Chapter 2

POV: Jeanette

Thank you for reading up to here, you are officially part of the ~35% of people who read past the first chapter. ^^ Read on.

I awoke to the familiar sound of my phone's alarm. It was 7:00, time to get ready for school. It sat up in my bed and quickly did my hair up in its usual bun.
Then I washed and brushed my teeth. When I came out of the bathroom, I bumped into Eleanor.

"Good morning Brit." She greeted me with her usual enthusiasm.
"Morning, Ellie," I replied with equal gusto. I was in a bit of a rush to get to school early, so I could sit in the library and read my books. I was currently engaged in various literary endeavours, some by Shakespeare.

"Have you made us breakfast?" I asked Eleanor, since she usually did.

"Pancakes are on the counter, waiting for you to help yourself." She answered.

"You're a real wonder, Ellie. What would we do without you?" I truly commended her, she was so kind-hearted.

"I suppose, you'd eat cornflakes, or something." She always had some way of making herself seem less important than she was.

I quickly ate breakfast, thanked Eleanor, and set off for school. As I walked down the path, I spotted Simon walking to school as well.

"Simon?" I called to him, "Hi. How's it going?" I asked.

"Great. Guess what happened!" He was smiling from ear to ear.

"I don't know. Tell me." I was confused. He looked so excited, that I knew it must be amazing. I started to smile back.

"I got a letter from the MIT! They've offered me a scholarship for Physics, in light of my Year 11 results!" He seemed very happy, so I supported him.

"That's wonderful, Simon. That really happened?" I asked, without doubting the answer would be yes.

"Of course. It's a great opportunity, if I can maintain my high scoring record." Then it dawned on me.

"Wait, MIT? That's in Massachusetts. You'll have to move houses. Are you sure you want to do that?" I suddenly felt a wave of disappointment rush over me. I didn't know why I was being so selfish, but I didn't want Simon to move out.

"I'd have to someday, anyway. What difference would it make if I moved out next year?" I didn't know how to answer this, but luckily he didn't seem to expect a reply.

I made my way to school, trying to be happy for him, but one thing was on my mind; Why do I want him to stay so much? I could only think of one reason and I didn't like it.

The rest of the day went relatively smoothly, I tried to focus on school, to distract myself from my dilemma. It worked well, for the most part, and I thought I would go home and talk to Brittany about my feelings, but I bumped into Simon on the way. It was an awkward moment, where I made an excuse to get home quickly. It was too hard to talk to Simon without saying something that would make me look weird or selfish.

When I got back home, I went to my room, and started to read my book. It made me wonder if I should just go ahead, and tell Simon how I felt, but then, he might lose his opportunity because of me. It was a perplexing paradoxical problem.

Brittany was singing along to one of her songs in the adjacent room, so I thought I would go and get her advice on the subject. No sooner had I told her what was happening, then I regretted it.

"You're disappointed he's leaving, you've suddenly become shy around him, and you had to use school to distract yourself from him? I'd say you've got a bit of a crush," She stated matter-of-factly, "And you know what I say; Just tell them how you feel, and the worst that could happen is rejection." Brittany was right, of course, but it didn't help me much. I didn't want Simon to give up on something he was so excited about, just for me. Now, on top of that, it wouldn't be out of Brittany's way to tell Simon about me. Then Simon would either never look at me the same, or lose a shortcut to his dream.

I stood at the edge of an abyss. If I took the plunge there was no going back. If I could handle the drop well, the benefits would be huge, but if I failed, I would lose more of my sanity than I was willing to give up. I was beginning to realise, I'd fallen in love with Simon.

Well, there you go, we're getting to the romance part. I guarantee that this story is in fact a romantic Simonette, and not just some educational book in disguise.