"Uh, hi," Louis said, turning back around and continuing on his way before calling back, "I'm Louis!"
"It's good to meet you, Lou! Can I call you Lou?" Sarah asked as she followed Louis' actions and began walking beside him.
"Um, yeah, I guess. That's what Sam and Kara call me," replied Louis without thinking.
"Who's Sam and Kara?"
"Oh." A faint blush graced Louis' face. "They're my friends."
'You only have two friends?'
"No, I have a third. They just insist on travelling in my shirt pocket. Apparently, they like the smell of a man's nipple."
And I'm back.
"Ah, a funny guy. I like it." Sarah snickered. "I'm new here if you were curious."
"I gathered that, considering you're talking to me." The words slipped out of Louis' mouth, and he silently cursed himself for not keeping his mouth shut.
"What does that mean?" Sarah squinted her eyes as she asked the question, looking not so different from a puppy.
"I'm the nerdy kid who has two friends and people pick on. Well, only one friend, if you don't include people who live on the other side of the country." Louis grinned.
He always joked about his situation with people, mainly because it made him uncomfortable. The good news was, not many people cared enough to ask him about it.
"It's ok; you'll get the memo as soon as you get to school."
"I have so many questions right now." Sarah did a little skip to make sure she kept up with Louis as her walking speed couldn't match Louis' long strides.
"What kind of questions?"
"Well, I may have just moved here, and this may be my first day at this school, and I don't want to seem like I'm one to judge a book by its cover..."
"Are you going to actually to ask the questions, or am I going to suddenly start seeing images flash in my mind, like some weird alien movie?"
"Hilarious, Lou." Sarah said, making Louis smile; he was starting to like Sarah already. She had a certain quality about her. Louis couldn't quite pick it, but it was calming. "I just thought, you know... that you'd be the bully."
Louis howled with laughter but managed composed himself as Sarah just stared at him.
"Well, I am a horrible person, Sarah, but I don't bully people. I just retaliate." Louis smiled at her. "And, if you thought I was a bully, why did you approach me?"
Sarah shrugged before looking at Louis and winking. "Taking a chance to get with a bad boy."
Louis let out another howl of laughter.
"Even if I was a bully, you're still barking up the wrong tree."
"What? Why?" Sarah couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"There's nothing straight about me. I don't even own a ruler."
"Really? My gosh, you're full of surprises. Don't tell me; you're also a model student with perfect grades?"
"Clearly, you've got me all worked out now." Louis smiled again.
"Oh, my God, really? Jesus, what kind of human are you?" Sarah let out another laugh.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're six-foot-God-knows-what. You're hot as hell. You look like a jock who plays football, and you look more masculine than my brother, who, to be honest, and I will never compliment him again, is pretty jacked. But you're a straight-A student, apparently have no friends, and are gay. You make no sense."
"Well... actually," Louis gently bumped into Sarah's shoulder, and she sent him a playful glare. "I have two friends, I'm not that attractive, and I have actually dabbled in football; though it is a stupid game.?"
"Well... actually," Sarah replied, mimicking Louis. "You now have three friends. I agree with you on the football thing. I'm going to ignore the attractiveness comment. And your grades indicate there is something straight about you after all!" Sarah smiled, and Louis smiled back.
This was all very odd to Louis, and he didn't know if Sarah would stick around after they got to school, but, for now, she was a good walking partner. The pair continued to walk casually towards their school, Sarah no longer in a rush to get there, as she and Louis continued to chat and laugh with each other. On their way to school, Louis made sure that Sarah learnt the hard way how sarcastic he could be, causing her to sigh heavily on more than one occasion, which, to Louis' delight, was always followed by a bright smile or a small chuckle.
A bit too soon too soon for Louis' liking, he was standing in front of the school. Sarah, on the other hand, was almost jumping with joy by his side. Much to his dismay, it looked as though it hadn't started yet.
"Oh, good! I didn't miss anything!" Sarah exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh, yay!" Louis drawled sarcastically.
"Alright, I'm going to head to the office and grab my schedule. You wanna come?" Sarah beamed at Louis, ignoring the sarcasm.
Louis shifted uncomfortably on the spot. Even though they had walked to school together and talked non-stop the entire way, Louis was still a bit lost at how to handle someone other than Sam or Kara taking a liking to him.
"Uh, I actually have to go and meet Sam," he stated, not sure if that was the truth or not. "Also, I'd like it if you didn't hang around me today. So that you don't get bullied on your first day." Louis quickly added the last part as he saw Sarah's face drop. "I don't mean I'd like it. I think it'd be best, you know?"
"But—" she started, but Louis was already walking away.
"I'll meet you out here at the end of the day. It was nice meeting you!" Louis called back before he slipped through the entrance of the school and into its halls.
He felt bad for ditching Sarah, but he thought it was for the best. He didn't want to be the reason her first day at a new school was horrible. He, more than anyone, knew how brutal school could be.
"Who was that?" Sam's voice drifted in from behind Louis.
"Who was who?" Louis asked, turning to see his best friend by his side.
"The girl you were talking to as you walked up to the school, who else?"
"She's new here."
"No wonder she was talking to you," Sam joked.
"Says the person who always talks to me."
"Yeah, but that's different."
"Really? And how's that?" Louis asked as he reached his locker.
"I know that you're not actually a loser."
"Cheers, Sam," Louis said, opening his locker, a hint of sincerity in his voice.
Louis fumbled to get what he needed for class and turned to face Sam.
"No problem, nerd." Sam winked at Louis as he replied, causing Louis to shake his head.
A bell rippled through the school, and Louis and Sam headed down the hall through the swarm of other students; Sam made sure to stick close to Louis, and while Louis thought it was a kind gesture, he could have used more space.
"I forgot to say it before, but you look like absolute hell today," Sam stated, looking at the bags under Louis' eyes.
"Thanks, Sam. You always know how to make me feel good about myself." Louis shook his head. "I didn't sleep much last night."
"Maybe next time you should sleep more."
"Gee, Sam. I didn't think of that. Next time I'll be sure to take your advice on board."
"Sarcasm literally drips from your mouth."
"That's not the only thing." Louis winked at Sam, causing his best friend to pull a disgusted face.
"Gross. I'm leaving now. I'll see you later. Hopefully with a pure mind again."
With that, Sam pulled away from Louis before he had time to respond and disappeared into the crowd, and it was only then that Louis realised he was standing outside his own class just as another bell rang.
Round one: Homeroom.
Comments (1)
See all