~ Harri ~

Ellis walked into the room with a radiant pink glow to them. They were visibly blushing and their ears had a reddish hue.

Why was I noticing these things??

They plopped down in their seat next to me and I smiled.

"What happened to you?" I asked, trying to lightly tease. They looked at me for a brief second before looking away and refusing to look back. Did I piss them off?

"What happened to you?" They responded. They buried their head in their arms, trying to hide their face from me.

"Oh, you mean when I was called to the office?" I panicked, realizing they were actually asking. They nodded, still not showing me their face and I blushed. Should I come up with a fake story? I mean, that's kinda embarrassing. They weren't even there and we aren't super close friends...

RINNGGGG.

"I'll tell you later," I said abruptly, thankful for once for that god-awful bell.

Mr. Evans began the english lesson. We had required reading again this year and we we're blessed with The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. It was easily one of my favorite books. I'd read it over and over since 6th grade. Being 14, I could understand Ponyboy and his perspective more than in previous years. Evans droned on and on but Ellis seemed to be in their own world.

A piece of hair fell in front of their face, the long curl seeming to bother them, and for no reason other than instinct, I wanted to brush it behind their ear. The thought was barely through my head before I turned bashfully red and clasped my hands together in my lap. I brushed back a piece of my own hair to satisfy the need to do something and did nothing else.

I could smell Ellis' perfume from their desk. It wasn't an overpowering smell, but it wasn't a soft one either. There was something strangely feminine but masculine about the strong aroma. It was fitting for them. All of a sudden, their eyes widened and they laid their head on their desk again, burying themselves in their arms. They were radiantly awkward and there was something very cute about that.

From a guyyy that you'd never be into, into a guyyy that you'd kinda be intooo

Stop taunting me. I followed suit, burying my head in my arms. Similar to that whole situation in Be More Chill, Ellis was someone that I could never be into. They weren't my type at all. I didn't mean beauty-wise. I found beauty relationships shallow and meaningless. I meant that Ellis would never use me or push me beyond my bounds. Unfortunately, that was my type. I shivered at the thought of 7th grade.

As I've said, I've known Ellis for a while and the way they portrayed themselves was so closed off to everyone else. No one really knew them except Rose. Ellis would never be into me. Ellis hasn't even changed! There was just something about them that was enticing. Maybe it was a feeling I had been fighting off for a while, but it was there. Something about Ellis was pulling me in, and I was falling prey to it.

"Harri? Ellis? Anyone?" Evans asked and the room seemed to echo it back through the deafening silence. Ellis and I simultaneously lifted our heads.

"What?" We asked in unison. Evans snorted.

"Why did Dally feel like Johnny's death was his fault? Why could we jump to that conclusion?"

Again, in unison we raised our hands, prepared to answer the question.

"Harri and Ellis, I want you guys to tag,-team explain this. Harri first," He decided aloud. He grinned largely as he knew that we would come up with an elaborate answer.

"Well, the text provided multiple instances of proof where the narrator explains that Dally 'felt that it was his fault because he told Johnny not to toughen up'".

"To expand upon that point," Ellis looked at me, "Dally runs away in the hospital directly after his death, in which he indirectly commits suicide. Often times, guilt is an after-effect of recent death, in which you could conclude that he felt it was his fault."

"From the perspective of Dally in an empathetic standing," I continued, "Dally had grown close to the boy, having him become the "group puppy" and often made the other boys lay off when they teased him. This could infer an older-brother like complex in which, any older sibling would feel responsible for the death of a younger sibling".

Evans blinked at us twice before starting up a round of applause from himself and everyone else. I hadn't realized I was standing, but I sat back down in my seat, feeling the rush of adrenaline of public speaking. I smiled at Ellis who was beaming. We were a pretty good team, I would say.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we answer questions in AP English."

I still was completely entrapped by Ellis' aura for the rest of that class. They were just sitting there, being a human, but I didn't think they knew what a beautiful human they were. I was trying my hardest not to stare, doing anything else that could occupy my brain. I looked up World of Warcraft maps and Harry Potter cosplay equipment and such to stop myself from ogling.

I felt a soft thump on my shoulder and my head whipped around. I looked in the general area where Ellis was and they were smiling at me, pointing to a piece of crumpled paper on the floor.

I picked it up and unfurled the abused ball.

hєч! whч díd чσu gєt cαllєd íntσ thє вíg σffícє?? αnσthєr αwαrd lσl??

Another award?? That's what she thought of me? I ripped out a page of notebook paper and scribbled it down. Our conversation went on for a good 15 minutes.

𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎... 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢... 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚂𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚝 𝙿𝚒𝚕𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚖-𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙?

wαít, sσ чσu punchєd sσmєσnє? σr//

𝙽𝙾𝙽𝙾𝙽𝙾 𝙻𝙾𝙻 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝.

σh nσ, díd thєч shít tαlk ríth σr sσmєσnє?

𝚄𝚑,, 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏

whσ??

𝚢𝚘𝚞... 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚞𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍

σmgσmgσmg í'm sσ sσrrч, thαt wαs sσ nσt wσrth gєttíng sєnt tσ thє σffícє fσr αnd í'm sσ sσrrч thє cαllєd чσu mч gf, í knσw thαt ísn't α dєsírαвlє pσsístíσn.

𝙾𝚑. 𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 °\\\° 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜

I never got a response to the last part as the bell rang yet again at the worst time. I wanted that conversation to keep going. I wanted to be with them more, but I suppose it would be fine. I knew that pursuing them would only lead to my own heartbreak, so I neither chased nor ignored them. I would simply be whoever they needed me to be, whether that be a stranger a friend,

an SO,

or someone they would forget in four years.

I trudged along the bustling hallways, losing sight of Ellis and being okay with it. I felt a soft poke on my shoulder. Ellis was there smiling at me, merely inches away from me. Of course, me being me, I coolly panicked and veered 3 feet to the left as to gain distance. They looked kinda upset, but then again, I knew I was going to attach too easily. I needed to know they liked me.

"What are you doing Saturday?"

That certainly wasn't the question I had in mind, but it was what came out when Ellis opened their mouth. Ellis gaped at me like a fish and it was super adorable. I had a feeling I had just screwed up.