*Geek Boy*
My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for Ellie to come outside.
After she'd texted back a response, her cheeks flushed, she'd vanished from her window.
And I was left wondering what the heck I was thinking. Texting her had been completely impulsive. I'd seen her faceâeyes wide, lips slightly partedâand I lost complete control of my mind.
She'd been watching me jog. For the second time.
I couldn't control the grin that stretched over my face.
It had only dawned on me after she'd responded that I probably didn't look my best right now, in the middle of a jog.
I pushed my hair back from my face and took a deep breath. Calm down, Will. You can do this.
But I couldn't believe this, any of it. That Ellie Kent liked me. That Ellie Kent was my girlfriend.
I kept expecting to wake up and realize the last few weeks had all been a dream. But here I was. Standing outside her house at 6:15 am.
The door swung open. Ellie stepped out and I inhaled sharply.
Her hair was loose, cascading down her back in golden ringlets. Above a pair of dark blue shorts and a matching camisole, she wore a loose beige knit sweater. She glanced up, her aquamarine eyes meeting mine. Her lips stretched into a smile that made the entire street glow.
Breathe, Will.
She pushed her hair back, tousling the curls, as she walked towards me.
"Hi," she murmured, gazing up at me from beneath her lashes.
Forget about breathing.
All I wanted to do in that moment was press my lips to hers.
I blinked, trying to clear the daze. I smiled. "Hey," I replied softly.
She blushed again, her gaze falling to the ground.
She was so adorable.
Think, Will. What were you going to say? My mind had gone completely blank the moment I'd seen her.
I inclined my head in the direction of a nearby park. "Do you want to go for a walk?" I asked.
Yeah, that's smart. Show up in front of her house at 6:00 am in the morning and ask her to go for a walk. Will, you are an idiot.
She blinked up at me. "Sure," she said.
Trying to ignore the way my heart was pounding in my chest, I began walking in the direction of the park.
Ok, Will, what now? Say something!
I glanced down at her. She was twirling a lock of her hair, her gaze on the pavement. "So, how was school?" I asked.
She blinked up at me. "The usual I guess. Good."
Stupid Will. Why would she want to talk about school?
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to think of a conversation topic. "How was the party then? After the paintball tournament?"
Her brows abruptly furrowed and a gloomy expression flashed across her face.
I felt worry immediately. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" I asked quickly.
Abruptly, Ellie stopped in the middle of the pavement. She bit her lip as her gaze fell back to the ground. "Will, can I ask you a question?" she blurted out.
I leaned forward. "Of course, what's wrong?" I asked.
She squeezed her hands together, then blurted out, "Did you take your shirt off for Catherine?"
There was a beat of silence.
What?
She blushed. "Oh, gosh, that came out really weird. I mean, I saw her yesterday at the partyânot exactly at the party but outside the party when I went to get away fromâanyway, basically she was talking about how you were builtâand I was like what? And then she was like you haven't seen him shirtless and I was like..." she trailed off, her face burning red. "Did you understand any of that?"
I pressed my lips together, trying to hide my chuckle. She looked so adorable, her hands waving in the air as she'd tried to explain.
It took me a few seconds to catch up with what she'd said. Her question made sense now. "It wasn't like that...I mean, she came to see me the morning of the paintball day. I didn't have a shirt on because I'd just woken up," I explained.
"Oh," she said, blinking rapidly. She blew out a breath and a curl that had fallen over her face while she was talking shifted before resting back on her face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bombard you with that."
I smiled. "Don't apologize." I frowned as something dawned on me. "Was Catherine being mean to you?"
Ellie stiffened, then shrugged. "I don't think she likes me very much."
I grimaced. "She's just..." I sighed. "She's not usually like this." She'd changed lately. My lips pressed into a thin line. "I'll talk to her." I couldn't let her bother Ellie anymore. I had no idea what was going on with her, but I couldn't stand the idea of Ellie being upset.
"Oh, ok," Ellie replied. She glanced up at me, her lips stretching into a smile. She bit her lip, then, ever so tentatively, slipped her hand in mine. My breath caught as electricity danced up my arm and down my spine. "So, can we go on that walk now?"
Unable to speak, or even breathe, I nodded.
Ellie and I strode down the pavement in silence. I could hear the sound of my rapid heartbeat pulsing in my skull. We were holding hands. Like a couple. Like two people dating. I was pretty sure I'd forgotten how to breathe.
Ellie's hair glistened in the sun and a breeze blew the curls back, wafting into the air that bubblegum scent she carried everywhere.
I was so lucky.
Ellie glanced up at me, blinking in surprise when she caught me staring at her. Her face reddened. She bit her lip. "Will, do you think you'll be back in school this week?"
I felt my chest tighten. Ever since that night my mother had suggested I move on from high school, she had buried me under university courses, making it almost impossible to keep up with the school curriculum. I wouldn't be in school for the next few weeks. It was a miracle I could even make it to the Harvard trip.
"I can't," I said softly. "I won't be in for the next few weeks." And after that, I wasn't sure what would happen.
"Oh," she breathed, her expression disappointed.
I felt an ache in my chest. In that moment, I was willing to take it all back. I didn't care if I had to skip my lessons if it made her happy.
