Leena, Beloved-Chapter 2

                                                 Chapter 2
         Leena woke up very early that morning. She dressed herself and headed down to her kitchen. There, she was surprised to find a note from her mother.
         “Leena,
         I will be gone for the day. Your grandmother fell ill late last night. I have gone to take care of her. Dinner is in the fridge. I should be back late tonight, after nine. I would have taken you with me but it was urgent and you had already fallen asleep. See you tonight.
                                                                               XOXO,
                                                                    Mom”
Leena fixed herself breakfast. She was glad her mother didn’t ask her to go along. She didn’t like her grandmother too much. She was always quick to judge Leena. And she knew that if she had went to see her, despite whatever sickness she might have she would still have probably found something to yell at her for. Her grandmother was getting older and sick more often. Whether it nice or not she didn’t feel she needed to miss school at this time; even if she were worried.
         Leena ate a spoonful of cereal. She had someone else on her mind; Rachel. She finished eating, wondering why. Why was she thinking of Rachel so? Was it because Rachel was the first person to even talk to her; the first and only welcoming face? Yes, that had to be it. What else could it be?
         She still pondered this as she washed her bowl and spoon, dried them, and put them away.
         

         She walked into her Social Studies class. She quickly put her things down and looked out in the hall for some sign of Rachel. Leena smiled as she caught sight of her, walking towards the classroom. She went out to greet her.
“Hey!” said Leena
“Hi,” responded Rachel.
         They walked into the classroom together. Leena sat down. Rachel followed and took out her books.
“Do you want to sit together at lunch again today?” Rachel turned to her.
“Yes, of course,” Leena smiled. “We had much fun yesterday. We seem to have a lot in common.”
“Yes, we do,” agreed Rachel with a smile of her own.
         At this, the bell rang, signaling the start of class.


         Rachel frowned at the clock. ‘Hurry up! Why must you go so slowly?!’
         She sighed and looked down at her notes. Several minutes passed. For what seemed like a half an hour she stared, just thinking; in this case about someone; Leena. The sound of the bell woke her from her thoughts. She grabbed her things, slammed her notebook shut and ran out of the classroom.


         Leena got her lunch and sat at the same table she had previously, the day before. She took a bite out of her sandwich and looked curiously around the cafeteria. Her eyes brightened with happiness as she spotted Rachel quickly approaching the table.
“Hi.” said Rachel as she sat down.
Leena swallowed, “Hi.”
         Rachel smiled. Leena became nervous. Why was she nervous?
“I-uh-like your shirt!’ sputtered Leena. Why did she say that?! Leena wanted to kick herself.
Rachel looked down at her black shirt. It had a blue fairy on it. She smiled again.
“Thank you.”
“Y-you’re welcome,” said Leena.
“Do you like fairies?” asked Rachel.
Leena calmed herself.
“Uh, yes. I like them in pictures, rather. I’m not too into stories about them though.”
Rachel laughed. “Like fairytales?”
This seemed to loosen the mood a little.
“Yeah, I guess,” retorted Leena, unsure. But she laughed a bit.
Leena didn’t know what to say. There was an awkward silence.
“I can’t believe we have this Social Studies test Monday!” exclaimed Rachel. “I’m not ready at all!”
“Me either, agreed Leena, “I don’t even know half the things we’re supposed to.”
         Another awkward silence. Leena looked down. Rachel took a sip of her drink.
“Hey, do you want to come over my house say, Thursday ? We could study for the test.”
         Leena couldn’t stop herself from blushing. Rachel noticed her face becoming red. She grinned.
“Yeah, that would be awesome.”
Leena smiled. ‘Her shyness is kind of cute.’ thought Rachel.

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It was Thursday. Leena stood outside the front of the school. She sat on the curb, waiting for Rachel. She was excited Rachel was coming over, but she was nervous as well. It wasn’t too long ago that she had first met Rachel, but it seemed so much longer.
The girls were always found laughing and talking in the hallways, and sitting together at that same deserted lunch table. You rarely saw one without the other, unless they were in separate classes of course. ‘It’s amazing how we feel like we’ve known each other forever when it’s only been four days,’ thought Leena.
         Someone tapped her shoulder. It was Rachel. Leena got up and they started walking. All was silent for about five minutes. But then, Rachel turned to Leena.
“Do you have any pets?”
“Yes, a cat; but he just lays curled up on our couch all day. He’s friendly, though. His name is Zachary.” replied Leena.
“Oh,” Rachel smiled. “I adore cats. I hope to get one of my own some day; A kitten, perhaps. So he could grow old with me and always be my friend to come home to.”
         They walked on for a few more minutes.
“This is it,” said Leena, leading Rachel up a narrow, stoned path up to a small, blue, cozy-looking house. She took out her key, opened the door, and led her friend inside.
“Would you like anything? Something to drink?” asked Leena.
“Um, water would be nice,” replied Rachel, setting her books down on the kitchen table next to Leena’s and sitting down. Leena poured her a glass of water from the refrigerator and sat down next to Rachel. She opened her Social Studies book.
“I guess we’d better get started. There must be a review page around here somewhere,” she said flipping through the pages of the large book.
Rachel just looked at her. ‘She has such a pretty face.’ She thought. ‘And her eyes, such a delicate shade of green.’
Leena continued turning pages. She thought not of Social Studies, though. ‘What shall we do after we study? What if I bore her? Why am I so worried?’ Leena looked up, right into Rachel’s eyes. Everything was silent. Leena wasn’t sure of what to say. The deafening silence continued. Their gazes never strayed.
         Then Rachel began to move closer. She put her hand on the side of Leena’s face and their lips touched. Gently, Rachel kissed Leena. Leena was even more surprised as she returned it, passionately. As they pulled away they looked into each other eyes once more. They both realized why they had been thinking of each other so, as the answer was quite clear now.