"Imogen Moreno?" Mrs. Dawes called.
"Present," I responded automatically. Mrs. Dawes nodded in my direction and I smiled back. Ever since I helped Eli with the play, she has taken a liking towards me. I'm not complaining; I like the attention.
Drama is probably my favorite class of the day. If you had asked me a few weeks ago why that was, I would've told you it was because Elijah Goldsworthy was in this class with me. But after I got over my obsession with the teenage Goth, I realized that I really do like drama. The essence of portraying what only ever happens in your mind just gets me. Plus, I have a lot up in my head.
"Well, class," Mrs. Dawes began. This was how every class started, with her announcements. "Due to the overwhelming success of Eli's play," she said nodding in his direction, "I've decided to assign a new project. In groups of three to four people, I want you to write and present a dramatic scene with raw emotion. You can improv, you can script it, you can do anything you want…as long as it stays school appropriate." Mrs. Dawes looked over to the left of the room towards a few troublemakers in the class. She turned back to the rest of us. "Go, go. Get into groups."
I sat and watched as kids grouped with friends and began to work. This was not an unusual occurrence where I would be left alone; I didn't really have friends. Sometimes I wonder if it's because I'm a little…eccentric. But I think it's just because kids don't want to be friends with some weirdo freak. And unfortunately for me, I am kind of a weirdo freak.
I heard a sigh behind me and turned. Eli stood there by himself. "Imogen," he said. "Do you need a group?"
I nodded, not trusting myself to words. We didn't really speak ever since he apologized. We never went on that coffee date as friends. I was worried I might make a fool of myself in front of him so I kept silent. He just nodded in reply.
"Don't we need a third?" I asked quietly and tentatively.
Eli looked up in the direction of the door where Fiona Coyne came sauntering in. She walked over to Mrs. Dawes and gave her a late slip. Mrs. Dawes nodded and Fiona walked toward us.
"Group?" she asked.
Eli and I both nodded but didn't look at her. This was definitely awkward. We sat in silence for a few seconds before Fiona sat down beside us. All of us then spent a few minutes without speaking or making eye contact. Eli and Fiona shared a quick glance but neither looked at me.
"Alright, that's it!" Fiona exclaimed as the bell rang a few minutes later. She stood up. "You two," she gesture between me and Eli, "need to work things out…fast. We have a project and I am not failing."
Fiona left and Eli and I sat alone. The class was almost empty. We still sat in quiet silence.
"I'm sorry," I said. He looked at me.
"What for? I should apologize to you…again," Eli said.
I shook my head. "No need," I told him. "You were sick and got better. I was just there for the rough patch in between. It's my fault that we can't even look at each other. I mean, after you apologized, I never really responded to you."
"I should've tried harder to meet up with you," Eli smiled. "So I guess it's on both of us." I smiled as he got up and left.
A few seconds later I stood up and followed in my classmates' path out the door. I was too busy smiling to notice the person in front of me before I ran into them.
"Sorry," we both said at once. I recognized that voice. Oh no.
"Imogen, hi," Adam greeted with his hands on my forearms to steady me from our collision. I looked up at him and was met with a wide smile and cheerful baby blue eyes with auburn hair swept across them.
"Oh, Adam, um, hi," I responded. We stood there with him hands on my arms and us looking at each other. "What are, um, what are you doing at the drama room?"
He released me (I had mixed emotions of relief and sadness about it) and pointed into the room towards Mrs. Dawes. "Mrs. Dawes and I are going to talk about an essay I wrote," he told me. "I have this period lunch so I thought I'd talk to her now. What about you?"
"Just getting out of drama class," I said shyly but with a smile. I could feel myself becoming more comfortable, but that comfort was destroyed once Adam leaned in a little bit and I realized we were extremely close.
"Getting out of drama class? Just now? Didn't class end a few minutes ago?" he teased. I couldn't help but smile and roll my eyes.
"I was having a discussion, if you must know," I said crossing my arms in play defiance. "With your best friend nonetheless."
"Who? Eli?"
I narrowed my eyes. "Who else would it be?" I questioned.
He shrugged. "No one," he stuffed his hands in his pockets. There was silence again.
"What's wrong with your essay?" I broke the silence.
"Oh," Adam said rubbing the back of his neck in that cute, shy way. "She said it was just a bit weak and I could use some help. She said that I might want to find a tutor or something just for writing."
"Well I'll do it." The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them. He looked at me stunned. "I mean, I'm good with writing and essays and generally anything that has to do with English, so I could tutor you…if you want."
Adam broke out into a grand smile and I felt my lips tug and curl up to mirror his smile. "Sure, that'd be great, Imogen! Thanks!" I nodded and he brushed past me into the room to talk to Mrs. Dawes.
I stood shocked, unsure of what I had just done. Part of me was glad that I would finally get to spend time with Adam. But I felt nervous for two reasons now. One, it was Adam, my crush. Two, I had just made amends with Eli and I didn't want to risk anything because he and I could have a really good friendship.
Mostly, I felt a ping of happiness. I had an excuse to spend lots of time with Adam and who knows what will happen. He did seem pretty happy that I would tutor him. Maybe this could turn out really nicely. Who knows?
