Chapter 2
Again, I do not own Ranger's Apprentice. Enjoy the story!
Will walked into English class; the broad grin on his face had not dared leave his face. Horace and George, who were also in his class, buffeted him from either side, nearly knocking Will off his feet. Both of them bore the same curious look on their face, but confident grins. George nudged Will in the side.
"Come on Will, you can't be silent forever," George egged. Will opened his mouth to tell his tale, but no sound came out. Horace laughed.
"Give him a few minutes; his heart is probably beating so fast, Floyd "Money" Mayweather would go 'damn!'" Horace joked. Will and George laughed. Horace was right; Will's heart was beating rather fast. The door of the classroom shut and the teacher, Mr. Gilan walked in. Mr. Gilan was pretty funny, but he could also be a bit sarcastic in his humor. He was also the corner coach and he pushed George harder than he did anyone else. The rest of the period was long and tedious as they endured the story of 'Macbeth'. Horace passed a note underneath the desk to Will.
How did it go? It read. Will looked around, careful of anyone who was looking at him. Will scribbled down his reply onto the torn sheet of paper.
The streak is broken he wrote. Will folded the paper and hurled it into the side of Horace's head. Unfortunately for Will, Mr. Gilan was monitoring his every move and stopped the audio track. He then walked over to Will and Horace, his hand outstretched. Horace retrieved the paper from the floor and placed it in his hand. Mr. Gilan then unfolded the paper and read it aloud to the class.
"'How did it go?'" He read. His eyes squinted at Will's response and an expression of confusion appeared on his face. Mr. Gilan regarded Will and his eyes fell back on the paper. "'The streak is broken.'" He continued to look back and forth between Horace and Will, who were remaining calm. Out of the corner of his eye, Will could make out the sight of George snickering mutely.
"How did what go?" Mr. Gilan asked the pair of them. "Who wrote that line?" Almost an instant the last word escaped his lips; Will's finger shot forward, implicating Horace. Mr. Gilan looked at Horace, expectancy looming on his face. Horace shot a look of protest at Will, but there was no way he could dig himself out of this hole.
"I suppose you want an explanation," Horace figured humorously. Will could hear George's uncontrolled giggles as the class eavesdropped at the three of them.
"Give it a shot," Mr. Gilan remarked sarcastically. Horace shot a just grin at Will whose heart sank. He was starting to regret selling Horace out.
"Will has liked this girl Alyss for two years now," Horace began. George gasped blatantly. Will felt disgruntled; it was easy to laugh when you aren't the one being frisked for answers. "And every time that he tried to approach her, he would stutter." George and Will picked up on the emphasis that Horace had in his statement. Horace continued with his story.
"Only girl this kid was ever shy around!" Horace teased. "But today, Will seemed to have managed to have a full conversation with her." Mr. Gilan looked as if he was fighting back a laugh. The bell rang and everyone rushed out of the classroom as if they were desperate to get away from the textbooks of which they were reading. George waited for Horace and Will just outside the classroom.
"This isn't over," Will warned to Horace in a joking manner. Horace laughed.
"Looking forward to it," Horace remarked. Will shook his head as they walked down the stairs where they met Cassandra and Jenny. They rushed up to Will, their faces bright and eager. Will couldn't tell if they were eager to hear details of his recent breakthrough or if there something that the three of them needed to know.
"We just met Alyss!" Cassandra announced brightly. Will's chest contracted at the sound of these words. He hoped the rest of what they had to say was good news. He stared at the pair of them.
"And?" he asked, egging them to continue on with their story.
"Oh my god, everyone has to go the mall this Saturday, Horace, Crowley, George, Halt…." Will cut them off at the sound of Halt's name. Halt was really good friends with Will and his group. He was also the quarterback and is supposedly one of the best in the state. Halt to everyone else, was the only person that could rival will when it came to stealing the breath of girls. But his personality was mysterious and Will had often chosen to avoid Halt before he himself got sucked into that life. Halt and Will would often try to 'outdo' each other to see how many girls would like one over the other. Halt and Will were pretty much even in every competition. But Will did not want a challenge from Halt, especially when the only thing he wanted in the world, other than to go to the NFL, was to be with Alyss.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Will ceased. "Number one, Halt does not get to hear about this!" Cassandra and Jenny exchanged confused glances with each other. They remembered every competition the two of them had; they thought that Will would not refuse an opportunity to prove his dominance over Halt.
"Why not?" Jenny asked. Will ignored her question.
"Number two, why are we going to the mall anyways?" Will demanded. Horace and George nodded in agreement.
"Because we need to talk about Alyss!" Jenny said urgently, as if this was supposed to be obvious. Will looked around at the group. Crowley walked up to them. The face on his black 'Disturbed' shirt was staring at Will menacingly. That face had always unnerved Will.
"What's up guys?" Crowley greeted. Will ignored him.
"Why don't you just tell me what happened when you met Alyss," Will huffed exasperated. A disappointed, but defeated look appeared on Cassandra's face.
