It was time for gym class and she hated it so much. She was not athletic and today it was dodgeball. The teams were in pairs, one boy and one girl.
Everyone was getting into teams and she stood there waiting for anyone who did not have a partner.
"Come."
She turned, and Grayson stood there.
"ME?"
"Don't make me repeat myself"
"I'm not athletic, by the way."
"It's fine. I can do most of the work."
She stood next to Grayson, and she was so happy. She was stealing glances at him, and her heart was beating fast.
Everyone was staring weirdly at them, but Grayson did not seem to care at all as he stood there and she looked down.
"Stand behind me."
Dawn did,
"Grab onto my shirt so that we can both move at the same direction." She grabbed his shirt tentatively.
"Hold on tightly."
She did and could feel his back. This was the first time that she had touched a guy, let alone Grayson.
Dawn would not mind doing his work. He was considering her, and he noticed her. The game started and could see that Grayson was a huge target.
Seemed as if everyone wanted them to get knocked out, but Grayson was so athletic and he made sure that she was not being hit.
He caught the ball with ease, threw it back and now it was down to them and the other pair. It was intense and she felt bad that Grayson was the one taking everything.
When the next ball came, she stood in front of him, and instead of catching it, it hit her forehead and she fell to the ground.
She could hear Grayson laughing.
"Take her to the nursery."
That is when he bothered to help her up,
When she was attended to, she was surprised when Grayson came in. He looked at her solemnly.
"What were you thinking?"
"I just wanted to help. Sorry that we lost."
"You took a huge blow and you care about winning a stupid game of dodgeball."
She looked down, "Oh."
"You have a mark on your forehead."
"Yeah, it hurts."
Grayson chuckled again. "I don't know if I should call you brave or dumb."
"Dumb I guess."
"True, who stands in the line of fire if they don't know how to catch the ball?"
"True."
Dawn got her bag as it was time to go home, and everyone was laughing at her. Of course, they would, she had a huge mark on her forehead.
"She wanted to impress Grayson so bad."
"How embarrassing.""Grayson pities her, and now she thinks he could go for someone like her."
"Oh please, Grayson would rather die first than be caught with someone like her."
"He is doing charity work."
"I would say she has a bounty over him, but knowing Grayson, that can't be. He does not care about anything."
She walked back home fast and cleaned, then she took a nap. When her alarm rang, she went to Grayson's room.
She knocked tentatively. "Come in."
She opened his door, and he was playing games. "I came to get your books."
He frowned a bit. "I didn't think you would come to ask for them."
"You said I need to do them for you."
He shook his head. "You're so strange. They are in my bag over there."
She was about to give him his bag,
"You can open my bag and take them."
Dawn opened his bag and she was shocked to find some condoms, but grabbed his books and left his room.
When she was done with his books, she left them outside his door and technically she was helping him, just as his mother had asked.
For now, she was helping him the only way she knew how, and maybe later on he would open himself up for her to tutor him.
She lay in her bed and remembered how it had felt to touch him and his scent during the dodgeball game.
She smiled into her pillow and decided to call it a night.
The following day Grayson was not at school the whole day and when she got home, he was not there too.
She made copies of all the notes that she had gotten during the day and slid them underneath his door.
The following days passed, and Grayson was still not back. He was gone now for four days and not a word from him.
She did the same thing every day and got notes for him that she would slide underneath his door. Friday evening came and was glad that she was home alone.
Dawn scrolled through some movies that she wanted to watch when she heard the door open, and Grayson came in.
His hair was tussled, and he looked rugged, "I hope you're not watching You without me."
"I'm not."
She replied, and her heart was beating wildly. He really looked amazing and she tried not to stare too much.
He left without saying another word and came back half an hour later. His hair was damp and knew that he had taken a shower.
He sat on the couch, "You can put You."
She did that,
"That is a lot of bullshit that I have to do."
She nodded. "It is a lot."
"You will help me, right?"
She nodded fast. "Of course."
"Great, I'm starving."
"Do you want to order something? I can pitch in."
"I don't need your money Dawn, and I'm craving a home-cooked meal."
"I can make you one."
"You have no defiant bone in your body. Go ahead then. I will be on my phone, I won't watch You until you come back."
She went to the kitchen and made some rice and chicken curry with a side of stir fry. She took his plate with a drink and put it down in front of him.
"You could have called me, you know."
"Oh...…."
She sat back down.