I trust you

I'm not sure what I expected the transfer student to look like. The only foreigners I knew were Terrence and his mother. I thought that she would look kind of like them. That she would have pale white skin like Terrence's mother, and be tall and more muscular. That match wasn't too far off from the truth, but she was very different from what I had imagined.

"My name is Eleanor. I'm looking forward to making friends with everyone."

Eleanor is very pretty. Like I expected, she had milky white skin. And was very tall with long slender arms. She didn't show off her legs, and wore a long ankle-length skirt. Her smile was very innocent and childish. It reminded me of Terrence when he was with me. For some reason, that thought pain me little. I really hoped she would be able to keep smiling like that.

The teacher instructed her to take the seat next to the back. I wonder if Terrence and Eleanor will get along. I turned around to have a look at Terrence. He didn't pay any attention to the girl, and was busy working on some problems.

But, from how she glanced over at Terrance every few minutes, clearly Eleanor is interested in him. Maybe she is curious about what the school is like for foreigners. That give me an idea for how I could approach her.

* * *

When the class ended for break-time, I went to talk to Eleanor. A group of girls had formed close to her. They seemed to discussing something. Eleanor noticed this and got up to talk to them. But grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"You are a foreigner, right?" I said.

"Yeah," Eleanor's cheerful face suddenly turned serious. "So?"

"Terrance is also a foreigner. You should talk to him. I can-"

Eleanor gave me a disgusted look that made me stop talking. I didn't really understand what I had said to make her so annoyed.

"Do you think foreigners should only talk to foreigners?" Eleanor said. "My parents told me I should watch out for people like you."

"Ha?" People like me? What did I do?

The group of girls, standing behind Eleanor, walked up to us.

"Let go of her Sophie. That's enough." Isabel pulled my hand off Eleanor. I still couldn't understand what was going on. The whole group kept staring at me. "Just walk away."

That was exactly what I had planned to do, but, hearing Isabel say it, really rubbed me the wrong way. I felt frustrated. Something wasn't right.

"What did I even do?" I tried to push Isabel off me, but Eleanor grabbed me before I could. She twisted my arm and pin me to the table.

I screamed, and Terrance shot up from his chair.

"Sit down." I said to Terrance. It did hurt, but not enough to make me scream out loud. I exaggerated to try to get Eleanor to loosen her grip. It definitely didn't hurt enough to be worth getting Terrance into trouble for starting a fight in class.

"See, she treats him just like a dog." Isabel said.

I still didn't understand what was going on. Eleanor had pressed my face against the table facing Terrance. Terrence looked at me and then Eleanor, and gripped his pen so tightly that it snapped. He opened his mouth to say something but then close it again. I understood that frustration. This was unfair. I noticed him tear-up, and I felt angry. Really angry. I didn't care why she did it; no matter how much time passed, I swore I would never forgive Eleanor.

* * *

For the rest of the day, I just pretended Eleanor didn't exist. It was the best way to stop myself from going crazy. I felt sorry for Terrance, who had to sit next to her. But he kept himself busy with school work, and didn't seem to be bothered by her.

The school bell rang for the end of the day, and Charlotte still hasn't come to see me. That girl owed me an apology. I will give her a piece of my mind the next time I see her. And I'll think twice before doing her any favours.

"If they ever try that something like that again, I'll definitely drop-kick the lot of them." I said to Terrance turning around to do a few jabs in front of him. I tried to look confident, but honestly I had been really shocked when pulled that move on me. She moved fast too, and so strong that I couldn't move an inch until she let me go. My arm still hurt a little. "I went easy on them this time."

Terrance nodded slightly, but didn't look at me and played with his fingers. I wanted to know what he was thinking about. Maybe he is angry with me because I told him to sit down. I thought about what Isabel had said. There is some truth to it, I was too controlling with Terrance. I am always worrying over him and telling him what to do. He must be annoyed with me for that. I really wanted to say sorry. I didn't want Terrance to be angry with me.

"I-" I started to form an apology. I wasn't really sure how it would go, but luckily Terrance interrupted me.

"I'm really sorry." He said.

"Ha? What are you sorry about?" I asked, surprised.

What Terrance was apologising for? I tried to think about it for a moment, and then I got something.

"When I got put in an armlock, you were looking at my underwear, right?" I said, one hand on my hip, pointing an accusing finger at him. I was just teasing, though.

"Ah! No, no." He said waving away the thought away. "I would never do that."

"Then?" Both hands on my hip now.

Terrance paused for a moment. "I should have done something. I didn't want to watch you get hurt."

I felt a sharp prick of guilt pierce my chest. Maybe I had made the wrong decision. Telling him to stay put had been for his sake, but it ended up hurting him.

No, there were many times that Terrance ignored what I said, and things turned out better because of it. I suddenly understood that he wasn't angry, or trying to blame me. He was just worried, and wanted to know if he had done the right thing. Sometimes, Terrance is really cute. I resisted the temptation to hug him.

"Ha?" I said, with my angry voice. "Who said I got hurt?"

I stopped walking and held out my hand to Terrance.

"I could have stopped her any time I wanted." I said. "You try to do that thing she did. I'll show you."

After a little hesitation, Terrance reached over to grab my arm. But he was way too slow. I quickly moved forward, sidestepping his hand, and kicked him in the shin. My dad told me that most people would keel over from the pain of being kicked in the shin. But Terrance just seemed a little confused, and looked down at the little dirt stain on his trouser where I kicked him. Then he seemed to realise something.

"Ouch!" He said, grabbing his shin. Terrance still needed to work on his acting. I knew it would take more than that to hurt him, but I did a celebratory dance that made Terrance burst out laughing.

Suddenly, I remembered I still had the biscuits I was supposed to give to Eleanor. Since there's no chance I will give them to her now, I took them out of my bag and handed it to Terrance. "Here, you eat them."

Without so much as a single question, he started eating. He must have been hungry, I thought. I couldn't help smiling as I watched him. Maybe next time I'll try to bake him something myself! Ah, but I'll probably have to ask my mum about that, since I don't know much about baking.