Comfy Closets - Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Well, all that hope was for nothing. It's been three days since I last talked to Leah back at the coffee shop, and let me tell you, my butt has been on the edge of the seat waiting for the moment she'll even glance at me. But alas, she hasn't as of yet, and now, my butt is starting to hurt. Figuratively speaking.
It was now Wednesday, and I couldn't be more done with school. I know it's a very typical thing to say, but today was particularly worse than others. For one, it was the middle of the week, when there's absolutely no motivation to do anything. Another thing, Gia was sick today and couldn't make it to school.
Ashton has been hanging out with the new guy, Zach, more often than us lately, so that leaves me all to my lonesome self today. Maybe I should just drag his butt to hang out with me. He must love me more anyways, I'm so adorable. Some would say as adorable as Pikachu, but maybe it's just because of the cheeks...
Finishing third period, I strode to the cafeteria, my steps quick with the urgency for food. After paying, I looked around the crowded cafeteria, doing a quick scan for Ashton with my tray in hand. As my eyes reached the centre of the room, they spotted the sight of my girls from the soccer team. Humming to myself, I contemplated whether I should just join them. It's not that I don't want to or never do, it's just I'm used to being with Ash and Gia at lunch, and it'd feel weird to break that routine.
Deciding to skip my eyes over them, I spotted Ashton a second later at one of the farther tables at the back and padded my way there. As I got closer, I realised the person beside him was no other than Zach, as expected, and I softly sighed to myself in resignation. Quickly approaching the table and taking my spot beside Ash, I said a quick 'hi' to them both in greeting. Ash returned a distracted 'hey' and Zach briefly smiled at me before getting back to their conversation.
Noticing that they were absorbed in their topic of discussion, I shifted uncomfortably and dug into my food, letting my thoughts wander and float away.
I will admit, I was a bit annoyed with how I haven't been able to talk with Ashton or have a real conversation with him since the new guy came. Yes, we have our morning drive to school together, but it just seemed like he wasn't making any time for us. I get it, he can have his own friends and choose to spend his time however he wants, but the three of us were a close-knit group and always have been, so I don't know what's changed.
In this moment, I let the feeling of loneliness seep into my heart, letting it settle there and sit in sorrow, physically affecting my posture as if weighing it down. In a room full of people, I felt so alone, so out of place. Dramatic, and needy even, I know. I don't like letting my emotions take over me and control me like that, but sometimes there were days where I inevitably felt this way and I couldn't do anything else but let it surround me like a dark cloud over a sad city.
Looking up from my empty plate, I noted that they were still very invested in their conversation, talking animatedly as rushed words spilt from their lips. And so not seeing any point in myself being there anymore, I decided to excuse myself from the table.
"Um, I'm going to head to the library and finish some stuff up. I'll catch you guys later?"
Ashton brought his divided attention to me when he heard my small voice and looked surprised, as if he'd forgotten that I had been sitting there the whole time. "Oh, okay. I'll see you later."
"Bye."
With my curt response, I walked away from them and into the empty hallways of the school. I let my head hang down, my gaze focused on my sneakered-covered feet as I let my previous thoughts and emotion consume my mind and worsen my darkening mood. My slow steps were sluggish as they shuffled along the floor, my body devoid of any energy to even lift my feet up from the ground.
The rest of the school day wasn't any better. I went from class to class trudging along like I was a zombie from 'The Walking Dead', alike in both motivation and will, just wanting this day to be over already. I kept repeating to myself that it was 'just a mood', but really, was it?
It was the accumulation of dismissive actions that led to my current state; from being disappointed to being abandoned, to being ignored. No wonder I was feeling so depressed right now.
As it neared the end of the school day, my state of mind had steadily declined, and I saw no way of fixing it without the comfort of my bed and a good nights sleep. Last period approached, and the fact that it was Chemistry didn't help my mood at all. Plopping down onto my cold metal seat, I laid my head on my crossed arms that rested on the table, closing my tired lids and hoped the day would end soon.
