Knee Socks Ch. 03

"Quiet!" Connie hisses.

Sarah gives him a nod before turning back to her exercises.

"Yeah, guess why not."

Percy beams, "cool."

She has been feeling awful the whole day from chiding herself for being such a selfish jerk. The last sight of Andrew before she left home has been haunting her relentlessly, no matter how hard she tried to evade or suppress it. She has never seen anyone looking as despondent as he did before, and it's so much worse when she is the culprit of it. Going about her day has been impossible with all the feelings she harbors towards him that are the most amazing synergy of all forms of love, the mad desire to run into his arms and hold him tight until everything is alright again, and the stifling sense of guilt and fear pressing down on her and whispering to her that now it's all over. The mere thought of him feels like torture. The swaggering, self-complacent Percival Morse and his little tricks are nothing more than a distraction at a convenient moment, she tells herself - and a bad one at that.

Forcing herself to concentrate on the arcane symbols and numbers on the exercise sheet, Sarah is surprised to find how fast time flows when one is fully immersed in a mentally demanding task. By the time she hands in the answer sheet as the third to finish the exercises (Connie is always the first one) to Mrs. Willington, she is already feeling much calmer.

"Very good, Ms. Larrison," Mrs. Willington grabs her answer sheet in one swift movement, smiling warmly up at her, "same tutorial hours in my office if you feel like dropping by. I'll send you all the answers and explanations tonight."

"Alright. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Oh Percy, how did it go?" The excited tilt in her voice makes Sarah turn around to find Percy walking up to them, beaming with confidence.

"Wasn't too sure about the eighth question? Couldn't crack the last one, either. But otherwise pretty cool, I guess."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Mrs. Willington says indulgently, "do come to the tutorials in my office if you have any questions - but I doubt you need to!"

"An excuse for having an interesting conversation with a charming lady, why not," he smiles brightly at Mrs. Willington, who looks as if she was going to have a heart attack from ecstasy. Sarah rolls her eyes inwardly.

"Hi Sarah," Percy suddenly turns to her, his tone cheery, "grab your bag and let's get going, what do you think?"

Sarah shrugs but obliges.

The hallway is dark and empty at this hour of the day, and Sarah keeps her distance from Percy defensively as they walk down the stairs. Starting with some harmless anecdotes of the extracurriculars they both partake in, Percy gradually guides the conversation to the more personal and relatable aspect of his life, making it easy and comfortable for her to carry it on. Sarah has to admit that he is quite a good conservationist. Quick, attentive and considerate, he doesn't seem like the stereotypical arrogant asshole she thought he was. Or perhaps he is just really good at pretending to be someone he isn't, Sarah thinks, reminding herself to keep her guard up as they exit the building and head for the school's main gate across the front yard.

"I didn't see you the other day in the group dinner after the sprint training - everything alright?"

"Yeah, just needed to be home early. Got so much to do."

"Like everyone else here. But hey, don't be so strung up all the time. Girls like you deserve a good time."

"Girls like me?" Sarah can't help scoffing. Percy doesn't seem to mind.

"Come on Sarah, you don't need me to tell you that. You're smart and hardworking, just downright exceptional. On top of that you're pretty," he grins as Sarah blushes, "you are just so good at everything you do, and take it from me, girls like you are rare. It's a shame if you don't allow yourself to relax once in a while. OK, so this is what I wanted to ask you: I'm gonna throw a party this Saturday at my house, and I really want you to come," he raises one finger and wags it preemptively, "no no no, no excuse about unfinished projects or assignments or that sort of bullshit. You come, you have a good time, and you go home. Bring your friend, that little brunette taking photos at the training the other day? Melissa?"

"Yeah, Mel. She writes for the school's newspaper."

"Right, bring her along too. Deal?"

They have stopped at the school's main gate. Percy is going to take his car in the parking lot near the gate, while Sarah will be turning to a side street where the bus stop is located. She vaguely remembers that people have been talking about how crazy and fun his parties are in his palatial house and how rich and absent his divorced father is.

Sarah would have been lying to herself if she didn't feel thoroughly flattered by such genuine-sounding compliments from a guy like Percival Morse. It's true that she thought him self-important and superficial, but damn, it would be the biggest lie in the world if she denied that she also wanted to impress people, to be accepted, recognized and validated, especially by smart smoking-hot guys like Percy. Does that make her a hypocrite? Sarah thinks glumly, but before she can give it more thought, Percy spins around and peers down at her, expectant.

"Deal, Sarah?"

Sarah feels a surge of thrill. A weak voice in the back of her head warns her that she shouldn't use this as an excuse to avoid Andrew, but she decides to ignore it.

"Deal."

She touches her fist to his as Percy's smile deepens, his captivating green eyes twinkling in the dim light of the night.

"Good girl."