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After their first fortunate meeting, Hal noticed that Mia was in the library, a lot, especially for someone who was pretty, cool, popular and into sports. On the fifth day of trying and failing to not stare at her, she had walked right up to the table with her books and taken a seat by his side, making him turn a deep shade of red. But she had simply smirked at him saying, “Don’t get too excited. It’s just that you need to concentrate more on what you’re reading.”
Hamish bristled at the implication. He wasn’t some gawping idiot belonging to the ‘Mia fanclub’ (and he had no doubt that she had one. Just look at her!) So he had done the one thing he could do and deflected, “Speak for yourself. The chemical reaction you’ve copied is wrong. The hydrogen atoms are unbalanced. You need to add three electrons on the left to balance the charge.” She bit her lower lip as she studied the page for a few moments, before looking up at him wonderingly. “Wow Hamish, that’s really cool.”
Okay, so maybe she was a bit different from everyone else. Damn, what was with the involuntary blushing!
“Hmm…” she was eyeing him a bit speculatively, in a way that made him a lot more nervous. “Okay, you think you’re so smart. How about this one?”
They had argued and discussed chemistry all the way to the bus stop.
That had been day two. After that day, Mia sought him out whenever she came to the library and dragged him out to discuss difficult chemistry and math problems.
Hamish had known that it was too perfect to be true. A week into this surreal routine, something happened which reminded him exactly why he was better off without friends.
He was leaving the chemistry lab, where he wasn’t supposed to be in the first place, when he saw a group of seniors coming in. He quickly hid inside the store-room.
He almost revealed himself when he heard Mia’s voice, “I think I left the thermometer somewhere around here.”
Another voice piped up, muffled as though under a desk, “I don’t see anything here.”
A third voice added, “Nothing under this row, either.”
“Oh hell,” Mia said. “I hope I didn’t lose it. It belongs to Hamish. I simply borrowed it.”
A loud giggle in reaction as a fourth voice piped up. “I can’t believe you spend so much time with that weirdo. My chemistry grades are far worse than yours and even I couldn’t make myself do that.”
Hamish clenched his fists as he fought a sinking feeling in his belly. This was nothing. He had heard far worse. And now that Mia was spending time with him, it was only logical that her witless friends would include her in the ridicule.
Mia’s answering voice was cold, “Shut up, Susie. You don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s a brilliant kid. That makes him a bit different, that’s all. He’s the one doing me a favour.”
“Well, someone needs to do him one and teach him some manners. And you need to be careful, Mia. I know he’s useful right now, but he somehow gets into all your secrets. He made Angela cry yesterday when he told everyone that Michael had snogged Ellie during break. He didn’t even feel a bit sorry. That’s not normal. Oh he’s brilliant alright, but he’s not right in the head. You need to be careful!”
The girl hadn’t spoken in a mocking or teasing voice. She sounded completely serious, genuinely concerned about Mia’s well-being. There was utter silence at these words, before Mia spoke, her voice completely level and unaffected, “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Hal’s knees buckled as he sat down in a heap, even as ‘Been there, heard that, no big deal’ played in an ineffectual loop inside his head.
The door closed on four pairs of retreating foot-steps.
Only the knowledge that if he didn’t reach home on time, Father would track him right into the chemistry store-cupboard forced Hal to leave the dark.
He avoided the library for two days. On the third day, Mia found him skulking behind the tennis court.
Thankfully, she cut to the chase, though she had the gall to sound accusing, “What’s wrong, Hamish? You’re avoiding me. Care to let me know the reason why.”
Because you were supposed to be on my side.
Because you helped me and I thought you were different.
Because you’re just like everyone else, and that’s just wrong.
Hamish didn’t say any of these things. He simply affected his usual disdainful manner, “I got bored.”
“What!” she sounded shocked.
He swallowed, but continued, “You’re dumb and I got bored ‘tutoring’ you. I have much better things to do with my time.”
Hal didn’t look at her. He didn’t want to see the anger on her face and reveal the hurt on his. He usually found it effortless to cut people down to size. Most of them were begging for it anyway, like Princess Angela, who had mocked him while saying that her bully of a boyfriend was brilliant at Math and would never need to cheat. He couldn’t help but enlighten her that Math wasn’t the only victim of Michael’s cheating habit. Far from feeling sorry, he had enjoyed making her cry.
The silence lasted too long this time and he had to look up.
Oh hell no!
“Don’t,” he spoke furiously. “Don’t…make that face. Like you’re going to… Look I’ll help you with schoolwork, alright, if it means that much to you. But you don’t need to hang out with me all the time for that or pretend to be nice to me, okay?”
