第四章

Liam's POV: 

"Mr. Esner," Mrs. Emmy says. I jump, turning to look at her. I've been staring out a window for the past 15 minutes. "Are you doing your work?" She asks, raising a brow. 

I can't...

"Uh, yeah?" I reply, awkwardly. She rolls her eyes, "Get to work." I nod staring at my screen, and pressing play on the video. Alright Liam, just watch the video, and write down some notes. Easy enough, right? 

I'm just reading, and writing. Reading, and writing. Reading, and writing. I open my notebook, and pick up my pencil. 

"Okay, let's talk about Drude Law, and how it talks about Acceleration, and Kenetic forces," The lady in the video states, as she climbs into her car, and begins driving. I look down at my notebook, and write Drude Law down as a title. 

Penelope.

.....

FUCK! 

GET OUT OF MY HEAD ANDREWS!

Groaning quietly, I press pause on the videos again. I rub my hair back, tiredly. My mind wonders off again. Back to her. I still feel guilty. I can't just sit while she could possibly be somewhere balling her eyeballs out. If I knew where to find her, I would go, and try to...well you know...

Sure, I've said it a couple of times, but I'm still not used to saying that word.

It makes me feel weird...

Suddenly, I feel someone tap my shoulder from behind. I turn around, and see Nicole. "What?" I whisper. She leans forward, and whispers back, "It's about Penelope. If you're wondering, she's in the girls restroom. She said she doesn't want to talk to anyone, and then she kicked me out. I tried to get her to come out, and talk to you but...she said no to that too." My eyes widen, "So that's where you went?" She nods, whispering, "I thought that was obvious..."

"Apparently it wasn't if I just said, 'so that's where you went', question mark." She rolls her eyes, writing down notes in her notebook. Scratching my chin, I turn back to my computer.

Girls restroom. That's where I can find her. All I need to do is get the hell out of here. 

"The girls restroom, you say?" I whisper, turning around to face her again. She nods hesitantly, "I know that look. That's the face you make before you do something stupid. Don't even think about going in there, Liam. Do you know how much trouble you could get into?" I grin, "Too bad I live for trouble. Plus, I don't care..." Quickly, I turn back around, and raise my hand, signaling Mrs. Emmy to look at me, "May I go to the restroom?" She nods, staring at me questioningly. I smile, as I stand up, and look Nicole in the face. She glares at me, "She wants to be alone, dumb ass. Don't you listen?" 

I chuckle quietly, "Do you know me? Hell nah I don't listen! You can shout that at me, and I still wouldn't take the hint. I'm not about to let her be alone. She may hate me, but I don't really give two shits. Besides, what are you gonna do about it?" Her glare deepens, as I speed walk out of the room. Quickly closing the classroom door, I sprint down the hall.

Safe to say that I'm eager.

I'm been thinking about this too long for me to just carefully make way over to stall. I need to hurry, and just...

I don't know! Why's this so fucking hard for me to think?!

I run down the hall, and turn right. Slowing down, I see the girls restroom. I gulp, feeling nervous for some odd reason. I wish the nervousness would go away. I take a deep breath, hoping maybe this will soothe my anxious behavior. If not...I'm screwed. Slowly, I walk up to the door, reaching for the handle.

Should I?

Nicole did say that she didn't want to talk to anyone, and yeah, I told her I don't care, but that's a lie. Would I be...invading her space? Would I be doing the right thing comforting, or leaving her? I groan with frustration. Most of the time I'm sure about these things. Never been so indecisive about something in my life.

Well actually, that's a lie. But, this comes to a close second on that list. 

Sighing, I finally come to a conclusion.

I'll wait.

I'll wait for her. Whenever she's ready to come out, I'll be sitting right here, waiting for her. As long as it takes.

**********************

I glance at my watch, seeing that it's 2:20. I've been sitting out here for about 10 minutes. I'm surprised that my teacher hasn't come to check on me yet. Unless...she has, and hasn't found me...and is still looking for me...

Well...doesn't matter, as long as I don't get caught, I'm good. I lay my head against the door, staring at the the lockers in front of me.

I wonder how long she's been in there? I mean, I can guestimate how long, but I'd rather know the exact amount of time. I glance at my watch again, noticing about 5 more minutes have went by already from me just thinking. 

Maybe I should... 

"So...how long are you going to sit there for?" I shout. Suddenly, there is a tension. A tension that wasn't there before. "I..." Her small voice calls through the door, "I don't know." I sigh with relief to hear from her, "It's alright." I scratch the back of my head, feeling tired all of the sudden. 

"So...how long have you been sitting there?" She asks, sounding curious. 

"Not too long. I told my teacher that I was going to the restroom about 10 minutes ago."

"You know, your teacher is going to think you have a problem if you don't go back."

I laugh quietly, hoping she doesn't hear me.

"Well, technically I do have a problem."

"What's that?"

I can practically see her curious, yet confused face, "Not knowing if you're okay." Everything goes quiet. "I'm fine...just, uh, doing my makeup..." She replies. 

Makeup? Last time I checked, she doesn't wear makeup.

That's one of the many things that make her stand out from most girls...

"Really?" I say, raising a brow, "Well, answer me this. Since when do you wear makeup?"

"Since...today?"

"I know about what happened today." I say, annoyed. My jaw tenses, as an awkward silence fills the space between us. Someone had to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Beating around the bush isn't going to fix everything. No matter how much we want it to.

Plus...I intend on making sure this? Never happens again. Talking about what happened today, is how I'm going to do it.

"I heard about what she did to you..." I explain, trying to be as careful as I possibly can with what I say, "I'm sorry about Angel. Honestly...I'm sorry for everything. I should've known that she would do this to you. I should've-"

"Liam, stop." She interrupts, shutting me right up, "I appreciate, and accept your apology, but...I don't think this is your fault. I think it's all Angel's fault. You had nothing to do with what happened today. Though, yes, it was about you, but remember...Angel was the one who brought you into this in the first place. I never want you to feel like any of this was your fault. Because...it wasn't..."

Feeling relieved, but also irritated, I stand. I turn to face the door.

I'm irritated for various reasons. She's making this so hard for me to freaking apologize. It's hard enough for me to say that stupid word in the first place. Just take the apology, and be happy. No more sappy shit. Why does she have to be so sincere, and pure? Why did this have to happen to her out of all people? She's...

"Open the door," I say, carefully. I need to see you...

"Um...why? This is the girls restroom, you could get in trouble for being in here..." She replies, nervously. 

Does it look like I care, Pip?

I'd rather get expelled than not see you at all... 

"Well, that's just a the risk I'm willing to take," I reply, "Just open the stupid door, I wanna...see you..." 

After a few minutes of silence, the sound of shuffling resonates from behind the door. I take a step back as the door knob turns. I gulp, as it slowly opens, revealing Sunshine. She looks up at me, and I...forget where I am for a second. My brows furrow, and my jaw tenses up once again. I ball my hands up into fists.

What are you doing to me, Andrews... 

Grabbing her wrists, I pull her into my chest. Slowly, I wrap my arms around her, "Penelope, I...I hate seeing you cry..." I hold her close to me, wanting my hug to just be the thing that gets rid of the negative emotions, "I finally know what I hate about you...it's seeing you sad..." Almost immediately, she wraps her arms around me, burying her head into my chest. I place my hand on her head, as she begins to sob.