you feel that way about New York though."

"I've lived here most of the summer, so I think I'm allowed to say that I really don't think I could do the small town thing for long. I liked being an unknown in a bunch of other unknowns," I admitted as I pulled my legs up so I was sitting cross-legged.

"That's hard to believe. You're probably the prettiest girl I've ever seen," he complimented and I shook my head no.

"Then you haven't been to New York," I countered with a laugh.

He shrugged, "I'm usually not as awkward as I was on the first day of school. When they told me I was giving a new student a tour, I was kind of bummed because all I wanted to do was hang out with my friends. I even tried to bribe a friend to do it for me, but they pointed you out in the hallway and I just knew I had to see what you were about."

"Well I hate to burst your bubble, but there's not a lot about me."

He laughed loudly. "You're the quiet, mysterious new girl who seems to be fascinated by almost anything that doesn't require contact with others. I mean I see you talking to Tess or Theo sometimes, but they're probably the last people you want to be hanging out with."

"Why?" I asked a little hurt that he would say that about either of them.

"They're just a little weird. Theo and I used to be friends for awhile, but that didn't end well. I'm not one for rumors, so I won't go into detail what the school thinks, but believe me when I say you're better off just being more of a 'hey' or 'hello' kind of level with them," he explained.

He now literally screamed Naomi. I thought the screaming going in my head before was loud. This was ten times louder.

"I think they're little duo is kind of sweet. I mean you don't see a lot of brother-sister relationships like that," I defended and he chuckled.

"Quiet, mysterious, and sweet," he listed.

I shrugged weakly. "Ms. Xavier's their mom and she's amazing too."

"Foster mom," he corrected and I frowned.

"What?" I asked and he nodded.

"She's fostered them for a long while now. She was close with their mom. Their mom was actually a student of hers when she first started teaching, and well their mom was a druggy who couldn't kick an addiction. She was like head cheerleader and their dad was supposedly the captain of the football team, but their dad wanted to move on to play college ball so ditched her."

"Oh," was all I managed to say.

"Theo and Tess have been with Ms. Xavier for ten years now? They were literally the talk of the town when social services removed them from their mother," he added, "Soon after Ms. Xavier taking them their mom disappeared. I don't think they mind though, and Ms. Xavier was a better mom to them anyway."