Chapter 5

POV: Simon

I didn't understand what had happened. Jeanette looked like she was about to start crying, and then she just walked out. It was all a bit odd. I was beginning to wonder if I'd said something wrong, perhaps I'd offended her without realizing.

I walked out of my room to the living room, to find Alvin and Theodore standing up, perplexed.

"Wow, Simon, you really need to learn how to treat girls on dates," Alvin said, but his humor was overlaying confusion,
"What did you do?" I wished I knew.

"I don't know. Maybe she really did have to help Brittany with her homework." I doubted it, since it sounded like a cheap excuse to leave. I wanted to go and talk to her, to ask her what happened, but common sense told me to leave her alone until tomorrow.

"What was the last thing you said to her?" Asked Theodore, trying to help.

"I said 'I haven't seen any girls that I'd want to ask out yet'." I was beginning to understand how that might have offended Jeanette, since she might have thought that I was referring to her. Come to think about it, she had asked me about my love life and then whether I was going to leave. It was starting to make some sense.

"Oh my God. Do you think she has a crush on me?" I asked, knowing Alvin's answer before it left his mouth.

"What have I been saying for as long as I can remember? Of course she has a crush on you." I was starting to believe Alvin. It was the only logical answer.

Jeanette had a crush on me, and I told her I didn't want to date her. I didn't say it directly, but it could certainly be interpreted that way. I needed to rectify the situation, to apologize. What could I do? I couldn't suddenly ask her out, she would see right through it. i decided to just wait a day or two, and then talk to her about it, then maybe we could reach some conclusion.

"I'll just wait a while and then talk to her. I'd prefer you didn't interfere, Alvin. I have it under control." I walked back into my room to do some homework and go to sleep. I was just hoping that everything could get back to normal.

That night I lay, wondering about today's events, when a thought crossed my mind. How did I feel about Jeanette? She was smart, for one thing. I could do things with her by which my brothers would be bored to tears. We certainly had a lot in common.

I was beginning to look at Jeanette differently. Could it be possible that I had a crush on her as well?

I was in my room for most of the week-end. I sat at my computer, and studied for school, though I didn't get nearly as much done as was usual for me.

I was silent for most of Monday morning, still thinking about Jeanette and the events of that strange evening. It was odd, that a change in the way I thought of Jeanette could impact my behavior. My mind was occupied throughout breakfast, and Alvin didn't take long to point it out.

"Simon, are you sleep-eating, or is your vision blocked by pink mist?" He chuckled to himself.

"Neither, I just have nothing to say." It was true, but definitely uncharacteristic.

"You don't even want to explain how the metals in our cereal explode in water?" Theodore interjected, "You usually do." I sighed.

"Only alkaline metals explode in water. The metal in the cereal is mainly sodium."

I eventually started on my journey to school, which I dreaded, in case I met Jeanette on the way. I spotted her down the street, but waited for her to turn a corner. I didn't need her to be more confused about me, and I was in a puzzling state of mind. It was a problem, since we shared a chemistry class in the morning.

Jeanette was moping about all morning, and in chemistry, we hardly exchanged a word. It was strange, and I didn't like it. I had to talk to her at lunch.

I couldn't concentrate in my middle period, and the teacher was annoyed when I didn't notice she had asked me a question. It was only a simple differentiation, and I would have been able to answer her, had I not been otherwise occupied.

At lunch, I took my share of food and sat down at a table. Jeanette also took some food, but she sat down as far away from me as was possible. I convinced myself that I should approach her, and my legs unwillingly walked towards her table.

"Hi." I began, and sat down at Jeanette's table.

"Oh, how uncharacteristically cliché." I was a bit taken aback by her immediate judgement, but I wasn't going to let it get to me. She was in a bad mood because of me, and I needed to apologize.

"How about 'greetings, fellow homo sapiens sapiens'?" She smiled slightly, which was a start, "I'm sorry about the lesson yesterday. I said some stupid things." I dived straight to the issue at hand.

"Really?" Jeanette looked up at me, with hopeful eyes.

"Yep, I didn't mean to offend you like that. I guess I was just defending myself." Jeanette blushed slightly.

"Was it that obvious that I didn't have a previous engagement?" she asked disappointedly. After a pause, she continued; "I was just being stupid. You didn't do anything. So do you still want to teach me the rest of the steps?"

"I'd love to." She smiled from ear to ear. She did look cute when she smiled. Maybe there was something between us, after all. "You can come over to my house this afternoon, and we'll start where we left off."

"I went to your house on Friday. Do you want to come to mine this time?" Jeanette proposed.

"OK, I'll come over after school." I was looking forward to it. I had an idea for something I could do to make up for what I'd said.

Well, I've been reading the reviews on the previous chapters, and it seems that the people who have read this story think that it's pretty good. I didn't expect this, I can tell you, since nothing I've written before has been commended in this way. I thank you all, and hope you keep reading, and that you like the rest of the story.

Reviews are what keep me writing, so if you want to see the rest, review this chapter. I need to know that people are reading and enjoying my story, otherwise I lose incentive to continue.