Oh no... I thought to myself after that memory flashed through my mind. What did I just do? Quincey's going to hate me all over again. Think before you act! Ugh...

I greeted him casually when I saw him a few minutes ago, thinking that summer vacation would have calmed things down between us. Which it apparently did, since our fight was just like any other day. He even called me "Miss snobby", like usual. But with what I had just done, I imagined him going back to calling me a "spoiled insensible brat". 

I made things worse again. I wondered if we were going to go back to the unbearable tension of last summer. Even though it didn't last long, I know we both felt it, as if a line we never intended to cross, had been crossed. Yet somehow, through an unspoken common agreement, we were back to normal, and I had just ruined it.

I sighed as I continued on my journey to Orson. I decided to shake it off telling myself that what's done is done.

I'll face the problem when it comes. For now, Orson is my top priority.

The bell was going to ring in three minutes. But I had made up my mind to make it, so failure was not an option. I shook my shoulders again to completely get rid of the lingering memory of Quincey's glare, and put on my most beautiful smile, as I got closer to Orson. The plan was simple. I would walk past him, intentionally make one of my belongings fall next to him, he'll pick it up, give it back to me, and our story begins.

That's exactly what happened.

"Oh thank you!" I said as Orson called out to me to give me back my pen.

He rushed to me with his book still in one hand.

"No problem," he smiled.

His smile already made me feel better. Seeing his eyes closely, I noticed they were grey. I was a bit disappointed as I hoped they'd be blue like mine, but they were still beautiful.

"Hi," he said hesitantly.

"Hi," I smiled encouraging him to continue.

"Shannon, right?"

"Oh," I frowned confused. "Do we know each other?"

He chuckled.

"No, not at all. At least not yet. It's just that I've heard about you."

"Huh? From who?"

"Well, I can't tell you that," he scratched his forehead.

Then I remembered the two guys who took him away from the bench yesterday, and wondered what they could have told him about me. I'm not the most popular girl in school, but I know people talk about me.

"I hope you didn't hear anything outrageous."

"Oh no no," he reassured me. "Nothing bad. I only heard good things concerning you, which is why I was looking forward to meeting you."

Looking forward to meet me? I repeated to myself. Yay! 

The conversation was going better than I imagined.

"By the way," I continued with a calm suave voice that had nothing to do with the excited me in my mind, "what's your name?"

"Orson," he replied, apparently happy that I asked.

"Orson, that's nice."

"Thank you."

"You're new right?"

"Yes," he nodded, never looking away from me. "My family and I moved into town in the beginning of summer."

"That means you've had time to visit?"

"Ur... Yeah."

"I was thinking I could give you a little tour, but you've already done it."

"I don't mind going around again," he chortled.

"Really?"

"Of course, with you as a special guide."

I smiled. He was just so cute.

"By the way, what's the title of the book you're reading?" I asked. "You seem to like it a lot."

"Oh this?" he raised the book and looked through the pages. "It's called "The game of love and chance", by a French playwright Marivaux. It's a good book."

"You like reading?"

"I love reading," he corrected me. "And you?"

Fortunately, that's when the bell rang. I didn't see myself telling him that I'm not a reader. I usually wait for the film to come out. After all, it's just as good isn't it? Plus, if no film comes out, that just means it wasn't that good of a book to begin with right?

"Well, I have to go," I quickly answered, "I don't want to be late."

"OK. I hope we see each other again soon."

"Uh... Ah," I stuttered a bit surprised, "me too."

"See you around Shannon," he smiled to me again before walking back to the bench to take his bag. Then he ran off to class, after waving one last time at me.

My plan was a total success. I had not only talked to him, we even talked about meeting each other outside of school. I was so happy I wanted to jump and shout "Banzai!" or "Youpi!". But then people would have thought I was crazy. When I'm outside, I try to control my emotions.

I took in a deep breath of fresh air and said to myself:

"What a beautiful day."

Even though I kept my composure, in my mind I was hopping all over the place and spinning around, happily greeting everyone I came across even if I didn't know any of them.