Behind Those Hazel Eyes

Chapter 11

The Reminder

A couple of weeks went by where nothing really special happened. Yang would go to school and then come back home. She got to see Blake every day, but nothing special happened. If they were lucky, they would said a couple of words to each other, but that wasn't very often. For some reason, Yang could never bring herself to talk to Blake in front of other people. As another week started, the teacher started with the usual daily announcements.

"Alright class, I hope you've been studying because finals are just around the corner. In 2 weeks to be exact." Yang groaned out loud, but her teacher didn't let it bother her. She's been getting used to Yang's little annoyances in class and now, it doesn't even affect her anymore. "Especially for this class, since you're all seniors, it's important that you pass." She stared at Yang who happened to be looking at her. "If you don't pass, you don't graduate." Yang rolled her eyes and looked away. "Well, enough of that stuff. The fall dance is coming up soon and I hope you all have someone special to ask."

That ended the daily announcements and things moved on to normal class stuff that Yang didn't pay attention to either. When the bell sounded for lunch, Yang woke up and saw that she was surrounded by a whole bunch of guys.

"Hey Yang, you wanna go to the dance with me?"

"Ah, don't go with him. He's a loser. I'm the better choice. Pick me."

"Dude, you're the loser. I'm the obvious choice. I'm sporty and handsome. Two things I know a smoking hot babe like you would want in a man." Yang was trying her best to ignore these creeps, but they wouldn't leave. She found a peep hole through their bodies and saw Blake looking at her. Her face looked sad as she packed her things to go to lunch.

"So, who are you gonna go with?" Yang pounded her fist on the table and stood up.

"None of you losers. If you're gonna ask a girl, at least put some effort into it. Apparently, none of you have ever actually asked out a girl. Besides, I'll be busy that day so don't worry about who I'm going with. Now get lost, all of you." Their faces became long as they left Yang's desk. Once they left, Yang walked over to Blake who was about to leave. "Hey Blake, where are you going?"

"I was going to eat lunch."

"Where? Don't you usually eat in here?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Oh, don't worry. Those guys won't bother us anymore. Come on, let's eat."

"Okay." Blake put her things down and took a seat in front of Yang where they enjoyed their lunch. Yang had a simple sandwich and Blake had a bento box lunch. Yang couldn't help but laugh at their differences in food quality.

"Do you make your lunch every day or does your family do that for you?"

"No, I do it myself. I like it that way."

"That's pretty good." As they continued to eat, Yang noticed that outside the room, those guys from before were crowding around. She didn't like it. She already told them to go away, but they were still trying to get at her. The door opened and the crowd of boys came in. "Seriously guys, I already told you..."

"We're not here for you, chillax honey."

"Yeah, shut up Yang!" She was confused. They walked towards Blake, grabbed her chair and slid it against the wall.

"How about you gorgeous? You wanna come with me to the dance?"

"Don't listen to him, I'm the better choice."

"No, me!" Yang watched as those guys were harassing Blake. There's wasn't anything Blake could do. They had her pinned against the wall and she wasn't much of a talker when it came to boys. Yang looked at Blake's face which was scared and desperate, exactly the way her face was the night of that horrible encounter. Her eyes were wide and she was starting to panic.

"Come on, go with me!" Out of nowhere, the group of guys exploded and they all fell on the floor. When they looked up, they saw Yang standing before them.

"What are your guys' problems? Leave her alone. Can't you tell she doesn't want to go with you?" Blake ran up behind Yang and stood close in fear. One guy stood up and walked towards them.

"That's not what it looked like to me," he said as his hand reached for Blake's skirt. Yang tightened her fist and punched him across the face. He was sent to the ground and the rest of the group was surprised. The guy who got punched was out cold.

"Let's get her!" They all stood up.

"Bring it!" They started to run at Yang when their teacher opened the door to the classroom.

"Hey, what is going on here?!" They all stopped dead in their tracks. She looked around the room and saw a boy on the ground. "Yang, did you do that?"

"It's not my fault. He was asking for it since he was harassing me and Blake."

"That doesn't matter. You could always just tell a teacher." Yang crossed her arms and turned her head. That's not always the best method, she thought to herself. "Boys, could you pick him up and take him to the nurse's office? And on your way there, visit the principal's office while you're at it."

"What?!" They all stood there in question, but she didn't want any of it. She directed them out of the room and closed the door and sighed.

"Yang, you gotta stop doing this. I've seen it. You've been improving so much, but why do you have to immediately resort to violence? It's not good. You're supposed to be a lady" Yang shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. It's always been the best and smartest thing to for me. And plus, being lady-like is something I vowed never to do." Her teacher sighed again.

"Look, I know you're new here and all, but I want you to succeed. I've gone over your grades and you need to raise it up. If you don't pass this final with a B or higher, you're gonna have to repeat this year. I'm very sorry, but that's the hand that you've been dealt." She left the room and Yang was dumbfounded. It was true that she wasn't doing too well, but the fact that she had to get a B or higher was the hard part. She sat back down in her chair and stared at the floor.

