I didn't have time to register what I did when all of my teammates crowded me and before I knew it, everyone was congratulating me. Even Coach Wayne, who knew I wasn't sports material, joined in in the little huddle.
"You were great!" Marisol said with a grin and patted my back.
I smiled back. "Thanks!"
"I guess you did okay, pipsqueak," Coach Wayne muttered, but that was enough to make me on-top-of-the-world-happy.
Chloe ran out from the audience and came to join us.
"You guys were awesome!" she exclaimed.
Everyone gave each other a high five.
"Good job!"
"You too!"
"Nah, you were better."
"Says who? Coach Wayne screamed at me more than you."
"WHAT WAS THAT THAT I JUST HEARD?!"
I smiled to myself as I slowly broke away from the little party, making a lame excuse that I had to 'go use the restroom' though no one heard me. They were all too busy in celebrating.
I didn't really need to go use the restroom. I needed to find someone.
"Excuse me," I said as I pushed my way through the crowd of parents running to find their kids. I looked back and forth, left and right, and up and down, but never spotted a boy with chocolate brown hair and milky brown eyes.
The more I looked, the less encouraged I became. After wondering around for a bit, I began to lose hope. He didn't come. He promised yet he didn't come.
I sighed heavily and turned to head back to the group as they were deciding where to celebrate their win.
As I walked back, a voice called out from the crowd, "Eleanor? Eleanor, wait!"
My heart skipped a beat as I whipped my head around to see a certain brown haired boy to run breathlessly towards me. My heart soared and my mind fell into pieces.
"Samuel?"
Samuel screeched to a stop in front of me. He gasped for breath and had to bend down and put his hands to his knees to catch his breath.
"S-Sorry," he rasped. "I... missed the... game..."
In that moment, I forgot that I was Eleanor Fyer, the most popular girl in Harken High. The thought flew out of my mind. I was far too happy to see Samuel in front of me to care.
"No, I'm just glad you came," I smiled. "Like, really glad."
Samuel inhaled a deep breath and stood up, straightening himself.
"You're not mad?" he asked cautiously. I shook my head.
"Why?"
"Because I understand everything," I said simply. "And I believed that you will come."
I held up my pinky and grinned. "We pinky promised, remember?"
Slowly, a smile crept into Samuel's lips as well. He held up his pinky as well and tangled it with mine. "Yeah, I remembered."
I ignored the tainting red slowly crawling up my cheeks. This moment was far too perfect to be true. Maybe I was just dreaming or hallucinating. But if I were, there would be no way I could feel Samuel’s finger so this must be reality.
"Ooh, lovebirds," someone giggled. Samuel and I quickly broke our contact and I turned around to see who it was, my face flushed. Marisol had her hands on her hips, a smug smirk plastered on her face, with Chloe standing next to her, trying to keep a laugh behind her hands. The temperature in my cheeks rose even higher.
"I-It's not what it looks like," I stuttered, trying to defend myself but it was all in vain.
"Yeah, right," Marisol grinned and wiggled one of her fingers. "I can totally smell the love in the air!"
Samuel laughed from beside me. Without realizing it until it was too late and I had already done it, my face turned even brighter.
"Coffee?" Marisol suggested with a flick of her wrist as she hoisted her backpack over her shoulders. I picked up my things and grinned.
"Oh, totally yes."
CHAPTER 10: So Close Yet Nothing
"One Medium Caramel Frappuccino!" Marisol chirped.
"A Chocolate Latte is fine with me," Chloe chimed in.
"Just a normal coffee without anything in it," I finished. Samuel scribbled our others onto his little notepad and ripped off the page.
"Alright," he said as he taped the paper onto the wall next to the machines and pulled out three cups from the cabinet beneath the counter. "It'll be ready in no time."
"Oh, take your time," Marisol told Samuel and smirked. "We'll just sit here and ruin El's life."
"Marisol!" I gave her a sharp look, but she simply laughed. Chloe grinned along with her. Samuel himself smiled too so I guessed it was okay.
As Samuel worked on our orders, Marisol kept bringing back the topic that we had the entire way in the car: How awesome I was and how proud she was of me.
"Oh my gods," Marisol drawled. "I didn't think that you had it in you. But you pulled it off at the last second! It was amazing!"
"Yup," Chloe agreed. "I think everyone was quite surprised."
I waved them off, but something inside of me jumped happily up and down. "Stop making a huge fuss out of it. It wasn't that big of a deal."
"Oh, yes it was," Marisol said and gave me a playful shove. She leaned forward across the counter and called to Samuel, "Don't you agree, Samuel?"
Samuel was putting on the finishing touches on my coffee and handed our drinks to us. Unfortunately for me, he heard every word that Marisol said.
"I didn't see you play, but I know that you were as amazing as your friends described," he smiled warmly. "Because I'm sure you're great at volleyball."
