I sit at an empty lunch table, munching on a snack before I leave to meet up with Andrew.

I'm growing more excited with each passing second.

I look behind me, the lunch room doors inviting, the other tables circling around me full of students fade in the background along with the counter where they serve the school lunch, I decide to just exit right now.

I look back at my table to grab my belongs, but I jump back when I see two people at the table.

Balancing myself once more, blinking my eyes to relax, my heart beat easing down again, I eye the two people, whom are staring back at me.

I roll my eyes.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"Look, Nina, we want you back," Alex whines, leaning forward as if she's saying a secret plan to me, pleading with her tired eyes.

Tom sits beside her in the same position, nodding along.

I'm still in shock on how fast and quietly they got here that I don't reply.

"Come on, please," Tom buts in after a moment of silence.

I groan.

"What about Sally?" I ask, trying to act unfazed.

"What about her?" Alex snaps, getting mad by the mention of her.

"Relax, Alex, " Tom instructs, rubbing his hand on her back. "Come on, we miss you," Tom says, looking back at me, sincere eyes.

I huff in defeat.

Alex, not realizing she's won the argument, continues, "You don't have to talk to Sally, it's just so empty without you, and Sally ... Oh- my- God.... She's sooo boring," she pouts, her green eyes widening in annoyance.

I laugh at her comment.

Tom rolls his eyes.

"Plus, it's almost your birthday," Tom coes, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I guess. How did you remember?"

"How could we not remember, after all, Sagittarius's are awesome." I chuckle at Tom's comment.

Even though it's still October, it is getting pretty close, my birthday is in November, closer to the end of the month though.

"Please come sit with us, Sally can leave if she wants to," Alex huffs in plead, her shiny green eyes looking up at me with hope.

I roll my eyes in response, "Okay, okay, I'll come,"

Alexandra jumps up off her seat, her brown curls bouncing with her.

"Yay," she yells, running back to her table where Sally is sitting, clearly pissed when Alex sits back next to her.

A soft smile plays at my lips as I watch the small scene playing, Sally with her arms crossed, an unimpressed look to her soon to be glaring blue eyes and Alex with her usual happy mood beside her.

Glancing back at Tom, who's still sitting in front of me, I watch him look to the scene, the next table to this one, and then back at me.

"Come on, it won't be too bad," Tom encourages, shrugging, noticing my worry on the situation, reading my mind like he always does.

I shrug back.

"I guess." I look back at Sally.

Her arms are crossed, her chin up high as she looks the opposite direction, trying to make a point that she's mad.

God she's annoying.

I look back at Tom.

He looks back at me, his eyes smiling, tilting up at the corner of them, showing his support and I feel more confident.

Staring at one another, I realize what I was determined to do just moments ago, stopping the silence and nonstop eye contact in the process.

"I have to go, I agreed to meet- uh- a- uh- a person to help - th-th- them," I say and then stand up, awkwardly, picking up my things along with me.

"Uhh, okay," he sighs, wrapping his legs around the bench to get up, "With who?"

His question catches me off guard and I stand there with no answer, eyes wide. He waits, suspecting a change in the air with his eyebrows raising slightly but he stays quiet, observing me all the while. I then manage to think of an answer.

"A teacher, obviously," I laugh, clearly forced.

His face breaks into a smile too.

"Oh, okay, see you later." He waves as he walks back to his table, ignoring the weird tension that formed between us, brushing it aside. He has no idea how much of a relief his easy answer was, or maybe he does realize, he probably doesn't. I let my hitched breath go back to normal, easing itself down as I think to myself, distracting the recent panic that rised up me.

Damn, I can't believe he bought that.

Sign me up for acting.

Am I right?

After that, I walk out the cafeteria in a breeze and when I reach the corridor, suspecting and eyeing the halls to see if anyone's watching, I begin to skip down the halls to my location. Skip?! Am I crazy?

At the end of the hall, reaching the last room, opening the two wide doors, I burst into the sunny room.

The place is just how Andrew and I left it the last time we were here.

I smile as I look at the pillows scattered on the ground and the colorful books illuminating the vibe of this peaceful cozy room.

Since when have I become sentimental? Let's just leave it at that; it's a school library, nothing special. - I try to convince myself.

I walk to the soft cushioned chair, sitting on it as I wait for an Andrew Kegs to walk in.

And just like that, he enters.

Boom... - goes the doors as they open and then shut again, swinging behind him.

My face lights up as I watch his figure walk towards me.

"Hey!" I smile, hope in my eyes as my breathing quickens in excitement, bubbling up me as I act unfazed even with the warm smile on my face.

"Hey!" He smiles back, an unknown look in his eyes, some sort of happy feeling.

We just stare at each other for awhile. Smiling in awkwardness, at least I feel stupid for looking at him like this, but somehow it feels so natural to be looking into his eyes.

He chuckles, walking closer, the eye contact leaving as he sits down on the colorful patched carpet.

"Let's talk," he says, breaking the silence.

Andrew Kegs- the slug guy I thought he was, and here is, with me, acting awkward as fuck.

I smile at the thought.

"Hey!" Andrew says, zapping me out of my thoughts, his face scrunched up in disbelief.

