Chapter 10

Before proceeding to class, the blonde leaped around the corner just as the group passed her by, just to get a better look at the extraneous boy. She couldn't help but to be mesmerized by his striking green eyes and his smile full of the straightest teeth she had ever seen. His laugh was hardy, and his voice was soothing, and suddenly, Eleanor had a change of heart; her disappointment grew stronger by the second. Who was she fooling?

"Oh my," she whispered to herself as she peaked around the corner, watching the group disappear as they drew further down the hall. "Dag!" she exclaimed with a stomp of her foot. She hated to admit it, but… could she be…

"No!" she spat before carrying herself to class. "Don't have a crush, don't have a crush, don't have a crush," she coached herself as her pace quickened. "You're better than this! He obviously has a girlfriend, and she seems sweet! Don't be the school's biggest skeeze!" She paused suddenly, clutching her books tight to her chest, her heart beginning to thump. "But he seems fricking dreamy!" She fell upon a group of lockers, her brown eyes fluttering in admiration. "Okay Eleanor," she continued to coach herself as she snapped back to reality and continued down the hallway, her teased hair blowing in the breeze she created. "Fine! Have your little crush! But nothing more! And that's that, Ellie!"

Just up the hall, as Theodore finished walking his friends and girlfriend to class, he made his way back the opposite way, his broad hands tucked away in his pockets. He passed the hallway's intersection, and as he glanced down the intersecting hall… he spotted her. Backwards he walked to hide himself around the corner. He watched her long hair hit her swaying hips with each stride, and never has Theodore seen a girl look so… blossoming and full and mature, for lack of a respectful term. He huffed, fearing that Alvin might have been right to begin with… for a change.

That same guilty tingle crawled its way up his spine like before, making him tighten his lips in agony.

"Wow," he spoke breathlessly, and that might have just been too loud for his liking, for the blonde suddenly stopped, hearing the sudden voice, and just as she looked to see who the culprit was, Theodore had pressed his back around the corner, his breathing labored. Once Eleanor spotted not a soul, she continued her way, and Theodore cautiously peaked around the corner once again

Deep in Theodore's heart, he knew he loved Stephanie, and he wanted just to get to know the new girl, but… Stephanie would be far from pleased. As a matter of fact, she would be… angry. So, so angry, Theodore knew right away.

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Second period seemed to slink on by as Eleanor sat with her arm propped up on the desk to support her head, her mind wandering about as the English teacher continued with her introduction to the class. She gently tapped the end of her pencil against the desk, and she couldn't help but to think about the green-eyed fellow. He appeared to be a quiet one; the one that stayed to himself, minus the very few friends he occupied. She admired his simple style, and she couldn't get the sound of his laugh out of her mind. He was an ace, she willingly admitted, but knew she had to stay in her place.

Theodore, on the other hand, found himself strutting towards the bathroom in need of a bathroom break, taking along his notebook and pen to write a note to his friends for them to read during passing period. He twirled the hallway pass around his fingers as he nonchalantly made his way through the empty hall. Each classroom he passed, he glanced in for mere seconds out of curiosity. He hummed a soft tune belonging to one of Michael Jackson's new songs, and he peaked in yet another classroom to see… woah.

His eyes widened. By chance, he found her; he found the blonde, her eyes looking straight ahead to the teacher. Theodore found himself stopped in the doorway, hypnotized for the moment. As he stood unmoving in the hall, the blonde, by chance, glanced outside the open door. Her first glance was dull and full of disinterest, but she did a doubletake to find it was the green-eyed boy. She perked herself up, sitting nice and tall in her seat as she glanced back at the teacher, and back to the boy once more. He suddenly let out a single chuckle… and gave her a gentle wave. She did the same in disbelief.

The two had a stare-down, small smiles propped up upon their faces, until the boy snapped clean out of it, awkwardly scurrying away. Her heart fluttered wildly as an out-of-the-blue idea graced her mind. "He has to know my name, at least… right?" She flipped open her notebook to a random blank page and carefully ripped it out. On it, in her best penmanship, she wrote her name in the most elegant cursive she could muster up. But… how was he going to retrieve it, she thought with panic.

It was then, by pure, unadulterated luck, the teacher leaned against her desk, knocking every single textbook, notebook, and loose-leaf paper she had to the ground. She giggled at her own mistakes and slowly knelt to clean the mess. Eleanor found her moment, and with haste, she quietly exited the classroom and strategically placed the folded paper on the ground and carefully made her way back inside the classroom just as the teacher finished her cleaning.

Isn't this blonde-haired cutie a stealthy one?

Her hands trembled in her lap and her leg bounced uncontrollably as she hoped for the boy to come back the way he came. Minutes seemed like hours until he appeared yet again, slightly glancing inside. As he walked and redirected his attention out of the class, he glanced down to find her folded piece of paper. And there he stopped.

He looked to the classroom to find the brown-eyed splendor already looking. In confusion, he picked up the slip of paper, and as if asking, "is this for me?" he silently pointed to himself. The blonde wildly nodded, and that was his cue to pick it up and carefully open it.

On the inside?

"I'm Eleanor."

What a shock. He glanced back up to find her waving softly like before, and with a blank stare, jaw slightly dropped, he cautiously waved back. And that's when it hit him. He looked in his hands to find his pen and notebook, and he suddenly began to scramble to open a random page. Once he did, he mustered up the courage to make his own note.

"I'm Theodore."

They both shared smiles and waves, but the nice moment was interrupted by the annoying school bell, indicating the end of the period. Theodore gasped, realizing he had been gone for far too long. In one swift motion, and in his breathy whisper, she could hear, "Goodbye, Eleanor," and off he went, sprinting down the hallways before it became too crowded with students.

Eleanor clutched her chest with both hands, attempting to keep her wild, beating heart from jumping out of her chest. She sighed dreamily. "Oh, Theodore…"