Make-Believe Ballroom

Everything started to make a little more sense when he allowed himself time to ponder over it all. It all formed a giant arrow in his mind pointing towards one thing; how much of a tactless mess-up he was.

Nothing had been added to the desk in her elegant script for days. Yet he made sure to put something each time he had maths on the off chance she would read it, and maybe begin to understand how he felt, because he sure as hell didn't.

The girl he had seen through the glass had switched seats, in what he imagined must have been an attempt of avoiding him. So he begged Max to swap places with him, yet he did willingly. Not because he wanted to help his friend in his desperate attempt of communicating with the girl again, but because of the red haired girl that chose to occupy the desk the other side of Josh.

Which lead to him defacing another desk in the classroom with his writing. Firmly sticking to pen so she wouldn't erase it like she had done with the rest.

He growled in frustration at his failure, it now being Friday and still nothing from the girl he realised he cared for too much. He knew he'd hurt her, in a way he wasn't sure of, but wanted to know exactly what he had done to fix it efficiantly.

"Max, do you still want to be a sleuth?" he asked his friend before Mrs. Humpherson started her lesson.

"Nah, I'm over that. We should just stick to music. Although I was thinking that maybe you should be kicked out of the band and I'll sing," he beamed, causing Josh to roll his eyes "but if it's about Blondie then I'll help considering you're so miserable."

"At break, we're looking for her."

He prayed it would work as well as it played out in his mind. Realistically, all he had to go on was her shoulder length bleached hair, which was the basis of Max's nickname for her. But he had twenty minutes when every person in the school was out of a classroom and out in the fresh air on the grounds. If he found her, it would be harder to ignore his voice than the ink they were used to talking with.

♥

She sat delicately on one of the three benches that the school provided as seating amongst the stretch of concrete they were meant to stand on during break. This one belonged to a certain breed of year elevens, populating thirty of them around the general area of it.

Conversation was buzzing, she didn't listen. People were trying to get her attention, she wasn't giving it. Aside from the fact she was surrounded by Lauren's friends, not her own, she didn't wish to communicate. She'd rather silently drown in her self-pity.

She almost instantly noticed him, emerging from the Sixth Form center with Max in tow. Wind lashing at his bare arms since he foolishly was dressed in just a t-shirt, and sending his hair in incorrect directions. Never had she seen him outside, only a select group of year 12 and 13's bothered to come out of the common room they were blessed with. Josh wasn't one of them.

At the same time she saw Lauren walking across the grounds, finally free from the class she had to stay behind in to recieve a talk about how she was severely damaging her future by not putting in her best effort.

She felt nauseous when she saw him change his course to rush over to her. It didn't even bother him that she had put quite simply he hadn't been speaking with her. He had obviously overlooked this based on Lauren's pretty features.

She couldn't tear her eyes from the scene of them talking. When she had been given the oppertunity to talk with him, she had choked. Of course her friend didn't have the same problem while recieving attention from the amazing boy.

Suddenly she loathed her only friend. Jealousy showing its vulgar head.

"Are you alright Saskia?" a girl she knew was named Rachel asked her.

At first she was confused to why she was being asked, until she felt the tear roll off her jaw and splash on her hand. A blush attacked her porcelain skin and she forced an amused smile on her lips.

"I'm fine, it's the flippin' wind." she excused her emotions with a valid answer, as many other students appeared to by crying because of the weathers blunt force.

She had been distracted from the scene momentarily, and now saw that where there had formerly being three standing, there was now two. She bitterly imagined Max leaving the two alone to give them privacy, who were know standing closly facing her direction. Neither of their mouths moving to create speech.

A light tap was felt on her right shoulder, causing her to rotate in her seat to look behind her. Upon seeing who it was, she stood up in disbelief. It had attracted the female attention of the people in the group. Each wondering the same thing;

How could she know him?

"Saskia Thompson, I am Max. You may know me better from the witty remarks on the table that made you snort with laughter," he introduced himself with a wide grin "I'm also the one you cleverly lied to about your bag being kicked under the desk when you actually sat there."

She froze more with every word he said.

"How do you know it's me?" she asked timidly, eyes wide with fear.

"It's from my spy days, I thought I'd come out of retirement to assist our good friend on his mission."

She hated the collective word he had used to describe Josh, to say they were on similar grounds when they were practically in different countries of familiarity.

"Max, he's not my friend. We've never spoken and he doesn't even know me." she whispered as if it was a confession, instead of an out right lie.

"We spoke for weeks, babe. Saskia I'm sorry I made you feel-"

The hand that had touched her arm created a burning sensation where it had been placed, making her flinch away from the contact. She resembled a deer stunned in the head lights of a car as she quickly backed away from the person who had joined the conversation.

She walked away before she could hear the end of the apology he was making, as it only made her realise how pathetic she was being about the entire thing. Feeling foolish enough to be falling for someone she only knew over desk tops.

"Saskia, please." she heard being lamely called after her, but it wasn't enough to drag her out of the humiliation she was drapped in.