"What?" I ask, responding to his expression.

"I'm not awkward as fuck," he pouts.

I laugh.

His expression looks like a lost puppy, with hurt in his eyes, yet I know he's fine.

"I can't believe I said that out load." I cover my mouth in shame.

His head falls back in laughter,
making me feel more comfortable and less insecure about it as I watch him below on the carpet.

His laughter echos through the room for a moment.

When he looks back at me, seeing my hand still covering my mouth, he reaches up for it. His warm hand sending me sparkles as it holds my tiny hand, moving it away from my face.

"There," he says, looking at me with longing in his eyes, the same look he gave me when he saw me today, "You have a beautiful smile, Eliza," he says, softly, sincere.

My eyes widen.

My heart feels like it stopped.

I can't move.

He called me beautiful and not only that, but said my real name.

I feel lost.

My awful name, and he knows it, how did he make my name sound so beautiful?

How does he know my name?

He shakes his head.

"Sorry, that was uncalled for," he says, definitely regretting his words.

Maybe the words before were just lies.

I blink, releasing the breath I was holding, I shake my head as a way to zap me out of it, convincing myself it meant nothing.

"We should probably set some ground rules," he says, trying to change the subject.

He looks at me, awaiting my response. I manage a nod, still fazed by his recent words though.

He continues talking. I watch his mouth as he speaks, the movement of his lips, the way he expresses whatever it is he's expressing, how everything around me has stopped and is silent, the only thought in my head is; I want to kiss him right now...

Why do I want to kiss him?

"Are you even listening?" He smirks.

I look back at his eyes.

"Hmm?" I question, still in a faze.

He chuckles.

"Now I know how girls feel when boys don't pay attention to them,"

This zaps me out of my recent thoughts of imagining his lips on mine.

"What?" My eyebrows are in a knot, eyes bulging out in confusion.

He shakes his head, shrugging.

"No big deal,"

"I'm not that bad, I mean, boys do it all the time," I defend myself, continuing the conversation Andrew wants to end, "Plus, what girls you talking about? You haven't even dated any, you said so yourself." My point made, I await his answer.

"Uh,"

He grows silent, clearly uncomfortable, but for some reason I'm not letting this go. He probably sees how I'm intrigued, my pushy side coming out with eyes wide in suspicion and he sighs.

"I- uh, okay, well, I didn't date them, We just -uh-, um." He rubs the back of his neck, clearly a fidget, "I don't or didn't, we just -uh-," he sighs, trying to figure out the words to say.

I nod in understanding, trying to urge him on to continue, confused as I scrunch my eyes in concentration, trying to be encouraging for him to spit it out with my nods, but then the thing he's trying to tell me, finally hits me.

He's saying he wouldn't date them.. they'd... Uh... just... have...sex????

I feel a shudder enter my body, traveling down my spine to my feet at the realization.

"Ya, I get what you're saying." I look down, stopping him from explaining.

The mood had definitely been killed.

I smack my lips together, trying to make the silence disappear.

"Well, you better know, I'm not that kinda girl." I force a laugh out, trying to start some sort of chain of comfort with this joke... It doesn't work.

All it does is make Andrew avoid my gaze, which makes my stomach turn.

"Uh- you know," my voice goes high, sounding like what my dad would do when he would try to explain why he and mom were fighting.

God, have I turned into my dad?

I feel glum inside out of a sudden as the thought sinks in.

The room has definitely gotten grayer and dim, no longer shining in return, now it mirrors the mood, the awkwardness. I feel cold.

Andrew's now turned away from me, shifting to a lying down pose.

I watch him shuffle into a curled up position on the colorful carpet while I'm regretting for having brought any of this up, or for having ignored him in the first place and for thinking about his lips.

Oh, those lips.

Ugh! God! What is wrong with me?

I shake my head.

I look back at his body, his back to me, watching the rise and fall of his breathing, sending steadiness somehow, but not quite.

Why do I want to kiss him so bad?!?

I need to leave before I do something stupid.

I get out of the colorful chair I'm currently sitting on, causing Andrew to turn his head, sensing my departure, looking at me in wonder and confusion.

Our eyes catch for a moment before everything settles in for him.

He begins to sit up, shuffling up out of his position.

"Wait, don't leave,-," He pleads, his eyes making me get lost and my recent plan of leaving gets destroyed. And my next move catches him by surprise.

I bend down next to him, sitting on the soft carpet, getting comfortable beside him.

I can hear his breath hitch at out proximity.

I pretend to be unfazed as I lean my head on his shoulder, but I'm as surprised as he is.

Silence.

I listen to his heart beating, closing my eyes, feeling safe.

Everything has disappeared and I don't remember anything else that mattered before this moment.

His breathing begins to ease back to normal, less self conscious, he wraps his arm around my shoulder, tucking me closer to him.

The silence that has formed, becomes a comfortable awareness of each other.

We don't need words to express or explain it, it's like we both know that it's all in the past, and now I'm getting cozy with Andrew.

I sigh.

I feel safe, unsure of our situation, yet sure.

Why do I feel this?

Why do I like this?

I don't know if this is okay.