Clean Up

I slightly pause as I begin to wonder if I should even take another step forward towards them. My mouth was dry just thinking about what I might say to them. My pulse almost stopped as Ronnie glanced over in my direction with a sour face before quickly changing it to a cheerful shy one. This left me with no choice but to walk over there and help with the clean up.

"Y/N, y-you're back!" Ronnie stammered as I walked closer to them. Despite how happy Ronnie seemed to be I could tell I extruded the opposite attitude. While I couldn't outwardly say I was uncomfortable with Tao being there my body language made in painfully clear as I almost using Ronnie as a human shield.

"Yeah, I'm back. I got us some extra napkins to clean the mess," I smiled fixing my focus solely on Ronnie, trying to ignore the soulless eyes of Tao. "I-I see Tao and you were talking, I hope I didn't interrupt anything." My voice slightly shook with the mentioning of Tao around but neither of them said anything.

"Yeah, Tao is a good friend of mine," there was a slight pause as Ronnie looked back at Tao. "He was just checking to see if everything was alright."

The atmosphere fell heavy with those few words. So much went unspoken between the three of us. I nervously walked past Tao, heading towards the table with napkins in hand. Carefully I began to soak up the remaining water, preventing it from dripping onto the floor. I kept my focus on the task at hand and tried to ignore the pair that seem eerily silent behind me. This however didn't last long for Ronnie walked over and gestured for the napkins.

"So, after this you want to head to Biology together?" He asked, smiling shyly while he wiped down the table. The feeling of someone's gaze is still locked onto the back of my head as I work with Ronnie cleaning the table.

"Yes! Let's go together. I-I mean we are already heading in the same direction, aren't we?" My mouth felt dry as my nerves played with my sense of judgement as Ronnie continued to talk to me, with me not really hearing his words. As I went through the motion of collecting the soaked paper napkins and balling them up to throw away, I remember the bags belonging to Mia and Andrew are still here. I stare at them for a while, not knowing how we would even return the bags to them.

A gentle press against my shoulder brings me back to reality as someone stands behind me. I didn't even notice until I tripped over them. The caught my shoulder in a firm grip before sliding a hand to catch my side. I was slightly pulled into there embrace, allowing me to feel the warmth of the breath against the top of my head. I slightly blushed in embarrassment of the situation and quickly push away to apologize. "I-Im sorry! I didn't...see you..." My clumsy words slowed to a stop as my eyes locked with a pair of lilac eyes.

Tao looked back at me, still wearing a mask over his face. He didn't blink and eye, just stared back with his outstretched and empty arms. He lowers them slowly before saying something slightly muffled.

"I can take the bags, I know we're those two are." He gestures slightly to the bags belonging to Mia and Andrew. I blink slowly and almost forgotten how to even process simple English. I must have been standing there staring for to long for the tension between us grew awkward and still.

I swallow my nerves again before I spoke. "A-are you sure? I mean I don't want to-"

"Yeah, it's alright Tao. Thanks for the help, we really appreciate it." Ronnie walks in between us and faces his back to me, blocking Tao from my view. Both Tao and Ronnie were around the same height so it was no surprise that both of them where slightly taller than I. What was strange between the two though was the silence that followed.

"No problem Ronnie, anything for a friend." Tao mumbled under his breath and walked over to pick up the bags of our friends before walking past with an empty expression. Right before he left us two he turned his head slightly to face us. "I hope you guys have fun in your next class." After that Tao walked down the stares and out of sight.

That's when my senses came back to me and I realized I was not only staring at the stairs but holding onto the ball of wet paper closely. "Gah! Ah no. Great my shirt is wet now," I wipe the medium sized Bloch against my chest with my free hand before turn to face Ronnie. "Ronnie is there a bathroom nearby? I need to go check to make sure my shirt is ok." I raised my head to face him, noticing the slightest shade of pink dusting his cheeks.

I clenched the wet ball in my hand as i noticed him spacing out. "...Ronnie. Is my shirt that bad?" I rested my free hand on my hip as I stared at him, wondering what he was thinking. My question must have brought back his senses for he quickly snapped out of his thoughts.