My cheeks grew warm. Dang it, why is this happening to me because of that boy?
Marisol giggled beside me and took a long satisfying slurp of her Caramel Frappuccino. I wanted to bury myself underground, but of course that wasn't exactly a choice.
Marisol held out her hand to Samuel. "It's Marisol Kennedy."
Samuel look confused. "What?"
"We've never met before," Marisol explained and then thought about it. "Well, we saw each other but I never introduced myself to you."
Understanding what she meant, Samuel took her hand and shook it. "Samuel Rose."
"And I'm Vaneesa Grace," Chloe held out her hand too. "But you can just call me Chloe. I'm a new transfer student to Harken High from Germany."
Samuel shook her hand. "Great to meet you and welcome to America."
Chloe smiled. "Thank you!"
As if it was all an act, and maybe it was, Marisol looked over her shoulder and squinted into the distance.
"Is that... a clearance on clothes in Black and White...?" She asked slowly. Chloe and I turned to look as well.
"It looks like it," Chloe agreed. Marisol gasped and squealed in delight. She jumped up from her seat and grabbed Chloe's arm, dragging both of them towards the door.
"See you two!" she called. "We'll be back!"
I realized that she had a smirk on her face the whole time, but it was already too late. Marisol whizzed her and Chloe out the door and was gone, leaving me utterly alone with Samuel. She definitely set this up.
I knew I had been alone with Samuel a lot of times, but today felt somehow different. No butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach yet, but I still felt uneasy as I fidgeted nervously in my seat.
Samuel seemed to be just as uncomfortable as I was, but he was better at hiding it. As I tried to sip my coffee without my hands shaking the cup, he organized the little desserts that they sold. Every now or then, he had to take a deep breath before continuing.
The store was exceptionally empty today. No one was here except for us. This was bad. My hands shook some more and I forced myself to take a huge gulp of coffee, even though it hadn't cooled down yet and burned the roof of my mouth and tongue, and acted like everything was okay.
Samuel placed down the last brownie and stood up, an empty platter in his hands. He opened a cabinet door behind him and placed it inside.
"Why do you have pastries out even though no one's here?" I asked and lazily flicked my wrist to point at the desserts. It was a lame attempt at conversation but it was the
best I had. If I hadn't said that, the air would have gotten more awkward.
Thankfully, Samuel didn't seem to see my lameness.
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "Maybe it's for just in case Harry Styles comes in and wants a cupcake."
I snorted. "Yeah right. All Hail Harry Styles. He wants a cupcake."
Samuel laughed, his voice twinkling and clear like when you hit a glass with a spoon. The sound echoed through my ears. A single butterfly escaped its cage within me and began to soar through the air.
Trying to keep myself under control, I forced down a volcano that was about to erupt in me. I shrugged in an attempt to keep cool. "But I guess that could happen."
Samuel smiled and sat down across from me and propped his arms onto the counter. Unbelievably, I didn't flinch or try to move away. I stayed rooted to the spot, unfazed.
"Are you doing better at school?" Samuel asked. That single question almost made the volcano explode. I swallowed again. Hard.
"Y-Yeah," I said, a slight pink tainting my cheeks. What else was I supposed to say? 'Thanks for the tutoring. Now, instead of getting 50's all the time, I'm actually starting to get 90's?
"I'm so glad to hear that!" Samuel said and I could hear true happiness in his voice and that made me happy and giddy. Wait, happy and giddy?
But before I could ponder more about that, a phone went off and the ringtone began to play.
"Huh?" Samuel dug around in his pocket and pulled out one of those old flip phones. He flipped it open and put it to his ear.
"Hello?" he said. He listened as the person at the other end talked. Each moment that passed, his eyebrows furrowed more and more. Something was definitely wrong.
"Okay," he finally said. "I understand. I'll be home as soon as my shift at work is over."
He pressed 'end' and put his phone away.
"What's wrong?" I asked curiously. Samuel shook his head.
"Don't worry. It's nothing," he assured me, but his eyes told me otherwise. They were far away and distant. But I decided not to push him. If he didn't feel comfortable telling me, then he didn't need to. In the future, when I knew that he was ready, I would ask him.
"Oh!" Samuel snapped his fingers as if he had just remembered something and bent down to rummage around in his backpack. He pulled out an origami box and handed it to me.
"Here," he said. "I made it for you."
I took the box from him delicately, afraid that I might accidentally crumple it, and set it down in front of me. I frowned.
"You made me a box?"
Samuel chuckled. "No, no. There's something inside the box. Go ahead and open it."
I stared at the box and, sure enough, saw that there was a tiny opening at the edge. I set a finger underneath the flap of the lid and raised it off the box. The thing inside almost made me blink twice.
