(no subject)
As Soon as Emily was out of the cafeteria she took a deep sigh of relief. She hurried down the hall to her chemistry class and huddled herself on the seat close to the bench. Class was going to be awkward as hell - she could see it unfolding in her imagination. If only Toby wasn't her lab partner then she wouldn't be having this dilemma but there was no getting out of it now. Emily was stuck whether she liked it or not.
When Emily had been sitting there for only a minute or two she heard the distinctive sound of the door handle being turned. She tried to make herself one with the lab and hope for her life that it wasn't Toby. She stole a quick glance up at the opening door - Toby. Of course she couldn't have been lucky and gotten one of those asshole jocks who were a total joke in class. No, it was the one person who she felt 100% embarrassed to see right now and she knew he'd be heading to the seat right next to her at their lab station.
The door closed with a clicking sound and she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. And then they stopped right next to her. Next she heard the sound of his bag setting onto the bench and him pulling his stool forward with a little squeek. Not once did she chance another glance because she hoped that maybe, if she just pretended he wasn't there and that she didn't exist then what had happened in the caf would just disappear. He had so obviously heard... everyone had and who knows how he would react.
For a minute Emily thought that she was going to get her wish and Toby would just let it slide but then she heard the unmistakable sound of throat clearing and Emily couldn't helpf but pop her head out of its hiding position.
"Oh so you are alive." Toby said. "I thought maybe after what happened in the caf you had died of embarrassment. So he had noticed.
Not that she hadn't thought about curling up into a ball and never returning. But really the Toby thing was the least of her worries.
"Oh yeah.. that." Emily said after a long pause. "I'm sorry about what I said."
"Sorry for standing up for me or sorry for expressing to everyone that you don't like me." He sounded matter of fact and not at all irritated.
"Well it's not that I don't like you because you're a nice person and all. I just don't like you in that way because ya know the whole Ben thing and then dealing with all this Ali stuff..." Her voice trailed off and then she realized that none of the things she said actually pertained to him they were just things in her life that were working as a mental block. "But I meant the whole part about not thinking you're not creepy." Obviously she was the creepy one if she had starred at him for 15 minutes and didn't even realize it had been that long.
Then he just nodded and pulled his chem book from his bag. Apparently the ordeal was over and he was gonna let it go. She should have known that he wouldn't make a big deal out of it. He was Toby and not some weird Ali clone, she didn't have to worry about those things with him.
Another minute passed and their teacher came in. A few minutes later other students began to fill in.
Even though Emily was starring down at her book she could feel a presence standing next to her. It couldn't be Toby because he was still sitting to her left. She took a glance to her right but that was enough to get the guy going. "Well if it isn't Mr.Creepy and his pretty girlfriend." It was some stupid jock - of course. "Guess that's why you let him beat up Ben so bad because he's the one you wanted instead." Then the guy started to laugh followed by half of her present classmates.
Before Emily could even begin to respond the bell was ringing and her teacher was telling the class to "Settle down." And then more to her surprise "I would like it if we could leave Miss Fields' personal life out of the classroom." He paused for a few seconds to make sure it had settled in and then continued on with the usual dribble. "Today as you all know we have a lab." There was a general groaning in the room. "Since it's still the beginning of the year we're going to start things off very simple. "Over the next three lab periods we're going to do a simple acid-base titration. I've written the directions on the board and if you need further referencing you can check page 64 in your textbooks. Now get to it!" With a shooing motion the instructor stopped talking and Emily knew that it was time to gather the materials and get the lab going.
Emily hopped off of her stool and headed to the back of the class to grab the materials that weren't already at their station while Toby pulled the remaining items out from under the lab. When she got back to the bench the two wordlessly set up their experiment to mirror the picture in their texts and then sat down in preparation for a boring 50 minute period of watching one solution drip into another.
For the most part class passed in quiet with only a few muttered notations about data while making sure to give each other enough space. And Emily made absolutely certain not to touch him because she didn't want tp s[ark any more rumors about something going on between her and Toby. She wanted to make people realize it was totally platonic. Just because they were friendly and she didn't think he was creepy like 90% of the school population did not mean she had a thing for him.
All Emily really wanted to do was to get out of this class as painlessly as possible. Just as this thought passed through her head she realized she would have been better off without it because it was just asking for trouble. It made her lose concentration and caused her to drop a beaker full of water which shattered when it made contact with the exposed lab bench. It was funny too because it was almost as though Toby knew she was going to drop it because he reached out for it a second after it fell but only managed to graze her hand with his. So much for an uneventful chem class and with only five minutes to go.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I've made a huge mess I just sort of slipped through my fingers." Em said apologetically.