In a heartbeat, Mia’s face went from desolate to furious. “You… I don’t believe you. So, I suck at some subjects. I don’t need you feeling sorry for me, you arrogant arse. I don’t need to be anyone’s pity-case.”
Hal never realised when he too had got to his feet, yelling, “But apparently, I do.”
Now she sounded completely furious, “What the hell are you talking about? I don’t feel sorry for you. Why the hell should I? You’re bloody brilliant. You’re studying stuff that’s years ahead for you. I would kill to have half your intelligence. No wonder, I bore you. You’re like a Ferrari being made to run at 10 miles per hour. Whywouldn’t you be bored?”
Hamish reeled back like she had punched him. This was too much. That was genuine respect in her voice and Hal had never heard that from anyone other than his parents and as everyone knows, parents don’t really count. His disgusting, blobby art-work stuck with magnets on the fridge was a testament to that fact.
A declaration like that right on the heels of the indirect insult left his inner compass spinning wildly. His head was warning him to be careful but there was that other louder voice calling him an idiot. No one other than Father and Uncle Mycroft could even comprehend what it was like inside his head. Dad understood, but then he had married Sherlock Holmes.
To have this relative stranger not only understand but articulate it so perfectly was more than a bit too much.
Mia was suddenly in front of him, holding him by the shoulders and bending to look into his face. “I’m sorry, Hal. I don’t really know what I did wrong, but I’m an idiot so that’s okay. Please don’t cry. I won’t bother you again.”
He had sworn to himself that he wouldn’t tell her. But her words, at both times, had destroyed his armour and he needed to know which of those words had been real. He needed to understand.
“You agreed with her, your friend, Susie,” he said tiredly, as he wiped his overflowing eyes. “I overheard you talking in the Chem Lab.” Why the hell couldn’t he stop crying?
In the next instant, Hamish’s nose was full of curly hair, as he found himself an unwilling participant in an enthusiastic hug. “I knew it,” said a triumphant voice near his left ear. “It was my fault. But I take my words back. You’re not brilliant. You’re completely mental.”
“Not funny…can’t breathe,” Hal squealed as the hug grew tighter.
She pushed him back just as roughly but didn’t let go of his shoulders. She was also smiling like she couldn’t help it, in sharp contrast to the palpable relief in her voice. “Did you really want me to defend you in front of that brain-dead Susan Thorne and her equally stupid posse?”
He couldn’t help retorting back, “If they’re so brain-dead, why do you hang around them?”
“Because they’re my team, numbskull. They don’t have half a brain between the three of them but they play volleyball really well. Why are you making that face again?”
“No, I understand. They’re your team-mates. Of course you care if they think that I’m…I’m abnormal or dangerous or something. I get that.”
“But, you’re way better than normal. I don’t care what they think about you. They don’t know you like me. Wait till you meet Maggie and Wayne, they’re my friends. I would have introduced you ages back, but you’re so skittish when meeting new people. I thought, maybe next week, when you were a bit less jumpy around me. You’ll love Wayne. He’s really bright and so into what he calls ‘applied engineering’, that we’re constantly getting told off while experimenting with the stuff he makes. And Maggie is dying to meet you. She thinks you’re cute.” Mia smirked at the adjective.
Hamish gaped at her, tears forgotten. “Umm, so that means…that would mean…”
Mia took a deep breath, “I love spending time with you. You’re fun to talk to when you forget to be all aloof and all-knowing. And…I’m happy that I don’t bore you, or rather ‘didn’t’. I was searching for you since yesterday, as I wanted to give you this. Even if you’ve changed your mind, you can keep it. I think of you as a friend. Even if you don’t.”
He eyed the plain yellow band in his hand. It had ‘Mia’ scribbled on one end and ‘We heart chemistry’ on the other. It was really stupid and childish.
Hamish loved it.
Now it was his turn to ‘man-up’, as his dad called it.
“There was no way I could have known, but I’m sorry.”
“As you should be.”
“I should have spoken to you before…”
“Happy realization.”
“It’s just that, I’ve never…”
“You’re really terrible at apologizing, you know.” But Mia was smiling as she linked a hand through his and they started walking, her steps falling in tandem with his.
“It’s alright genius,” and her smile was in her voice. “Baby steps.”
***
I’ve got a friend now.
Hamish eyed the blinking cursor on his laptop and wondered. No, looking at the words did not make it any less incredible. But the yellow friendship band on his wrist was physical evidence, saying otherwise.
Mia, a prefect, senior, volleyball player; in other words a perfectly well adjusted girl was his friend.
The best part was that he hadn’t even realised when it happened.