Gabriel Ingram's Story

Gabriel Ingram

During school hours, the bell that released students from class was practically his favorite sound of all. He'd already been packed up and ready to go five minutes before class was dismissed, so once as soon as he could, he was out the door and up the hallway. He took time glancing into every room he could, but without any luck in finding the girl he'd seen when class started. By the time Camaryn left her classroom, Gabriel was already passed her, up the hallway. "Hmmm..." Gabriel pondered to himself before finding his way to his friend Robert's locker. By the time he was there, Robert had closed his locker and began talking to a girl. "What do you want, Rob?" The tone in the girl's voice made him sure that if Robert was going after this chick, he was definitely flopping, so what was a bro to do but help him out? When he made it to his side without him knowing it, long blonde hair and striking green eyes drew him into a trance that lasted a couple seconds before he slapped his friend on the back, "Hey, Robert! Who is this lovely lady?" Gabriel grinned ear-to-ear.

Gabriel was fully aware of what she was to the rest of the school's hierarchy. 'The nerd', as they called her, was a fitting title. She turned in all of her homework and answered all of her tests practically perfectly, though he never paid much attention to that. She had never seemed 'available', so he never pursued her. He justified this assumption by the way she dressed; girls looking for guys typically dressed the part, but if his buddy was going for it, who was he to judge in all honesty? Tail was tail, the way he figured.

"My friend here isn't bothering you, is he?" Up until that moment, Gabriel's hand had been clasped to Robert's back, but now it was at his side, "If he is, just say the word and I'll take care of him," he said, in jest, figuring that the girl wouldn't ask Gabriel to 'take care of' Robert, allowing Robert to converse with her further. "No? Phew, what a relief. He'd probably kick my ass." Him and Robert exchanged a look, and Gabriel laughed lightly.

Monique Richards

Upon the class' dismissal, Monique gathered her belongings and made her way to her locker. She had no plans to cause any further trouble with Camaryn at the present time. There would be too many teachers around, and if she got too many marks this semester, she wouldn't be allowed to enter the cheer competition. She'd never missed one yet, even though there were a few close calls. The cheer-instructor always pulled some strings to get her back in business. She pilled her books back into her locker, and made her way to the gymnasium. It was a bit of a walk there all the way from the math hall, but she didn't mind. She passed by several of her friends along the way who always caught her up on the latest gossip, but this time, she had a story to tell.

"Yeah, there's a new girl in town." "Her name is Iris." "Yeah, I guess she's kind of pretty." "Oh, no way, she's friends with Ash and Weylin. Totally playing for the other team." Monique responded to her friend's questions as she asked them. "Well, I gotta get going. I can't be too late, you know."

Monique hurried to the girls' locker room where she pulled out her practice clothes and changed into them hurriedly. There were only a couple of girls left in the locker room. The rest of the squad were already waiting in the gym to start practice.

In the gym, she found the rest of the girls all talking among themselves. Most of their conversations were bland: talking about what they'd done over the weekend, trying to figure out who Gabriel's latest girlfriend was, or explaining what their latest diet was. Then, upon the instructor's arrival, the chatter stopped. Ms. Myra commanded a lot of respect from these girls, and they would never give her a hard time about anything. For her, they did their best and beyond every time she was in their presence.

"Do you want something?" If I said 'yes', would you be inclined to give it to me? Gabriel thought to himself quickly, but he knew better than to act like such a snob, "I'm just on my way to English. Mind if I walk you there?" He asked her as she stopped in front of him with crossed arms. He, however, did not stop moving, he continued to walk, though at a much slower pace, so as to leave the invitation open for her, but either way, they needed to get to class quickly before the bell rang.

While the bell releasing class was his favorite sound during the day, that same bell that told students they were late was one of his least favorite sounds. The time between classes was too restricting to get anything accomplished. This had always bothered him, but he had no control over it. In fact, he was pretty sure that that bell was made for him; making him unable to verbally accomplish anything with the ladies. If he had a point to make, he usually had to go straight to it. No time to waste.

"Well, come on, no need to be late," he said to her, turning his head to speak since he had now walked a few feet away from her. Even if her answer was 'no', they'd still be walking to class together at this point, so he saw it as a win-win. "Are you seeing anyone?" he asked her delicately as he kept pace at her side once she caught up to him, though he kept his gaze forward now.

As they approached the classroom door together, Gabriel allowed Camaryn to enter first, pulling back the door and allowing her entry. He had learned to never underestimate the power of a gentleman, but there were certain cases where a woman was very feminist and felt that she should be allowed to open her own doors and pull up her own chairs; normally, relationships with these women didn't last long, since they usually complained about him not wanting to pay for dinner (while in reality, he didn't want to offend them further by offering to get the check- these women were typically very confusing, so he tried not to get so involved).

The bell sounded and Gabriel scurried inside to take his seat.

Of course there was something. There was always something. Gabriel thought to himself as Camaryn explained her situation briefly, "Oh," for a moment, that was all he thought he would be able to say until the rest finally fell out of his mouth, "Another time then," the words rolled off of his tongue so easily. Sure, he'd said it a lot before, but normally, he'd been more confident about his date wanting to go out with him. This time, he felt like it could go either way, and this didn't help him put his mind to rest about the girl, so to help himself figure it out, he hatched a tiny plan in his brain.

He pulled out a piece of paper, and scribbled on it as neatly as possible with his pencil, "Maybe I could come visit you Saturday evening while you work?" It was a stretch, but he felt it was a necessary question to get a proper perspective about how she felt about him. He didn't know where she worked at the time, but he was hoping to find out soon, especially if she said yes. He folded the paper in half a few times, the sides he could never quite get to line up, then he passed the note to Camaryn from across an empty desk between them. He thought about adding her name to the front part of the note after he'd folded it, but he decided that ultimately, it was unnecessary.

His eyes darted towards her as she unfolded the page, he felt his stomach quiver in anticipation. For a brief second, he'd allowed himself to think about what it would be like if she still refused him. He frowned a little to himself at this thought, then quickly thought about how great it would be if she said yes. This brought the smile back to his face and he glanced over to Camaryn as he did so, wondering if she would write him back or simply nod or shake her head at him.

She said yes. The thought brewed inside of him, causing him to smile to himself. That would mean that she really was just busy with work, and that she was open to the idea of him, at the very least. To be perfectly honest, Gabriel wasn't exactly confident about this particular girl. Yes, he'd managed to get told off before by girls who thought they were too good for him, but it wasn't the end of the world. He still had his game, sometimes you just can't always win. This was true enough.

But she said yes. The thought was like an ocean wave, washing him free of his fastidious doubts. What a cheap date it was going to be! Heading over to her place of work for a visit. He eventually got to wondering about where she worked and what kinds of things she did, but he didn't want to write another note. If they got a chance to talk before the bell, he'd take advantage of it, but most likely, he was going to have to wait until after class.

During the remainder of the class, Gabriel remained in a pleasantly good mood. His eyes always grew darker when he worried, and lots of people who really knew him could tell that something was bothering him right away, but right now, he was in a very happy place. She said yes.