As he walked into the cafeteria, he heard it. The sound that has the power to do him in. Her laugh.
He knew all of her laughs. The happy one, the sad one, the one that says that she doesn't want to make this awkward. And the one that she normally uses on him. That "Chad-please-stop-annoying-me-so-I-can-get-back-to-what-I-was-doing-thanks" one. He wishes he could drop the act that he puts on, but there's more to that act then most people know. It is the only thing that keeps him from breaking down on the outside, since that's already happening on the inside. And dropping it would mean letting her in. He's not sure whether its worth the risk, not since last time.
But for now he will keep it, sauntering in there like he owns the place when all he wants to do is cower in the corner, or run over and hug her for comfort while he cries.
Of course, that's something that Chad would do, not Chad Dylan Cooper.