"I don't know if I can do that Blake. I'm not a school person." Blake was a little hesitant.

"Well, do you wanna study with me? I mean, I'm pretty set on grades. I could help you out a bit."

"No, that's too much. I can't ask you to do that."

"No, I want to. I don't want to see you have to suffer through another year of this. Really, I want to help you, and plus, we have a lot of time until finals so I think you'll be fine if we do our best during the time we have left." Yang smiled.

"Thanks Blake. You're too kind."

"Ah, don't worry about it."

"So should we study at your house?" Blake answered quickly.

"Uh, why don't we do it at your house? I think it would be easier. How about today after school?"

"That's fine with me."

"Great." They met a mutual agreement and finished up their lunch.

As the rest of the day went on, Yang desperately tried to stay awake, but it was just too hard. Nothing caught her attention and the way these teachers talked was so boring. After a couple of hours, the bell rang and school was over. She groaned out loud and sprawled out on her desk. It was finally over. She picked up her things and waited for Blake.

The two girls walked off campus and to Yang's house where her grandmother welcomed them back with such happiness. Yang told her that they were going to use the eating table to study and her grandmother understood not to bother them. She said hi to Blake and went into the living room for the rest of the night.

As they started their study session, it was obvious how much Yang was actually paying attention in class. Her main concern was in math so Blake decided to work on that the most. Yang wrote down the problem and immediately threw her pencil down on the table.

"This is so stupid."

"It's alright. Just calm down. What's the problem asking for?"

"It's right here." Yang was pointing at the problem, but Blake couldn't see it. She had to think quickly and intelligently.

"Read it to me. It actually helps the solver by reading it out loud."

"Alright, it says find the derivative of x^2+4x-10."

"So what do you do first?"

"I don't know," she said as she put her hands on her head. Frustration was filling her mind which made it even harder to concentrate on the problem right in front of her.

"Here, this is what you do." From behind, she grabbed Yang's hand and showed her how to solve the problem completely. When the solution was on the page, Yang looked down at her hand and saw that Blake's hand was still on it. To her surprise, it was small and full of warmth. She then turned her head to look at Blake. At first, Blake was looking down at the paper, but she felt Yang's head turn toward her so she looked right at her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Yang's heart was racing. She didn't know why. All she was thinking about now was Blake's lips. They looked so soft and so inviting. Yang slowly drew closer to Blake's face. Blake, on the other hand, was becoming nervous. She knew what Yang was doing, but she couldn't do it now. She quickly turned her head back to the notebook which made Yang regain the focus she had left.

"Alright, next problem." Blake let go of Yang's hand and walked back to her side of the table.

"Right, next problem." Immediately, the moment was destroyed. There was nothing left of it so Yang did her best to try and forget about it.

The rest of the night was pretty boring. Blake kept her distance from Yang and Yang was quiet for most of the time. They got through what they needed to, but didn't speak of anything else. Blake could feel the awkwardness in the room, but simply tried to get through it as best as she could. She was here to help Yang, not to do other things that had nothing to do with studying. The time approached 11pm and they decided it was time to stop. Blake packed up her things and she made their way to the front door.

"I'll walk you home."

"Alright."

As they walked back to Blake's house, no words were spoken. Blake walked in front of Yang and Yang was constantly on the lookout. However, every so often, her eyes would travel to Blake's lonely hand. She would reach for it, but then suddenly pull it back. She knew that Blake didn't want that since what she tried to do something similar earlier that night that didn't work. As the night grew on, they finally made it back to Blake's house. Blake opened the door and walked in, but stopped before closing the door.

"Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you like me?"

"Of course I do. Why else would I hang out with you?"

"No, I mean... Do you like me like me?" Yang was silent. Was she talking about her attempt to kiss her? She looked at Blake who was still facing the inside of her house.

"Blake, I... I'm sorry about before. I don't know what got into me, but it won't happen again. I promise. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. It's just..."

"No, I invited you over to help me study, not do those kind of things. I'm sorry. I'm gonna leave now." Without another word, she turned and made her way back home. Blake couldn't get a word out to her so she just turned around and watched Yang disappear into the night. Blake put her right hand on her left shoulder as Yang finally disappeared from view. "I... I like you like you. I hope you know that." She closed the door and went to bed.

After a few minutes, Yang made it back to her house where her grandmother asked how the study date was.

"It wasn't a study date!" She ran upstairs and shut the door behind her and rammed her face into her pillow. Her heart was pounding harder than ever. That intense rush was taking over her entire body. She lost all control of her body as she tossed and turned on her bed. Trying to fight the sensation, she turned onto her back and pressed her hands against her chest as she looked up at the ceiling. "I... I actually really like you like you."

End of Chapter 11