"But you're still coming over to my house today?" she glanced up, her expression hopeful.
I felt a mixture of guilt and regret gnawing at me. "I can't. I'm sorry."
She deflated. "Oh," she breathed again.
You know what, I don't care if my mother gets mad at me, I'll definitely be there. I opened my mouth to say the words when she glanced up at me, smiling.
"At least we have now, right?" She squeezed my fingers and I felt warmth fill my chest.
I nodded, dumbfounded.
Her smile widened, her face glowing. She tugged my hand as we approached the park. "Tell me about your week. What did you do when you weren't in school?"
I blinked back to reality. "I studied mostly. I had a few university classes." Probably stuff she would find boring.
Ellie hesitated. She glanced down at the ground, biting her lip before she finally blurted out, "I know I'm not as smart as you or Catherine, but I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me about all the school stuff you do. I probably won't understand," she glanced up at me from beneath her lashes, "but I want you to be able to talk to me about it."
I blinked rapidly as the words sunk in. She believed that I didn't talk to her about school stuff because I thought she was dumb?
"Ellie..." I tried to think of the right words. "That's not it. I thought you would find that kind of stuff boring."
Ellie blushed, her gaze falling to the ground. "Nothing's boring when it comes to you Will," she mumbled.
I felt my heart stutter in my chest before pounding back to life.
Unable to stop myself, I reached forward, brushing back a lock of hair from her face. She inhaled sharply, her eyes locking with mine.
I smiled. "We can talk about it if that's what you want."
She nodded and the skin of her face warmed against my palm.
We spent the rest of the morning talking. I gave her the breakdown of the courses I had attended in the last week. Then she recapped her week, vividly describing the antics of her best friends.
As the sun rose higher overhead and the first few people began to venture out into the park, I dropped her off at her house.
Ellie gazed down at the ground, then glanced up at me. "You'll call me?" she asked, her expression slightly nervous. How could she be nervous? Around me of all people?
I nodded, feeling a smile stretch over my face. "Of course," I replied. How could I not? How could anyone not call her? "We can skype," I offered.
She nodded quickly, her face beaming. "Ok, then." She hesitated, then hugged me, her arms wrapping quickly around my back before pulling away. "I'll see you later," she said, blushing, before she turned and entered to house.
For a moment, I just stood there, breathless.
Finally, when I regained my mind, I turned and headed down the street.
Had that just happened?
*
An hour later, I pulled up outside Catherine's house. I slipped out of the car, heading towards the front door.
I couldn't let this go on any longer. I'd handled Catherine's confession wrongly, that was clear. But I couldn't stand the idea of Ellie's feelings being hurt.
I rang the doorbell. A few moments later, the door swung open. Catherine stood in the doorway, her long hair loose. She wore jean shorts and a vest top.
She raised a brow in surprise. "Will? What's up?" Her surprised expression transformed into a scowl. "Are you finally done with ignoring me?"
I didn't respond to her question. "Can I talk to you Catherine?"
"Whatever," Catherine said. She turned, walking back into the house. "Come in."
I followed her, walking into the living room. The Wilson house was exactly the same as I rememberedâspacious with oak walls, red couches complemented by matching cushions and wooden floorboards.
The house was quiet. I glanced around. "Where's your family?"
She shrugged. "Wherever." Catherine strode into the kitchen, digging through the fridge. "What did you want to talk about?"
I crossed my arms. My body felt stiff. "Did you see Ellie on Activity's Day?"
Catherine emerged from the kitchen, holding a bottle of water. She frowned then her expression cleared. "Oh. Thursday." She scowled again. "What? Are you here to tell me off?"
I bristled. "What did you say to her?"
"Nothing that wasn't true."
My muscles tightened. Catherine gulped from her water bottle.
"Ellie Kent and I are dating."
Catherine choked, spluttering on the water. Water spilled over her shirt. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "What?" she spat.
"Catherine," I began, "I'm sorry for hurting your feelings. You're my friend and you're important to me. But you need to leave Ellie alone."
"Or what?" Catherine hissed.
I clenched my jaw. "Or our friendship is over."
Catherine glared at me. "You're going to ditch our ten year friendship over her?"
"I've made my choice Catherine," I said quietly. "Tell me when you've made yours." I turned and left the house.
I heard the sound of Catherine yelling something, but it was silenced by the closed door.
In my car, I took a deep breath before I started up the engine.
In the space of just a few weeks, everything had changed. While the excitement of seeing Ellie this morning still thrummed through my veins, I couldn't suppress the anxiety that was growing at the back of my mind.
The last time things had changed this much, my life had been destroyed. I'd lost my entire family in the breadth of a few weeks.
Maybe this time would be different.
Hopefully.
*
Hi beautiful people, I hope you liked the chapter. What do you think will happen next? I love to hear your theories. In the meantime, I have two questions:
1) Would you guys like a chapter from Catherine's Point of View?
2) I'm currently writing a spin-off of BATGB, featuring a different cheerleader and a different geek. It'll feature two surprise characters (Can you guess who?) Would you guys be interested in reading that? And if so, would you like me to start posting it in August, in September, or when BATGB is finished?
Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to someone who recently nominated me for a fiction award! Thank you :D
See you soon guys :)
God bless
xxx
Yemi Everest :)