Chapter 1: More than Freinds?

Jay flipped through a Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, that was years out of date, looking for information on activation energies. His lab partner, Elle, was doing the same across from him. Their friend Jane was frantically writing notes as she perused a thick chemistry book.

“Remind me again why I want to go to Harvard,” Jane asked of no one in particular.

Jay, thankful of the interruption looked up. A small girl, rather plain looking with vibrant red hair, green eyes and dimples, rubbed her eyes. “I’ll be happy enough to get into college,” he said to her.

She laughed. “Well, being a troll like you, I’d be happy too.”

Elle on the other hand was listening and chuckled. It was a pleasant sound. She didn’t lift her amber eyes from the book as she said. “Troll? That’s a little high up, don’t you think? I’d say more like troglodyte.”

Jay looked at her and the butterflies he had been trying to suppress all day came back. She was very attractive. Long, straight auburn hair with some blonde highlights from the sun, white skin, almost glowing under the fluorescent lights of the library, despite the hours of sun she got playing soccer.

“Ha, ha, ha. Funny,” he said.

Smirking, Jane retorted, “With a response like that, I think even troglodyte is high up.”

This time, Elle looked up, eyeing him up and down. “Nah, he looks about right.”

Jay crumpled up a sheet of paper and threw it at her. Elle squeaked and tried to block the throw.

At that moment, the Librarian, Miss Gurner, came round the corner. “You can take that outside if you’re not going to study,” she said in a terse, condescending tone. Jane looked horrified for a moment. Elle was trying to look like nothing had happened and Jay leaned over the book again.

Miss Gurner stayed, watching them for a few minutes before she walked away. When she was well out of earshot, Elle smirked and quietly said, “Hah, hah.”

“Mature,” Jay retorted.

“For a troglodyte, your one to speak.”

“If you two can’t be quiet, I’ll go somewhere else,” Jane warned them. Jay knew she would never let anything get between her and Harvard. Her application had already been in the mail in June.

Elle stuck her tongue out at him and made a childish face. He tried not to rise to the occasion, but still flicked a bit of his eraser at her. “Ow,” she said as it hit her.

Jane gave a huff. “I need another book,” she said as she walked away. As much as she may have wanted them to be quiet, Jane would never abandon her friends.

When she disappeared into a stack of books, Jay took his chance. For three days now he had been trying to pluck up his courage, and now was the time. “Hey, Elle?”

“Hmm,” she said, trying to bury herself in the book. He wasn’t sure if she was just playing or not and his confidence began to wane.

“I was, uhm, wondering, uhm,” he was struggling. Elle looked up at him with her piercing, golden-yellow eyes. “ifyouweregoingtoMatt’sparty.” The last came out in a gush of words as he tripped over what he was trying to say.

She shook her head, gave him a wide eyed confused look, “What?”

He felt his cheeks begin to burn. He took a deep breath and then very slowly tried to say it again without sounding like a troglodyte. “I was wondering, that is, if you’re, uhm, going to Matt’s party this weekend.”

She smiled a little. “I was planning on it. Why?”

He was so nervous that his mouth opened and closed twice before it worked again. “I was hoping, uhm, well, I could, uhm, take you?”

This time her whole face broke into a smile, then she tried to control it and settled with a small smirk. “I would like that,” she told him.

He wasn’t quiet sure he had heard her properly. “You would?” He asked in disbelief.

She nodded. “Yeah. Do you have a costume yet?”

He blinked a few times. He felt disconnected from who he normally was. He had only ever asked three other people out before. Only one had been his girlfriend for a few months last year. “What? Oh, uh, not yet.”

“How about you pick me up tomorrow,” she said in her sweet voice. “Around 6, and we can go find some together.”

One thing Jay had always liked was her confidence. As friends and lab partners, where he doubted himself, she never questioned who she was. “Yeah. Yeah, I can that. Dinner too?”

She broke into a broad smile again. “Please.”

Jane came back and plopped down next to Elle with a new pile of books. “Come on you two, I can’t get kicked out,” she said, oblivious to the look of disbelief and joy on Jay’s face and Elle’s broad smile.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Jay said in a far away voice. Elle winked at him and leaned back over the book she was looking through. He continued to look at her. Watching her move with a certain grace and write in a neat penmanship he could never copy.

After a few minutes, she looked up at him again. She still had the smile on her face. “You know, that is due next period.”

He shook his head. The fuzziness didn’t leave, but it got better. “Oh yeah,” he said as he looked at the page. Luckily, they were only working on the extra credit for the lab because the other work was already done, otherwise he would have failed miserably with the euphoric state he was in.

Jane was still oblivious to the two of them as the bell rang.

They followed Jane out of the library, a little slower than they would normally have. They didn’t say much, but Jay could sense some barrier had been breached and neither of them really knew how to react.

It was awkward for the period as they both stole glances and grins at each other. He didn’t take many notes. By the time class had ended though, he had managed to write Ambrielle and Elle over every corner of two pages. He hastily closed the book when he saw her looking at it.

He walked her out to her locker. “See you tomorrow?” He said to her. He still felt a little shocked.

“Come on Elle, we’ll be late,” three girls called from down the hall.

Elle gave him another smile. “Tomorrow night. Six. Don’t forget.”

He felt startled. “What about class?”

“We are going to Classical for a game tomorrow.” He felt slightly crestfallen.

“Elle, talk with him later, Coach will make us run if were late.”

“Ok, coming.” She yelled over her shoulder. “Don’t be late,” she said to him and ran off to join her team mates. He watched her disappear down a corridor.

Author's Note

I am not sure if I like this chapter or if it really fits into the general feel of the rest of the story I am trying to write, but it was the start, so I thought it appropriate to put in. Please read teh next chapter or two before commenting on this.

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Reviews

[MuSe Ampoule]

Good start. :)