Even though their conversation last night had been great, none of the four teenagers had time to follow their own recommendations. Tedros had barely been able to sleep; he thought about AP Chemistry, then about his Pre-calc, then about Physics. Math and science, for the first time, seemed to be antagonists rather than his friends. He was usually just a little nervous about tests in chemistry, but this time, his nervousness was a monster, slowly eating him alive.
With assignments and assessments piling up, there was no rest or relaxation for anyone. Even lunchtime consisted of Tedros nervously tapping his foot, as he looked over his AP Chemistry notes, while Rafal worked on a problem for the same class. The platinum-haired teen rubbed his temples, while Tedros sighed in defeat.
"Don't you guys need a break?" Hort asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concern at their sight.
"Can't; our test is next period. I'm going to fail." Tedros said. Hort rolled his eyes.
"No you won't; you have been studying like a dog." Hort observed, while he loudly opened a pack of potato chips.
"You don't get it, you can study like a dog and still get a 70." Rafal exclaimed. Beatrix agreed.
"After my experience with AP Bio last year, I can confirm that, even if I don't take chem." Beatrix pointed out.
"I don't get science people, I guess." Hort shrugged. "You guys will be fine, like you always are."
Tedros wished he could have the same amount of self-confidence as Hort has in him and Rafal. In his Iron Maiden t-shirt and black jacket, Hort was positively the coolest-looking person at their table. He looked kinda funny next to Beatrix, who was clad in a baby pink turtleneck sweater, and had her hair in a messy high bun, currently held in place by a pen.
As if Hort had heard his thoughts, he curiously inspected Beatrix's hair, and pointed out:
"Why do you have a pen in your hair?" Hort looked quizzically at it.
"I didn't have a hair tie, but I wanted my hair out of my face." Beatrix explained, but Hort frowned.
"But your hair is still in your face." Hort dumbly said. Beatrix rolled her eyes.
"Yeah well, it always is, but I didn't…never mind." Hort tried to pry the pen out if her hair, but Beatrix realized it, and they struggled over it for a few seconds, until Hort took it out. Rafal and Tedros shared a confused look, whether it was as to what their friends were doing, or as to why they were friends with them, Tedros didn't know.
"Why did you do that, oh my God." Beatrix loudly complained, getting a few weird looks from people around them, while Hort cracked up.
"Do you mind? You're making a scene." Rafal chastised, putting his textbook in his bag.
"It was his fault." Beatrix childishly said, but she shared a teasing grin with Hort.
"It's ridiculous to keep a pen in your hair; I'm sparing you of social humiliation." Hort lied, and Beatrix giggled, tossing a lock of her out of her face.
Tedros noticed Rafal looking at them curiously, as if he was noticing something he hadn't seen before. He wondered why he was doing that, but Rafal shook his head and checked his phone instead.
"Well, I got to go; I'm starting a new project for Sader and it's going to take me forever to finish. He allowed me go in earlier, so I'm going to take advantage of that." Hort said, standing up.
"DO you mind if I just come along?" Beatrix asked, then looked over at Tedros and Rafal, "I know you guys are busy studying, and I don't feel like disrupting you."
"It's fine, I don't care." Tedros said, shrugging.
"Yeah, sure. Sader loves me, I'm sure he won't mind." Hort grinned, and Beatrix smiled back at him. They got up, and left the cafeteria. Tedros turned to Rafal, who was looking at them curiously, as they exited the cafeteria.
"Hey, are you okay? Why are you looking at them funny?" Tedros asked, frowning. Rafal shook his head.
"What are you talking about? I'm just looking at them as I always do." Tedros gave him his best "don't-hit-me-with-that-BS-" face. Rafal sighed.
"If I tell you, you're going to think I've gone mad." Rafal assured.
"Try me." Tedros pressed. Rafal hesitated, looking up, down and everywhere but him.
"I think Hort and Beatrix have a thing for one another…sort of, it looks like it at least." Rafal said. Tedros raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Really? I just always thought they were just really good friends…why do you think that?" Tedros was perplexed, but he wasn't sure if he should trust Rafal's judgement. His fiend might be brilliant, but this was far from his area of expertise.