"Oh my gods," I whispered and gingerly lifted the item placed inside out. It was a form of a snowflake with different twists at different angles and neat folds for each point. It was an origami snowflake. Not those lame ones that people randomly showed you how to make, but one with originality and looked like a lot of time and dedication was put in it.
"Do you like it?" Samuel asked softly, his voice barely audible. I was too shocked by the single beauty of this snowflake to answer so I just nodded vigorously. Samuel beamed.
No words needed to be said. This moment was perfect, like a scene painted with water colors.
And before I knew it, the picture swayed and began to dance. Samuel leaned forward across the counter. My eyes fluttered and surprisingly, the butterflies in my stomach suddenly went absolutely still, as if anticipating this moment with me.
I leaned forward too, almost on instinct. The air around us went absolutely still and the sounds outside faded into the background. It was calm and a single melody played somewhere.
But none of this seemed to faze us as we leaned closer and closer towards each other.
Samuel was so close to me that I could smell his scent. It was honey flavored with dashes of fresh daisy, perhaps one of my favorite aromas.
Samuel's hand slowly crawled forward and ghosted over one of my hands, making sparks fly everywhere. The hand of mine still holding the snowflake almost crushed the paper. I had to keep in a squeal that almost leaked from my mouth.
Samuel came even closer. Our eyes fluttered shut as we inched towards each other. Samuel's forehead touched mine, sending waves of not only shock, but also happiness through my body. Our noses touched, tickling me lightly. My heart beat rapidly in my chest. It was so loud that I was sure Samuel could hear it.
We were breathing in each other's scent when the door suddenly slammed open. Samuel and I jumped apart, my face set aflame. Samuel looked redder than me, almost to the point where he resembled a tomato.
Marisol and Chloe stood at the door way with shocked faces.
"Oops," Marisol giggled as soon as she received. "We came at the wrong time."
"And we thought for sure that they already kissed," Chloe pouted playfully.
"Sorry for bothering y'all," Marisol smirked. "Please continue. Pretend like we aren't here."
My face burned even hotter than flame itself.
"Y-You weren't interrupting anything," I stammered.
Chloe laughed. "Are you sure?"
"S-She's right!" Samuel came to my defense. "We were just, uh..."
"We were just seeing if we could send messages through our brains!" I sprouted out randomly. It was maybe the world's lamest and dumbest excuse, but Marisol got the point I was about to explode in embarrassment.
"Whatever girl," She said and flickered her wrist in the air dramatically. "But I'm guessing I win the bet?"
I attempted the best glare I could muster at her. "Did not."
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
Chloe laughed and Marisol laughed along with her. Slowly, Samuel began to smile along with them.
A corner of my mouth twitched upwards and I also laughed along with them as if we were long lasting friends from long ago.
Who would have thought that we just recently began to finally accept each other?
CHAPTER 11: Call Me Insane But I Don't Care
"Oh my gods! Eleanor, look!"
Marisol slammed a thin stack of papers in front of me which I immediately recognized as the school's newspaper. I sighed and set down my box of orange juice.
"What is it?" I asked irritatingly. "I'm in the middle of lunch here."
Marisol ignored my complaint. "Hurry up and read it," she demanded and shoved the papers toward me. I rolled my eyes as I picked them up and scanned through the headline.
The Truths of Eleanor Fyer and Marisol Kennedy Revealed!
I stopped there as the blood in me froze. I looked up confusingly at Marisol, but she just shook her head and pointed at the papers to tell me to continue reading.
A recent interview was conducted by Allison Waysley on Eleanor Fyer and Marisol Kennedy.
"She tried too," I said dryly.
"Keep going," Marisol instructed and set her hands on her hips.
As a volleyball team captain, Marisol Kennedy has been upholding the name Harken's Volleyball Team and as the school's most respectful leader, Eleanor Fyer has been leading our school to its highest advantages.
So far, I didn't see anything wrong with the paper. What made Marisol, the usually sassy and sarcastic girl, so mad?
But after the interview, the truth behind their leadership is revealed. They are no heroes. In fact, they are the opposite.
I raised an eyebrow.
According to Allison, the two girls are actually just pretenders. Perhaps Marisol Kennedy has led the Harken High Volleyball Team to many state champions, but she failed to clearly indicate her true desire and was to just steal the trophy away.
I frowned at this. "Since when did you say that to her?"
Marisol shook her head. "I have no freaking clue. This is making no sense at all to m
e. Just read on. Skip to the part that talks about you."
I did as she said and continued reading. I almost flipped the whole table over if it wasn't nailed to the ground.
On the outside, Eleanor Fyer shows true leadership, but if you know her in person, she's quite the opposite. She wishes to be better than anyone else by discriminating them.
I stopped reading there and ripped my eyes away from the article. I didn't need to be Einstein to know what was written next. The only name that broke through my mind was Samuel.
"Oh my gods," I whispered, unable to read anymore. "How many people...?"
"The entire school," Marisol told me sadly.