At lunch, I went out to the bench again. I had been worried that Ethan would show up again, but realized, when he wasn't in any of my classes, that he wasn't at school today.

Honestly, I was relieved. He wasn't here to mess with Me and Chris.

Speaking of Chris, as I ate my food in silence, he came up behind me and whispered 'boo' in my ear.

I jumped, looking over at him.

He began to giggle and I gave him a gentle shove.

'Chris!' I tried to say, but I only mouthed it.

"I'm sorry!" He giggled, holding his stomach. "But You should've seen your face!"

I smiled a little, shaking my head in disbelief.

I lifted up my hand, twirling my finger around the side of my head.

"I'm not crazy!" He Exclaimed.

"Yes you are!" Phil jogged over, laughing a little.

"No, Phil, you're supposed to be on my side!" Chris rubbed his eyes, wiping the tears he had from laughing so hard.

Phil chuckled. "I'm Just agreeing with her that you are, indeed, crazy."

I smiled a little, before patting the spot beside me.

"Are you sure you want a crazy man sitting next to you?" Chris Asked.

I gave him a look, and he started laughing again before sitting next to me. Phil sat on the other side, so Chris was squished between the two of us.

I continued eating as Chris looked around. I wondered if he had eaten. If he hadn't, maybe I could share.

I hesitated, before tapping him on the arm.

He looked over at me curiously. "Are you okay, Ella?"

I nodded, before pointing down to my food, and pointing at him.

"Did I eat?" He Asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah, a little bit." He said. "I was just too excited to come and see you."

I bit my lip, before pointing at him again, pointing at my food, then pointing st the bench. I hoped he would understand what I was trying to say.

He looked as if he was trying to figure out what I meant, so I did it again. I patted on the bench, then pointed at him again.

He smiled a little. "I can eat here with you?"

I nodded excitedly, before pointing at Phil.

"Phil, you can, too!" Chris looked over at Phil, who smiled, a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Thank you, Ella."

I nodded, before going back to eating my food.

Later, in my last class, Chris, who sat at the right of me, wrote me a note. He passed it over to me and winked a little before looking back at the teacher.

I unfolded it, before reading it.

Can we go back into the woods after school?

I smiled a little, ripping off a small piece of my notebook paper and writing 'yes.'

When the teacher turned to the chalkboard, I passed it to Chris.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw him smile widely, before sticking the note in his jacket pocket.

After school ended, I couldn't find Chris, so I just started to walk down to the woods.

The clouds were beginning to cover up the sun, causing it to be a bit cooler than it was bit ago. A slight breeze began to blow around me, and I took a deep breath. The air smelled like rain, since we had gotten some last night. Rain is one of my most favorite smells in the world. I couldn't help but wonder if Chris liked the smell of rain, too.

Ever since I met him, I couldn't help but think of him no matter what I was thinking about. It was probably because he was the nicest person I had met in a long time.

"Ella!" I heard, and turned around to see Chris run up to me. "I was wondering where you went."

I smiled, waving a little at him.

He smiled back, looking up at the sky. "It's a beautiful day!" He said. "Don't you think?"

I nodded, also looking up at the sky.

He took a deep breath, before sighing happily. "Smells like rain."

After that, he went silent, just looking around as we walked. Finally, he looked over at me.

"Can I hold your hand?"

The question took me by surprise. Especially how nonchalantly he said it.

I swallowed, blushing a bit before nodding.

He smiled, taking my hand in his, giving it a small squeeze.

We held hands like that until we got into the woods, but he did hold my hand again if he had to help me climb up a rock or something. We ended up going back to the creek, where we sat on the rock from yesterday, just watching the creek again.

Chris was such a mystery to me. He could just stare at the water for minutes and minutes, not saying a word. Being here, In nature, seemed to be his favorite thing in the world, or at least one of them.

Which gave me an idea.

I tapped him in the shoulder rather roughly, and he looked at me worriedly.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "Are you alright?"

I held up my hand, and scribbled on it with my finger as if it were paper.

"Paper?" He asked.

I nodded, pointing at him.

"Yeah, I think I have some." He said, reaching down to grab his backpack.

He unzipped it, pulling out a notebook and a pen.

He handed them to me, and I smiled before opening the notebook.

I want to know more about you. We should write down things we like, or dislike.

I handed it to him, and he smiled. "Yeah." He said. "Let's do that."