Indiana, Invincible; Chapter 6, Part 1

by Maryam in A Land Of Desert And Sun

(Indiana's POV)
The Next Day
Seventh Period

He's still doing it.
Yeah. Him. Liam Rheston.
He looks a bit more thoughtful, though, today; also, every time he somehow meets my gaze he quickly looks away.
Good.
I shake my head to myself, the corners of my mouth despite themselves turning upwards, and force myself to renew my concentration on the teacher in front of us, who's holding up the bones of a hand (gulp - is that REAL?) and explaining the various bones; they're pretty long and sound like they're derived from ancient Greek. I can memorize them later, really.
Seated at a table I can see her from, Susmi R. has just met my gaze and given me a grimacing smile. I smile back, and she makes a motion that I take to say, 'Meet me after school.'
I glance at Enoch and Jenny next to me; Jenny is doodling a flower, and Enoch is hurriedly writing down what the teacher's been saying for the past 15 minutes, and is currently wrangling with the spelling of a word - he looks at me pleadingly, gesturing to the word, but I shrug.
I look again back up at Susmi; she's watching me intently, and I give her a tiny nod. She nods back, and mouths 'Library'.
All right.
Set, then, for whatever she wants to tell me.
I turn my gaze back to Professor Propington.

Recess

'So, Indiana,' Susmi turns to me, 'Why don't we go to the library again?'
'Sure,' I say noncommitedly; she widens her smile.
Honestly, that girl should star in a toothpaste commercial. The makers wouldn't even have to pay for the touch-ups.

'So,' Susmi begins. Hair-flip.
'I just wanted to know....' Hair-flip.
'Do you, um,....'
She trails off and raises her eyebrows at me expectantly. I raise my eyebrows at her back, though to admit it, it's more of a quizzical look.
'HveyougotanythingtodowithwhatsbotheringLiam?' she asks, saying it all in a rush, and my eyebrows practically reach my hairline.
'Excuse me?'
'Have you got anything to do with what's bothering Liam?'
Ohhhhh, great.
Don't - even - bloody - tell - me.
'No,' I say emphatically. 'Nothing whatsoever. I have nothing to do, whatsoever, with Liam Rheston, and' -

Bling bling bling bling. Bling bling bling bling

I stop protesting and blink for couple of seconds, puzzled at the chiming noise that just interrupted me; I get it a few seconds later, when Susmi begins burowing in her purse, smiling sheepishly at me. She flips up her phone and murmurs something into it; she grins again.
'Sorry, Indy,' she flips her phone shut and stands, 'Gotta go. Milo has some problem,' she rolls her eyes, 'I've got to go help him! See ya!'
Her high heels clicking as she hurries away, her hair tossing back and forth in gleams on her back, she is soon gone. I roll my eyes to myself as soon as she's out of sight, then look at my watch.
I have five minutes until the bus opens. I might as well use my time in here....
Getting up from the chair, my eyes automatically begin flicking back and forth through the shelves. I head to the Fiction: Classics aisle and begin viewing the books.
Hey, they have some pretty good ones here! Jane Austen, Charles Dickens... Is that Dostoevsky?
I immediately head inwards, and am shaking my head at Crime and Punishment when I hear someone come in.
I peek between the shelves.
Oh, heavens. Does Susmi somehow attract tall, lean, dark-haired, grey-eyed people?
One in particular?
Because in comes Liam Rheston.