"Well, this is mostly Agatha's fault, who repeatedly asked me if they were secretly dating, and I vehemently denied it…but I'm starting to see what she sees. I mean, he always asks her to dances, she laughs at all his dumb jokes, and I'm pretty sure he was, subtly, hitting on her the other day." Rafal explained. Tedros tried to process it.
Beatrix did talk a lot about Hort. Much more than she did about Rafal or himself. However, he couldn't base his suspicions on that.
"I mean…I guess? I don't know man, relationships are not my forte, and they are not yours either." Tedros said.
"No, you're definitely right…but they are Agatha's forte. She set up Reena and Nicholas, and now they're already dating! All just because she 'saw a spark there'. I feel…strange, admitting it, but Agatha might be onto something. " Rafal threw his hands in the air, and Tedros frowned even more.
"But…do you think they could actually, be more than friends? Because that's a big risk right there. Do you think they're currently dating?" Tedros offered. Rafal shrugged.
"I don't know, I don't think they are. I love Hort and all, but he can be a little bit of a loudmouth when it comes to going out with someone; I don't think he'd keep a secret like that from us." Rafal explained.
"And Bea doesn't keep a secret when she's too excited over it…yeah, they're definitely not more than friends." Tedros concluded.
"I mean, I'm not saying Agatha is always right about romantic issues, but she does know a tad more about it than we do. But before we jump to conclusions, let's just pretend this talk didn't happen." Rafal offered.
"I like that idea, but I'm probably going to be thinking about it for a while. It's just kind of hard to wrap my head around the possibility of them…dating, you know?" Tedros said, and Rafal nodded his head.
"Yeah, I know. Agatha would ask me, and I would scoff at the idea, but the girl is convincing. Look, maybe I'm just meddling in people's love life to make up for my lack of one." Rafal told. Tedros grinned.
"Are you admitting you want a girlfriend and that you are actually capable of romantic feelings?" Tedros teased. Rafal glared at him, but his gaze softened.
"Maybe. There's just no one I like. It's nice to dream, though." Rafal joked. Tedros couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"Your day will come…maybe before mine." Tedros teased.
"Hey, I'm willing to delay my thing if it means you getting with Agatha. Besides, all this mushy talk will distract me from gases and all the junk I need to know for next period." Rafal said. Tedros laughed again.
"I'm so screwed is not even funny. I just don't know if I mean in love or in chemistry." Rafal cryptically announced.
For once, Tedros agreed with his cynicism.
Even after feeling as if he failed his test, Tedros had one consolation: he had his tutoring session with Agatha at the end of the day.
They met at their usual spot at the library. Agatha seemed to do better with reflections and refractions than with anything else so far. As she sat in her seat, diligently trying a problem, Tedros couldn't help but admire how cute she was. With her black and white, babydoll top, and her black skinny jeans, she looked like a model.
He blushed, for he felt like an idiot. His gaze flew somewhere else, while he heard Agatha's earrings clatter as she worked. His thoughts suddenly went back to his conversation with Rafal. Tedros had the sudden urge to ask Agatha about it, but he didn't want to weird her out with the suddenness of his question.
"Could you check if those are right?" Agatha asked, sliding him her notebook. Tedros glanced at them, trying to push his thoughts out his head.
"Yeah, I think that's right." Tedros said dismissively, sliding back her notebook. Agatha frowned.
"You looked at those for like, 5 seconds. Are you alright? You usually make sure they're right…twice." Agatha observed. Tedros sighed.
"Too much on my mind, sorry. I just took a test and I think I failed it." Tedros explained. Agatha frowned.
"I'm sorry. But, I'm sure you'll be fine, and even if you didn't do as you wanted, there's always next time." Agatha said, laying her hand on top of his. Tedros flinched at the sudden constant, and Agatha promptly put her hand down.
"It's fine..." Tedros sighed. Without thinking, he voiced what was really gnawing at him.