"Fine," Cassandra said, disgruntled. "Alyss walked up to me and Jenny and asked if we were friends with you."
"And we told her that we were of course," Jenny added. "Then she started asking about you." Will's heart started to perform a victory lap in his chest at the sound of this.
"And what did she ask?" Will asked. Jenny and Cassandra giggled. Giggling should be made illegal. Will thought bitterly.
"Well she asked how close we are, if you were interested in someone," Jenny went on, adding emphasis on the second question. "Hint, hint." Will looked at her strangely. He almost wanted to sing as he heard this. Will opened his mouth to ask her how much Alyss liked him, but his words were drowned out by the sound of the bell. He cursed it under his breath. He, Crowley, George, and Horace bade Jenny and Cassandra goodbye. Will and George then left Horace and made their way to Chemistry. George nudged Will in the shoulder. Will turned to look at George, who had a widespread grin upon his face.
"What?" Will asked.
"So when are you going to ask her?" George asked him expectantly.
"Why would I ask her now?" Will instituted. "I was barely able to get through our conversation earlier this morning."
"Yeah, but you've adored her for two years," George pointed out. "All you used to do back then was talk about her; I bet you even dream about her." Will felt his cheeks burn from embarrassment. He wanted so desperately to escape this conversation, to return to his thoughts peacefully. But what had these thoughts done to him in 2 years? Will grew less and less confident in his abilities, just over the shyness he possessed for Alyss. The thought of her brought Will's heart to a pace that only a cheetah would know. Will and George arrived in Mrs. Pauline's classroom about thirty seconds late, but that would be enough for her to be set in a bitter mood for the remainder of the day. Mrs. Pauline was very adamant with a majority of students, but not when it came to athletes like Will and George. She detested them, what they do, and how they express their feelings of their matters. So naturally, she would glare at them, an unusual hateful glint in her eyes as they entered the room.
"You're late," she remarked as she scribbled something down in her notebook. "I suppose you boys just don't care enough about my class as you do Football and your reputations." Will and George exchanged glances with one another. They both had substantial marks in her class. But only George saw it fit to protest.
"Mrs. Pauline, Will and I both have A's right now," George pointed out. She shot them another glare as the words escaped George's mouth. Will thought he saw the vein in her temple throb; he could feel her anger from across the room. Mrs. Pauline sighed deeply.
"Take your seats," she huffed as she continued to write excessively. They took their seats next to each other in the front of the classroom. Will dropped his book bag under his table. As he reached down to retrieve his materials, he noticed something extrusive. Something was written in a place where if someone wasn't paying attention, they would never notice it. Will knew that Mrs. Pauline had taught an Advanced Chemistry class during first period. Of course, this wasn't the class that Alyss was in earlier. But she did have a friend named Delia who had Mrs. Pauline.
Will Alyss = Forever!
Will snuck a glance up at Mrs. Pauline to make sure she wasn't watching and brought is phone into position. He then snapped a picture and saved it. George noticed Will's actions and nudged him in the side.
"Careful, if Mrs. Pauline catches you, then you're a dead man," George whispered. Will shrugged and pulled up the photo. He then passed his phone into George's awaiting hands. He regarded it for a few seconds and looked back over at Will. A joking grin appeared on his face. "You wrote that didn't you?" Will snatched his phone away from George and tucked it safely back into his book bag.
"You know perfectly well that is not my handwriting!" Will hissed through gritted teeth. "It was written under the table." George looked confused for a moment until Will indicated the spot as to where he found it. George leaned over slightly, pretending to be retrieving something from his book bag and read it. As he pulled back up, he looked back at Will, his lips pursed.
"You couldn't have shown me this without handing me your phone!" George scolded. A loud sound, which would have been heard as a combination of displeasure and a woman clearing her throat for attention, emanated from the front. Will and George jumped as they saw Mrs. Pauline glaring at them.
"Will you two kindly stop your very important conversation long enough for me to teach?" she spat angrily. Will and George said nothing; Mrs. Pauline resumed her lesson. The bell rang an hour later, interrupting Will from his daydreams of Alyss and his "note taking". George looked at the picture that Will had been drawing underneath his notes in between Mrs. Pauline's lectures. He laughed slightly, but not slight enough that Will couldn't have noticed it. A pencil drawn image of a cartoon version of Will and Alyss holding hands was clearly visible on the page.
"You amaze me sometimes," George remarked. Will scowled and shut his notebook hurriedly before George could say anything else. They met Horace and Jenny in the hallway near the cafeteria. George began to tell them about the picture that Will had drawn, but Will elbowed him hard enough in the ribs that he ceased his tale. The bell rang and Will and Horace proceeded to Gym. Will changed and locked his belongings and the moment he walked out the locker room, he ran into someone that could only make things go from bad to worse.
"So I hear you have a thing for Alyss Mainwaring," Halt said in a wispy voice.