Chapter 15

"Ding!… Ding!… Ding!"

The final bell has rung for the day. These days just keep getting longer and longer. Now I know what Maurice was talking about all those years. I thought he was just joking, I was wrong. I was horribly wrong! Now I'll always take his advice.

Peeking out of the band room after I get my bag and other things, I'm blasted with a wave of students trying to get out of the building. Why the hell is it so crowded today of all days? Nothing around here makes any sense, it's either complete chaos or a disaster lately. Helping Neptune with her studies isn't going to be a walk in the park.

That almost slipped my mind, it's Tuesday and I'm supposed to assist Neptune today. Of all people she had to choose me for this, it feels like I'm being targeted by everyone's weird requests. It's not all bad now, if anything its routine at this point.

Letting out a sigh of annoyance, a teacher comes to my side. The art teacher? Oh, I forgot that we were doing this in school. She must've gotten the art teacher to lend us his room. "Just lock up when you're done and don't touch anything. Got it?"

Giving a simple nod is all I can do. A lot of nodding seems to go on around here lately. Again becoming part of my routine of high school. One of the things not being one of them is the long days. And I thought middle school was bad. Damn I was wrong on that.

The art teacher gives off a smile before walking away. Something about him makes me feel like my skin is going to crawl off. Well, this is the first time I've actually met him, before I've just seen him around. Better not judge a book by its cover in this case.

Wait, I shouldn't be debating, I should be in the art room helping Neptune. The way she looked at me when she asked was just awkward. No one gives off that look on the spot, she must've planned it. Among this she planned other things too but we'll get to that in a minute.

The tidal wave of students has thinned a little since talking to the art teacher. It must be one of those days where everyone is out and about I guess. No time to find out what's going on, I've got to get to Neptune. Walking down the hall is quiet and relaxing. A definite change of pace from the past few days.

Upon getting to the room the door is already open. This wouldn't be weird if I could actually see Neptune. Looking in the room there is no sign of her. This isn't how I expected to start off this session but whatever.

It's cool in the art room, a lot better than the warm weather outside. Being summer time it isn't all that unusual for it to be hot. "Neptune, you in here-ugh!" Suddenly something jumps onto my back. This can only be the work of one evil mastermind.

"Giddy up!" I'm not a horse Neptune! It scares me to think about what goes on in her mind. But of course she hid behind the door to ambush me. What is with me and getting jumped on lately? I know for a fact I'm not that likeable to be jumped on all the time.

What I do in response isn't much of a surprise, running around like a maniac seems to be what I'm best at now. So far she enjoys this display of insanity. Looks like there is no other option… I have to mechanical bull her. I know that sounds wrong but get your mind out of the gutter.

"You best be prepared to grab this bull by the horns!" Going from running like an idiot I'm now thrashing around like one. She definitely has a way of influencing people I'll give her that. How she does it is a mystery. Normally I would never do something like this.

"Hello, may I… oh, I hope I'm not… interrupting anything." Nepgear you have a way of coming in at the worst possible time. Considering that her sister is on my back and I'm thrashing here and there, some people might get the wrong idea about this. "You weren't interrupting nothing! Come on in!"

I've said it once and I'll say it again, she has a way of influencing people. Nepgear's facial expression changes from worried to warm. As she walks in Neptune back flips off my back. For a girl that won't eat broccoli she's pretty fit. She's more unusual than I could've ever dreamed. Enough of this sidetracking, Nepgear clearly has something she'd like to ask us.

"Hey Nepgear… what brings you here?"

"Hello Jack! I was just wandering… since I have nowhere else to be… may I stay with you two for the time being?" I'm not sure how to take this. She just wants to hang out after all. Nothing more than that right? Besides, she'll probably just read a book. The things I'm teaching Neptune is Elementary.

"Sure, you don't need to ask though." She blushes at this remark. I wonder why actually, all I said was she doesn't have to ask. High school girls are far more confusing than physics. Whenever she blushes I feel like I've done something wrong. Why is this happening to me?

"O… ok..." She says shyly as she enters the art room. Part of the reason I'm not to phased by this is Neptune needs help… more than mental help. Nepgear as expected seats herself away from the both of us. Towards the back of the room to be precise. I wonder if something is troubling her.

Ok Jack you need to stop getting sidetracked with these stupid things. A lady or whatever you call it is waiting. "Ok Neptune, let's get to work."

"Righty-o… So how do we do this Algebra thingy?" Man she's really clueless on this one. I have a challenging road ahead of me today. I hope her brain doesn't explode from the basics. "Ok, the first thing we're going to do is learn how to find the slope of a line."

"The who of a what now?" Lord bless me to save this poor lost soul.

"Never mind, let's focus on what slope is first."

"Ok, super study intensely mode activate!" I'm tempted to throw her off the roof and make it look like an accident. No wait I can't do that, Nepgear would miss her too much. That might not be the case for the rest of them but I can't just kill her.

"Now the number with an x or any other letter behind it is the slope. Y= 2x+7 is an example of this, and an easy one at that." It can't get any easier than the problem I just gave her. Hopefully she'll be able to remember that little piece of information. If she can't even do that there will be no hope for her salvation.

I hate to admit it, but in the six days we've known each other, I've actually grown attached to her idiocy. Part of me doesn't want her to fail high school and have a bad life. The most surprising thing though is she hadn't gone to Nepgear first. That would've been a better option in my opinion.

"So with that, what is the slope of the line Neptune? Neptune?" Oh hell no, she hasn't pulled this off. I'm going to actually kill her this time. I can't say I blame her on this, it is pretty boring and not having a great attention span doesn't help either. "Zzz… Zzz… Zzz"

Who just falls asleep in the middle of a lesson? Then again she has pulled this off in class before. It'd be unwise to wake her though, I could damage her from waking her up too quickly. Not sure if it's possible for her to get more damaged but we'll see. Guess that leaves me and Nepgear alone with a sleeping Neptune.