"Can I ask you something? And before I do, I blame Rafal wholeheartedly on this for telling me." Tedros threw his hands up in defeat, and Agatha laughed, but nodded.
"Do you think Hort and Beatrix have a thing for each other?" Tedros asked. Agatha's face fell when he asked, but instantly turned fifty shades of red.
"He was not supposed to say I said that! I told him like twenty times! Rafal is going to die when I see him." Agatha sputtered. She regained composure, and said "But yeah, I think they do. I'm only admitting I said that because I know I can trust you."
"I'm sorry I'm so…over the place today, I'm being a terrible tutor, but, I guess I never even imagined those two dating, or even crushing on each other. I also feel guilty for talking about them behind their backs so…it's complicated. But is not like I'd be against it happening, is just…not something I ever thought about." Tedros sighed again.
"You really never saw it coming?" Agatha asked, "I mean, one day I was talking with Beatrix and Hort came over. I felt like I was third wheeling, even if we were just standing in the halls. I awkwardly left, and they didn't even notice."
"Huh, I guess I'm blind to these things." Tedros said, and Agatha chuckled.
"It's no big deal, I mean, I personally think they'd be adorable, but is really not my place. Besides, as long as you can notice if someone likes you, you're fine." Agatha shrugged, and Tedros looked around awkwardly. He could feel his heartbeat in his ribcage.
"I definitely cannot do that." Tedros admitted. Agatha chuckled again. Her dark brown eyes met his, and he squirmed under her gaze. He thought he was getting used to her, but a simple gaze could completely disarm him.
"Do you wanna know?" Agatha asked. Tedros sputtered, fiddling with his sleeve.
"Shouldn't I be the one helping you?" Tedros squeaked. Agatha waved him off.
"It's fine; I have too much on my mind too. Besides, it's not like I bite." Agatha teased. Tedros was confused as to why she was so eager to tell him when a girl likes him, but he wasn't about to protest either.
"A big one it's if they really try to get close to you, even if it's the smallest touch, it probably means something. But don't be that guy that thinks every girl is into him just because of that." Agatha said.
"Trust me, I'm not that guy." Tedros said, and Agatha giggled.
"Another big thing is like, general nervousness. That includes playing with their hair, stuttering, or looking away from your eyes. That gives away a lot of people, especially if they're not the flirty type." Agatha said, and she flipped her hair.
"Are you the flirty type?" Tedros absentmindedly asked. He immediately regretted it, but Agatha didn't seemed to mind.
"I mean, I don't think so, personally." She answered, but frowned "Do you think I am?"
"I-I, I mean how would I know? Is not like I've ever seen you flirt with anyone, much less with me out of all people." Tedros laughed nervously. He also regretted saying that.
Damn it, Tedros. Get it together!
"You'd be surprised." Agatha winked at him, and he felt his face was going to burn. "Anyways, I need to go. I told Hester I'd only be half hour late to practice, and I'm almost 45 minutes late." Agatha stood up, grabbed her belongings, but stopped in her tracks.
"Oh, and Tedros?"
"Yes?"
"If you ever need dating advice, don't hesitate to tell me. It'd be only fair if I helped you as you have." Agatha offered.
"I don't think I even have the courage for that." Tedros sputtered, smiling nervously. Agatha laughed, with that airy laugh she had that was so adorable.
"You should; I can think of some girls that'd like for you to have some. Okay, I really need to go. Bye!" Agatha dashed out of the door, leaving a very flustered Tedros behind.
Was she coming onto him?
So…here is my update after two months. It's been an eventful two months, between school and some drama with people. I lost some motivation along the way, but I've been regaining it.
What did you think? It's a chapter pretty heavy on matters of the heart, I guess, but that constitutes a big chunk of the plot, so yeah…also I've been in a pretty romantic mood lately, I don't know why.
Also, quick question: do any of my readers speak Spanish? It's because I've been working on a wattpad story, and I've been trying to get some exposure.
Leave a review! They keep me going, even after months-long absences