"No, I should have caught it." Toby replied trying to shake the glass off a data sheet now coated in water.
And soon they were into a muddled state of them both trying to apologize for the broken glass without actually cleaning it up.
But Emily ended it with, "How could you have known I was going to drop it? And even if you did it doesn't matter now because we have a mess and we should stop fighting over who made it and just clean it up.
From behind her Emily could hear a snigger and then "Oh how very diplomatic of Creeper's girl."
Emily turned around and glared at the voice. Same stupid jock, of course. "Why don't you shut your mouth considering you have no idea what you're even talking about. Oh wait, I forgot you don't know how to think so words simply tumble out of their own accord." She didn't wait for a reply but simply turned back to Toby and their mess. "I'm sorry about those guys." And then they were all about making sure to safely dispose of the glass and wipe up as much water as possible.
The bell rang and they were still cleaning up. "I'm sorry about the mess. It's my fault, you can go and I'll finish up." Emily said
"That's okay, it'll go faster with two anyway." Toby replied "And I thought we'd gone over the saying sorry to each other too much."
"Thanks I seriously owe you one." She made a mental note not to say sorry again for all the sorries that had been exchanged this period.
He gave a throaty little laugh. "Yeah, you do." And then he gave her a goofy kind of grin.
"Um, do you have something in mind?" Emily asked tentatively.
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What I do know is that I think you should make it up to me tomorrow." His smile changed from goofy to something Emily thought must be mischievious.
"Is it anything that would get me in trouble?"
"Why would I ever want to get you in trouble?"
"Well, no, I don't know... but as long as it's safe I'm in."
"I never said it was safe." The smile on his face had gotten broader she noticed. "But I'll make it as safe as possible."
"But you won't tell me what we're going to be doing?"
"All you need to know is that you're going to love it." Then he glanced down at the the now clean lab bench. "Seeing as all the glass is cleaned up, I think the time for questions is over for today. I'll see you tomorrow." He picked up his bag that he had apparently already stuffed his school things into and turned and exited the room.
"Right, tomorrow, of course." Emily mumbled. What was this become a habit or something? She shook her head and scrambled to get all of her notebooks together and into her back and then followed his path out of the classroom.
When Emily had been sitting there for only a minute or two she heard the distinctive sound of the door handle being turned. She tried to make herself one with the lab and hope for her life that it wasn't Toby. She stole a quick glance up at the opening door - Toby. Of course she couldn't have been lucky and gotten one of those asshole jocks who were a total joke in class. No, it was the one person who she felt 100% embarrassed to see right now and she knew he'd be heading to the seat right next to her at their lab station.
The door closed with a clicking sound and she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. And then they stopped right next to her. Next she heard the sound of his bag setting onto the bench and him pulling his stool forward with a little squeek. Not once did she chance another glance because she hoped that maybe, if she just pretended he wasn't there and that she didn't exist then what had happened in the caf would just disappear. He had so obviously heard... everyone had and who knows how he would react.
For a minute Emily thought that she was going to get her wish and Toby would just let it slide but then she heard the unmistakable sound of throat clearing and Emily couldn't helpf but pop her head out of its hiding position.
"Oh so you are alive." Toby said. "I thought maybe after what happened in the caf you had died of embarrassment. So he had noticed.
Not that she hadn't thought about curling up into a ball and never returning. But really the Toby thing was the least of her worries.
"Oh yeah.. that." Emily said after a long pause. "I'm sorry about what I said."
"Sorry for standing up for me or sorry for expressing to everyone that you don't like me." He sounded matter of fact and not at all irritated.
"Well it's not that I don't like you because you're a nice person and all. I just don't like you in that way because ya know the whole Ben thing and then dealing with all this Ali stuff..." Her voice trailed off and then she realized that none of the things she said actually pertained to him they were just things in her life that were working as a mental block. "But I meant the whole part about not thinking you're not creepy." Obviously she was the creepy one if she had starred at him for 15 minutes and didn't even realize it had been that long.
Then he just nodded and pulled his chem book from his bag. Apparently the ordeal was over and he was gonna let it go. She should have known that he wouldn't make a big deal out of it. He was Toby and not some weird Ali clone, she didn't have to worry about those things with him.
