We Were Right From The Start
three
I knocked on Mr Peatry's door and watched him through the glass as he looked up from the papers on his desk. He smiled at me and motioned for me to come in and I went in hesitantly. "Frankie, what can I do for you?" he said.
"Um, I was just wondering if...maybe I could swap partners for the presentation?" I asked and he just frowned.
"May I ask why?" he asked and I bit my lip before replying.
"We just...we have a bad past and I don’t think we would work well together," I said.
"I think you will," he said. "And besides, school isn’t only about growing intellectually, its also about developing socially." I fought against the urge to roll my eyes.
"But Mr Peatry, we are constantly fighting, we always have, and I-" I was cut off by a knock at the door. I looked over and saw Liam at the door.
"Let me guess," Mr Peatry said once Liam had entered the room. "You want to swap presentation partners?" I blushed slightly but didn't let Liam see.
"Um...yeah," Liam said and I couldn’t help but be a bit hurt. I looked over at him and he met my eyes and I thought I saw hurt in his eyes as well. There was a slight pause and I knew Mr Peatry was examining the exchange.
"And why do you want to swap, Liam?" Mr Peatry asked.
"Um...we don’t get on very well," he said. "We will just argue all the time..."
"Well, I have no one else for you to swap with," Mr Peatry said and I frowned, knowing he was just making up excuses, he could swap any of the pairs in the class. "I think you two will be great together. I think that if you focus, you could get an A* in this. Of course, that's if you both try." I noticed he was looking at Liam, who nodded. I frowned slightly but didn't say anything more and smiled slightly at Mr Peatry before leaving the room.
I had a free this afternoon, so straight after registration I walked home. No one else was home this afternoon, mum and dad were at work and Sam was at nursery. I went up to my computer and signed on. I decided to get some research done for the speech, seeing as it was unlikely that Liam would actually do any. At 1.30, the doorbell rang and I sighed and headed downstairs. I opened the door and froze momentarily. "What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I thought we should get started on our presentation," he said as he walked passed me into the house. I shut the door and turned to him. "It hasn’t changed," he murmured as he looked around. I ignored him and headed back upstairs and he followed. We walked passed Sam's room and Liam paused. "You have a brother?" he asked and I nodded.
"He's 3," I said and we kept going.
"What's his name?" Liam asked.
"Sam," I said as we got to my room. Liam shut my door behind him and looked around. I glanced at him before going back over to my laptop. "So, how do you want to do this?" I asked. "I mean, shall we get all the information before we start or make notes as we go or what?"
"Whatever you want," he said, sitting on the edge of my bed. I sighed and sat at my computer. "Ok, why don’t we read up on stuff and highlight the parts we need." I turned to him and looked at him for a short while before nodding.
"Sure," I said and typed in 'mitosis' in Google.
"Do you have any books we could use?" Liam asked from behind me.
"Yeah," I said, still looking at the screen. "On the bookshelf."
Behind me, he stood and went over to my books. "Do you have enough?" he teased but I just ignored him. He pulled out a book and started flicking through it. "I think we'll have to go to the library." I frowned again, Liam was...not what I had expected. He was actually putting in an effort. I turned and looked at him again but he was just reading and didn't notice. He was biting the corner of his lip as he read and I couldn’t help but smile as I turned away.
I copy and pasted some stuff onto Word and Liam highlighted some passages in the books. We worked in silence mainly because neither of us knew what to say to the other. But it wasn’t uncomfortable. I was constantly aware that Liam was about 3 feet behind me and the butterflies in my stomach didn't die down once, but I wasn’t tense.
Liam stayed for about 2 hours and then had to go. I think we got through quite a lot in that time. He was actually more focused than I had expected. Once the front door was shut a smile worked its way onto my face. I had just spent time with Liam, and it wasn’t totally horrible. Maybe this whole ordeal won't be as bad as I was thinking.
My mum came home about an hour later with Sam. My dad doesn’t usually get home on a Wednesday until 9 due to work. Wednesday was a day I looked forward to because the arguing was at a minimum because once dad was back from work he was too tired to argue. I went downstairs at 7 and sat in the living room with Sam. He was watching Shrek and I smiled and sat next to him on the floor. He crawled into my lap and hugged me tightly as we watched. He fell asleep watching the film at about 8.15 and I carried him up into bed.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Sam would like Liam, if Liam would like Sam. I didn't even know if Liam liked kids. I hope he did. I went back into my room and onto my computer. I signed onto facebook and saw I had a message. It was from Liam.
Frankie,
Did you want to meet up again tomorrow to work on the presentation? Maybe we could do it at school so we can use the library? What about after school, if you're free.
Let me know,
Liam.