Taking deep breaths in and out, I was on the edge of diving into a nap when I heard the scrape of a chair screech loudly against the floor to my left. I immediately snapped out of my lulled thoughts and looked up in both annoyance and curiosity. My eyes blinked blearily for a second before they focused on the figure of a girl, and soon surprise filled my mind as I identified the person sitting next to me.
Usually, it was some other brunette girl I didn't know the name of. But instead, I found Leah sitting there, calmly taking out her books for the lesson, acting like her choice to sit next to me was completely normal and not unexpected. She usually sat at the back, which is why I don't notice her often in this class, but with her now next to me, I was definitely noticing her gorgeous presence now.
I must have been staring at her in shock and confusion for a while because she looked over to me and decided to give me a friendly smile. After four days of no communication, she chose the time when I was in the worst mood to talk to me. What great timing she had.
I decided to return her smile, mines filled with more uncertainty, and I soon diverted my eyes away out of nervousness. I took out my books for the class in an attempt to look more casual and unruffled by her choice of seat. Ashton walked in then and gave me a weird look as he flickered his eyes to Leah, confused as to what was going on. I gave him a little shrug of the shoulder, subtly telling him I had no idea either. Still holding his confused expression, he took his seat behind me and soon, class was starting.
Ms Parry stood in front of the class holding a stack of papers, the glare behind her glasses scrutinising us with the intensity a bunch of troublemakers that had done her personally wrong would've deserved. She cleared her throat to gather our attention and announced the task for today.
"Today, you will have to complete these revision tasks by the end of class in order to be ready for the test next week. These question formats will be very similar to the ones in the tests, so I'd advise you to try so you won't fail. Now, I will allow you to work through the questions as pairs so you can figure it out together and learn from each other when there's something you don't understand. No picking and choosing. Just work with the person next to you. Now get to it," she demanded, handing out the worksheets and clapping her hands to hurry us up.
I looked towards my right to see the boy beside me was already paired up to the boy on his right. Looking to the left, I saw Leah smiling at me, and I couldn't stop the thought from running across my mind, she looks so damn pretty.
The windows to my right were shining bright sunlight through the glass, making her complexion seem like it was glowing from the touch of the warm light, almost like something out of Twilight. Her blonde locks were highlighted and were made even lighter, and her hazel eyes looked more honey-like than ever before. I felt myself sink into her warm honey orbs, letting myself be willingly sucked into her inviting gaze.
She was the first one to speak up, breaking me out of my admiring daze. "So, we're working together?"
At that moment, I was suddenly reminded of her lack of acknowledgement towards me in the past few days, and although I should be feeling annoyed or mad about that, I just couldn't seem to be angry with her right in front of me, gazing at me the way she was right now.
I cleared my throat nervously and answered her question. "Yeah, um, I guess so."
She brought her attention back to the table for a second before she made the move to scoot her chair closer to mines, allowing us to work together more easily. As a result, she created the short shrieking noise again as the stool was dragged against the tile floor, grating my eardrums for just a second.
"Alright, let's start with the first one. A rate of reaction question, so what I think we do is..."
My mind went on autopilot after that, focusing most of my attention on her rather than the worksheet itself. My eyes settled on her profile and I unconsciously studied her movements, picking up on her small gestures that captivated my attention. The way her mouth moved silently as she worked through a question, the way a crease formed between her brows when she didn't get something, or even the way she brushed her hair behind her ear when a strand would fall out of place; it was all so mesmerizing to watch. She was so mesmerizing, it was almost daunting.
Okay, maybe I should stop staring like a creep. Wait, am I considered an actual creep by doing this? Wait, does she think I might be an actual creep?!
As I was internally freaking myself out, I heard a faint voice calling my name. It grew more and more insistent, until on the fourth time I felt a hand on my arm, bringing me out of my reverie. I found Leah looking at me concernedly as her hand rested on my forearm, and all I was able to do was focus on the warmth emanating from her palm, the touch pausing my inner thoughts immediately.
"Alyssa, you alright? I've been calling you for a while. Something on your mind?" she questioned, taking her hand away, making me miss the contact instantly.
I shook my head slightly as if trying to literally shake my previous thoughts out of my head, before I focused on her. I ran a hand through my hair to give myself time to think and gather my thoughts before I answered. "I-I'm good. Why would you think otherwise?"
