Chapter 3 Jake tried to keep his smile, but it was difficult when Eliza sent a message before he'd arrived at school: 'Hey Jake, I can't come today. I'm so sorry' He walked over to his teacher, Ms Jones. 'Ms Jones?' He said tentatively. 'Is Eliza okay?' She rolled her eyes, 'Jake, calm down, she's just got a stomachache. Probably isn't even sore, she is just trying to get out of going to school.' Jake shook his head, but Ms Jones interrupted him, 'Go and sit down before assembly.' At lunch, Annie ran over to the boys table. She grabbed the back of Shaun's head and pushed it into his sandwich. She whacked Logan on the back of his head. Ruffled Jake's hair and stole a piece of Benjamin and Will's lunches. Brock looked away as she came toward him, but all she did was grab a piece of his food. Then as she turned to leave, she dropped a napkin. Brock stared at it as if it was radioactive. 'Well?' Shaun said. 'Give it back to her!' Brock picked it up and walked over to the table where Annie was sitting. 'Um, you dropped this?' He said nervously. She spun round and grabbed his hand, flipping it over and unfolding the napkin. 'Did you read it?' Annie asked quietly, being very unlike her. He shook his head. 'I... Thought it was just a napkin.' Annie closed his hand around the paper and whispered, 'Go read it, but don't let anyone else, okay?' 'Um okay...' As he walked back to the table, he began to read it. His eyes widened slightly and he quickly folded it back up as he sat down. 'Didn't she want it back?' Logan asked. 'Uh, she said she thought my soup could be messy and said I should get my own napkin next time.' Shaun rolled his eyes, 'Typical Annie, okay.' Brock glanced at her and she smiled nervously. He thought again about what the napkin said and still couldn't believe it: I like you. As all the kids were walking back into their classes after lunch, Benjamin noticed Charlotte sitting in the back corner and walked over. He sat down, leaving a bit of space between them in case she didn't want anyone too close. Her knees were against her chest and her hands covered her face, but he could see her clothes had tear stains. 'Hey Charlotte.' 'Hi.' She said through her hands. 'Do you want me to go or?' He asked calmly. 'Please stay, I don't know how I'm going to get through these classes.' Her hand shot out and gripped his wrist like it was keeping her from drowning. 'I'm sure I can convince Will to move. He's your desk mate isn't he?' Benjamin glanced at the seats slowly getting filled. 'If it helps, I can take Will's seat and you can grab my knee, hand, whatever you need to feel more stable. Then you can take as long as you need to calm down.' Charlotte looked up at him with teary eyes, 'Oh, that might help. Yes please.' Will was just sitting down, when he realised Charlotte hadn't wasn't next to him. He swung around, looking for her. She was always one of the first to get to her seat. 'Hey Will.' Benjamin tapped his shoulder. 'I was wondering if I could swap seats with you?' Charlotte walked out from behind Benjamin. Will looked at Charlotte's face, 'Why? Are you okay?' She glanced at Ben, 'His way of calming people down is really helpful for me and I've been a bit worried.' 'Oh, well, of course.' Will smiled and stood up. Benjamin smiled back, but it didn't look quite fully thankful. Will saw something else in the smile that he didn't often see in Ben's face: Mischievous satisfaction. Wait... Who was Ben's seat mate? Oh no, very bad. Very very bad. Did Benjamin know? Will tried a smile as he sat down in Benjamin's chair. Amber looked at him with a confused smile, 'What are you doing here?' Will slid slightly further away on the chair, 'Ben and I agreed to swap.' Amber raised an eyebrow. 'Cause Charlotte was stressing out and Ben is helping her.' 'Oh.... Okay, right. I see now.' Amber grinned. 'They look good together.' Will nodded tensely. 'Great couple...'