"Uh..y-yeah, bathrooms can be found on the first floor. B-but you should cover your shirt in the mean time." His eyes dart back to the ground in shame. I give him a questioning look as I glance back to my chest for a better look.

The white button-up shirt was dampened on the left side. Due to the fabric being slightly thin it revealed a slightly phantom image of my bra. It was veuge in shape but was still inappropriate to be walking around in. Sadly though the school uniform doesn't provide girls with a blazer until winter time frame. I blush a little as I dart around to find something to cover up with.

In a panic I awkwardly walked over to my bag. I packed an extra uniform set incase of emergencies. This case just happened to be that I couldn't sit around and wait for my shirt to dry. Once I make my way over to my bag I pick it up and use it as a shield to cover my chest. I turn back to Ronnie and ask him to direct me to the bathroom. 

"S-sure Y/N. I can actually walk you there myself and we can leave for Biology class from there." Ronnie shyly smiled as he too walked over and reached for his bag.

There we left the intense lunch behind us and head towards the bathrooms. Down the stairs I felt a slight itch against the back of my neck that I, out of reflex, tried to rub the uncomfortable feeling away. Down the stairs out footsteps echoed meekly, daring not to interrupt the silence that carried between us.

One light step after the other I fallow behind Ronnie through the less crowded paths between tables for now everyone is enjoying there lunch.  On the wall underneath the stairs sat a sign for the ladies bathroom along with a fancy bench that was next to the entrance.

Ronnie turned to face me once we had gotten close enough to the bench. "I-I can wait here with your bag, Y/N. All you would need to bring with you is the shirt, t-that is as long as you are ok with it." Ronnie took two steps back as the words spilled from his mouth in there own sense of confusion. It was cute watching him fumble over himself and what he suggested wasn't a bad idea. I dislike using public restrooms and bring a bag full of my school supplies is definitely not a great idea.

'But should I really trust Ronnie with my stuff? He is a stranger.'

My internal thoughts sort themselves through as I reluctantly agree and hand over my bag to Ronnie. With my spare, white shirt in hand I make my way into the bathroom, leaving a small warning before entering.

"Just hold my bag ok? I won't be long and I'm trusting you to not go and steal things in my bag, got it?"

Part of me was joking. It laughed at the thought of some shy boy going through a girl's bag. But there was another part of me. It itched and clawed at my brain not to get too close with him for his personality seemed... conflicting at times.

Despite any amount of my worrying I still left my bag in the hand of Ronnie and left the bathroom pretty quickly, taking note of how nice the bathroom was. Slick stone countertops, spaced out stalls, crystal clear mirrors and the distinct peachy-mango smell that filled the air in a perfect equilibrium with the breathable air. I folded my wet shirt to the best of my ability before stuffing it back to one of the free pockets of my bag. Everything seemed normal as we walked to class together. The charm attached to my school bag clicked and toyed with the air as it was bounced around. It was a birthday gift from Louise, my best friend and neighbor of four years. The silvery-plastic charm was shaped in the form of my favorite animal and had stayed on my bag for two years. 

Everything was fine on our way to the classroom and nothing was amiss in the air. We matched each other's walking pace and found things to talk about. The conversation grew organically as we found out we had a lot in common.

"You like (Tv show series) too!? Ugh, finally! I was starting to think I was the only one watching it!" I beamed with joy written all over my face. It was nice to have someone to talk to about the series. From the characters to the plot, to the conspiracy theories made about the show we joked together about it.

"W-well the season finale is coming up. I have a nice television set up at home, you could come over."

Ronnie stammered less and less over his excitement and I watched as his eyes lit up with joy. Though his invention caught me a bit off guard.

"You want to watch the show together before the hiatus? I'm down for that, but I have to do a raincheck with my parents." My eyes started to wander around the hall as I try to avoid talking about them any further. Ronnie just smiled and nodded in agreement.

"A-alright, then we can talk about it after they say it's ok." Ronnie's eyes locked with mine for a moment, causing me to almost trip over myself at the sight of his joy-filled expression.

'He's just too cute!'

I giggled to myself and tried to calm down before stopping infront of the open door. We finally made it to Biology and that meant our fun conversation was going to be put on hold.