Now I finally notice, I have more alone moments with Nepgear than the rest of our friends. It's a curse, or a blessing depending on which way you look at it. None of that thinking will help me now, might as well see what's troubling her. "Hey Nepgear, something up?"

Me talking to her causes her to snap back to reality. If she can go off to another world just like that is rather strange. Normally she'd be more focused. What the hell am I thinking by making observations like this? I've only known her for almost a week. If this is an average week for me from now on I don't think I'll mind.

"Wha! … Oh, it's nothing." This is obviously a lie on her part. Perhaps I should try to get to the actual problem. It's not like she'll get angry with me, if anything she'll over apologize for nothing. What she really needs is someone to give her a little self-confidence.

It's not right to just shrug this off as nothing, but what other choice do I have? I don't want to appear nosey, that would make me seem like an even bigger weirdo. Damn this is a tight spot, but I'm an unpopular guy… I've got nothing to lose. Let's not go that far, I still need to maintain a friendship with her and help without being nosey.

Looks like I did end up shrugging it off after all. Now we sit in awkward silence, just looking away from each other. From the things I've been through so far, I actually worry about her. Is that weird for someone who I haven't known all that long. Either I'm a damn good friend or just a stalker.

No matter which way I look at it, that unpopular excuse won't work this time. I value the friendship I have with her. Now that's not too weird from a friend, or from a guy who hasn't had friends in years.

To my surprise Nepgear is the one who breaks the silence, as well as looks at me. The look in her eyes is something I haven't seen before. It's a look of despair and defeat, that doesn't seem like her.

"Actually… It's not nothing. I'm… upset."

Now I'm scared, she doesn't seem like the kind of person to just spill her guts. If someone just pulls a on eighty on their personality something must be really wrong. As I said before, I've got nothing to lose on this. "What's up Nepgear?"

"I… I miss… home." A feeling of homesickness is her case. That is understandable despite earlier this week. This is the only normal thing that's happened to me so far. I myself have been through this same experience in my life. During the time my mother was taken, I was moved out of town for a little while. Then Maurice got his apartment and I was able to live with him.

That wouldn't have happened if our dad hadn't walked out on us. It's not all that bad now, it turned out alright after all. I still have Maurice and that's all that matters. There's more than that though, I now have friends. And that's something I don't want to let go. "Yeah… I've been there before. I know how it feels and I'm sorry."

"Don't be… my worries… aren't worth fretting over." The same self-worth issues as before. It seems like I've had to comfort her a lot lately. Every time I do it's almost as if she comes back a few days later in worse shape. Now it's officially a losing battle on my end. But I can't just let her say these things about herself.

"Nonsense, I'm your friend so your worries are worth fretting over. You can rely on me."

"Jack…" She gives off another blush with tear filled eyes. From what I can tell I've reached her inner self. There must be something about my voice that causes girls to get all awkward around me. If I'd known that years ago man I would so freaking cool. But then I wouldn't have met Nepgear.

"Jack!" Her body lunges forward and plants her head in my chest. My back is also victim to the assault, her arms are holding me tightly. I'm like that new puppy you get and you never want to let it go. What started off as a normal conversation has turned into a saddening and very weird moment. Maybe people back where she came from weren't so nice to her.

"Thank you…" I can't see it, but she's smiling I just know it. My hypothesis was correct, she'll come back to normal with a few honeyed words. This whole scene would be perfect except for one thing. "Zzz… Zzz… Zzz…"

Neptune's snoring snaps both of us back to reality, what was I thinking? She's a girl I barely know and that happened, I'm so going to hell now. Her head tilts up from my chest, I tilt mine down to see her eyes. Right now I feel nothing but excitement… with a hint of embarrassment. Now I know that I'll jump on the first easy girl I have a chance with.

Her face turns bright red at the realization of where she's at right now. "AH!"

She pushes me to the floor which hurts like a bitch. Going from the warmth of another person to the cold tile floor all in an instant doesn't settle well. I'd hate to admit it, but I actually enjoyed hugging Nepgear for comfort. Well… technically she lunge hugged me first before I hugged back.

Picking my head up off the ground I get a view of how Nepgear looks right now. Her eyes are shut tightly with her mouth wide open. She looks like she wants to scream but can't for some reason. The shade of red is yet another new shade of the crayon box, I think these girls should become artists if they keep up this rainbow of face colors.

It's adorable seeing her like this, but I don't want to say it out loud. Is it wrong for a guy to like a girl? Hell no it isn't, it is however weird if you've only known them for a short while. Even then I'm still uncertain of my feelings towards all of them. Each has their strong point, and weak points.

Her face returns to normal however after a few moments of thinking. When this happens I pick myself up off of the floor. I wouldn't be surprised if things were weird between us for a few hours… or days even.

"Well would you look at the time? Your brother should be here by now." Her voice goes to a perky tone compared to her previous voice. I know what she's trying to do, she's getting us out of here to avoid an awkward situation. Can't say I blame her.

"You're right, it is time." Neptune is still asleep by her bag. Waking her at this point would be a bad idea, so I have a new idea. Picking her up and getting her to look like a piggy back ride, the three, well two of us begin walking.

The whole walk back is spent in silence, and not the good kind. Both of us also don't look at each other, this isn't much of a surprise either. The outside of the school is bright, and Maurice is waiting for us. Going up to his car and opening up the back door I lay Neptune down on the seat. Nepgear sits in the back seat by her. Shotgun is mine for the taking.

As he starts to drive off back to the complex I'm left thinking. 'These feelings are getting annoying, but Nepgear… I think I might actually be interested in her.'