She bit her lip out of uncertainty before she replied. "I don't know, you looked just so done when I walked in, so I figured you must be going through some stuff."
So that was why she decided to sit next to me. That was thoughtful of her to check up on me. "I am so done with today. It's just been a pretty crappy day overall."
She had a thoughtful expression on her face as she pondered what to say, leaning her elbow on the desk and propping up her head with one of her hands. She tilted her head to the side to face me and bluntly stated. "Well, that sucks."
I wasn't expecting that response, but before I could come up with something sarcastic to say back, she beat me to it. "It can only go up from here, with me around," she said with a cheeky grin.
That made the sides of my lips turn up slightly out of amusement, as I felt the weight on my chest ease up just a little bit.
As I tried to suppress my smile, I lightly retorted. "What makes you so special, Ms Popular?"
She gave me a grin, and I couldn't stop the thought that maybe she was happy because she made me smile. "Oh, besides my charm? I don't know, my looks, my awesome personality, my talent in making you blush, my-"
I playfully pushed her shoulder at that, feeling my face heat up already at the mention of my blushing tendencies around her.
She chuckled when she spotted my blush, making it even redder. In just a short span of time, she was able to turn my mood around, coaxing my previous negative thoughts to slip away like it never existed. She was special indeed.
I realised then that we had stopped doing our work for a while now, but I couldn't care less about it. But apparently, the teacher did.
"Ms Bennett, Ms Woods. Can you please get on with your work so as to not disturb the others with your gossiping and giggling?" she said, phrasing it as a question, but it was more of a demand.
Both of us muttered out a small 'sorry' and brought our heads down back to our work. This went on for a couple of minutes, with us helping each other out occasionally on some of the worksheet problems. Eventually, we diverted our talks back to more casual topics.
"So, I remember what you said last week. At the coffee shop," she brought up, a smirk on her face as she wrote down the answer to question eighteen.
I gave her a sideways glance as I copied down her answer. Feeling a burst of confidence suddenly spring through my being, I tried to answer in a nonchalant manner whilst I wrote. "I remember your answer too. I think it was a 'maybe'? Right?" I asked rhetorically, giving her a sly grin.
She didn't answer. She just smiled at me and didn't say anything else. Her smile looked almost secretive, with the way she casually covered it with her hand right after. Her eyes hid slightly behind her eyelashes, hiding the suggestive sparkle in them. It was as if she wanted to keep that just between the two of us.
Turning back to my work, I realised just then how comfortable I had become around her, talking so freely and nerves-free when around her. She somehow got around my shyness and made herself a zone of comfort. How did that even happen?
As I glanced up at the clock, I realised it was nearing the end of class. That went by so fast, and now I wasn't so sure I wanted it to end already. And that was saying a lot for me because to me, Chemistry was the equivalent to a six-hour-long shopping trip. Both of them were equally torturous.
Leah and I finished up our papers and put it to the side, both of us just waiting for the clock to hand it in and release us. I took a peek at her and saw her looking out into blank space like she was thinking deeply about something.
Leaving her to it, I brought out a pencil and started doodling random swirls on some spare paper. As I was in the midst of drawing this really cool pattern that kind of looked like a panda from a distance, I heard Leah call my name. Putting down my pencil, I brought my focus to her and noticed she looked quite nervous for some unknown reason.
"Lyssa, do you want to go grab some food with me after school?" she said in a quite voice, almost in a shy manner, her eyes darting from her fidgeting hands to my eyes a couple of times.
Now the tables have turned. She was the one all nervous, so different from the usual confident air that surrounded her. Shocked from both her question and her attitude, I didn't reply to her question for a few seconds, unable to put my thoughts into words. Assuming I was going to decline, she quickly rushed out her next words. "It's fine! I know you might be busy or such, it's alright if you don't want to. I'm okay with it-"
Before she could continue, I stopped her rambling. "Leah!" Instantly, she stopped to listen to me, her eyes wide with anxiousness. I gave her a warm smile and gladly answered her question. "Leah, I'd like that."