I smiled slightly and clicked reply and sent him a message saying that I would be able to work tomorrow after school and that I would meet him there. I signed off my laptop and then climbed into bed and fell asleep.
"Um, I was just wondering if...maybe I could swap partners for the presentation?" I asked and he just frowned.
"May I ask why?" he asked and I bit my lip before replying.
"We just...we have a bad past and I don’t think we would work well together," I said.
"I think you will," he said. "And besides, school isn’t only about growing intellectually, its also about developing socially." I fought against the urge to roll my eyes.
"But Mr Peatry, we are constantly fighting, we always have, and I-" I was cut off by a knock at the door. I looked over and saw Liam at the door.
"Let me guess," Mr Peatry said once Liam had entered the room. "You want to swap presentation partners?" I blushed slightly but didn't let Liam see.
"Um...yeah," Liam said and I couldn’t help but be a bit hurt. I looked over at him and he met my eyes and I thought I saw hurt in his eyes as well. There was a slight pause and I knew Mr Peatry was examining the exchange.
"And why do you want to swap, Liam?" Mr Peatry asked.
"Um...we don’t get on very well," he said. "We will just argue all the time..."
"Well, I have no one else for you to swap with," Mr Peatry said and I frowned, knowing he was just making up excuses, he could swap any of the pairs in the class. "I think you two will be great together. I think that if you focus, you could get an A* in this. Of course, that's if you both try." I noticed he was looking at Liam, who nodded. I frowned slightly but didn't say anything more and smiled slightly at Mr Peatry before leaving the room.
I had a free this afternoon, so straight after registration I walked home. No one else was home this afternoon, mum and dad were at work and Sam was at nursery. I went up to my computer and signed on. I decided to get some research done for the speech, seeing as it was unlikely that Liam would actually do any. At 1.30, the doorbell rang and I sighed and headed downstairs. I opened the door and froze momentarily. "What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I thought we should get started on our presentation," he said as he walked passed me into the house. I shut the door and turned to him. "It hasn’t changed," he murmured as he looked around. I ignored him and headed back upstairs and he followed. We walked passed Sam's room and Liam paused. "You have a brother?" he asked and I nodded.
"He's 3," I said and we kept going.
"What's his name?" Liam asked.
"Sam," I said as we got to my room. Liam shut my door behind him and looked around. I glanced at him before going back over to my laptop. "So, how do you want to do this?" I asked. "I mean, shall we get all the information before we start or make notes as we go or what?"
"Whatever you want," he said, sitting on the edge of my bed. I sighed and sat at my computer. "Ok, why don’t we read up on stuff and highlight the parts we need." I turned to him and looked at him for a short while before nodding.
"Sure," I said and typed in 'mitosis' in Google.
"Do you have any books we could use?" Liam asked from behind me.
"Yeah," I said, still looking at the screen. "On the bookshelf."
Behind me, he stood and went over to my books. "Do you have enough?" he teased but I just ignored him. He pulled out a book and started flicking through it. "I think we'll have to go to the library." I frowned again, Liam was...not what I had expected. He was actually putting in an effort. I turned and looked at him again but he was just reading and didn't notice. He was biting the corner of his lip as he read and I couldn’t help but smile as I turned away.
I copy and pasted some stuff onto Word and Liam highlighted some passages in the books. We worked in silence mainly because neither of us knew what to say to the other. But it wasn’t uncomfortable. I was constantly aware that Liam was about 3 feet behind me and the butterflies in my stomach didn't die down once, but I wasn’t tense.
Liam stayed for about 2 hours and then had to go. I think we got through quite a lot in that time. He was actually more focused than I had expected. Once the front door was shut a smile worked its way onto my face. I had just spent time with Liam, and it wasn’t totally horrible. Maybe this whole ordeal won't be as bad as I was thinking.
My mum came home about an hour later with Sam. My dad doesn’t usually get home on a Wednesday until 9 due to work. Wednesday was a day I looked forward to because the arguing was at a minimum because once dad was back from work he was too tired to argue. I went downstairs at 7 and sat in the living room with Sam. He was watching Shrek and I smiled and sat next to him on the floor. He crawled into my lap and hugged me tightly as we watched. He fell asleep watching the film at about 8.15 and I carried him up into bed.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Sam would like Liam, if Liam would like Sam. I didn't even know if Liam liked kids. I hope he did. I went back into my room and onto my computer. I signed onto facebook and saw I had a message. It was from Liam.
Frankie,
Did you want to meet up again tomorrow to work on the presentation? Maybe we could do it at school so we can use the library? What about after school, if you're free.
Let me know,
Liam.
I smiled slightly and clicked reply and sent him a message saying that I would be able to work tomorrow after school and that I would meet him there. I signed off my laptop and then climbed into bed and fell asleep.
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