Another minute passed and their teacher came in. A few minutes later other students began to fill in.
Even though Emily was starring down at her book she could feel a presence standing next to her. It couldn't be Toby because he was still sitting to her left. She took a glance to her right but that was enough to get the guy going. "Well if it isn't Mr.Creepy and his pretty girlfriend." It was some stupid jock - of course. "Guess that's why you let him beat up Ben so bad because he's the one you wanted instead." Then the guy started to laugh followed by half of her present classmates.
Before Emily could even begin to respond the bell was ringing and her teacher was telling the class to "Settle down." And then more to her surprise "I would like it if we could leave Miss Fields' personal life out of the classroom." He paused for a few seconds to make sure it had settled in and then continued on with the usual dribble. "Today as you all know we have a lab." There was a general groaning in the room. "Since it's still the beginning of the year we're going to start things off very simple. "Over the next three lab periods we're going to do a simple acid-base titration. I've written the directions on the board and if you need further referencing you can check page 64 in your textbooks. Now get to it!" With a shooing motion the instructor stopped talking and Emily knew that it was time to gather the materials and get the lab going.
Emily hopped off of her stool and headed to the back of the class to grab the materials that weren't already at their station while Toby pulled the remaining items out from under the lab. When she got back to the bench the two wordlessly set up their experiment to mirror the picture in their texts and then sat down in preparation for a boring 50 minute period of watching one solution drip into another.
For the most part class passed in quiet with only a few muttered notations about data while making sure to give each other enough space. And Emily made absolutely certain not to touch him because she didn't want tp s[ark any more rumors about something going on between her and Toby. She wanted to make people realize it was totally platonic. Just because they were friendly and she didn't think he was creepy like 90% of the school population did not mean she had a thing for him.
All Emily really wanted to do was to get out of this class as painlessly as possible. Just as this thought passed through her head she realized she would have been better off without it because it was just asking for trouble. It made her lose concentration and caused her to drop a beaker full of water which shattered when it made contact with the exposed lab bench. It was funny too because it was almost as though Toby knew she was going to drop it because he reached out for it a second after it fell but only managed to graze her hand with his. So much for an uneventful chem class and with only five minutes to go.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I've made a huge mess I just sort of slipped through my fingers." Em said apologetically.
"No, I should have caught it." Toby replied trying to shake the glass off a data sheet now coated in water.
And soon they were into a muddled state of them both trying to apologize for the broken glass without actually cleaning it up.
But Emily ended it with, "How could you have known I was going to drop it? And even if you did it doesn't matter now because we have a mess and we should stop fighting over who made it and just clean it up.
From behind her Emily could hear a snigger and then "Oh how very diplomatic of Creeper's girl."
Emily turned around and glared at the voice. Same stupid jock, of course. "Why don't you shut your mouth considering you have no idea what you're even talking about. Oh wait, I forgot you don't know how to think so words simply tumble out of their own accord." She didn't wait for a reply but simply turned back to Toby and their mess. "I'm sorry about those guys." And then they were all about making sure to safely dispose of the glass and wipe up as much water as possible.
The bell rang and they were still cleaning up. "I'm sorry about the mess. It's my fault, you can go and I'll finish up." Emily said
"That's okay, it'll go faster with two anyway." Toby replied "And I thought we'd gone over the saying sorry to each other too much."
"Thanks I seriously owe you one." She made a mental note not to say sorry again for all the sorries that had been exchanged this period.
He gave a throaty little laugh. "Yeah, you do." And then he gave her a goofy kind of grin.
"Um, do you have something in mind?" Emily asked tentatively.
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What I do know is that I think you should make it up to me tomorrow." His smile changed from goofy to something Emily thought must be mischievious.
"Is it anything that would get me in trouble?"
"Why would I ever want to get you in trouble?"
"Well, no, I don't know... but as long as it's safe I'm in."
"I never said it was safe." The smile on his face had gotten broader she noticed. "But I'll make it as safe as possible."
"But you won't tell me what we're going to be doing?"
"All you need to know is that you're going to love it." Then he glanced down at the the now clean lab bench. "Seeing as all the glass is cleaned up, I think the time for questions is over for today. I'll see you tomorrow." He picked up his bag that he had apparently already stuffed his school things into and turned and exited the room.
"Right, tomorrow, of course." Emily mumbled. What was this become a habit or something? She shook her head and scrambled to get all of her notebooks together and into her back and then followed his path out of the classroom.