The Loner and Her

Chapter Five Sorry

Chapter Five: Sorry

Griffin Kane hasn't been to school all week long. It's not an unusual thing, Gia learned from her fellow classmates. But she can't help but feel like something is wrong. She pushes those thoughts to the back of her mind as she worries on about her school work instead.

In Physics class, the boy named Andrew that sits in front of her, suddenly turns his head back to speak with her every so often. He's cute, she thinks to herself, but he doesn't hold much interest to her.

When the teacher, Mr. Rockford, said that everyone could pair up with a partner for the next assignment, Gia mentally frowns when the boy in front of her immediately turns to look at her.

"Giuliana! Me and you?" He says more than ask, as he gestures between the two.

She knows he's kind of popular at school, due to the fan club she sees that follows him through the halls all the time. Yet, she didn't see the appeal. He's a baseball player, she hears from the girls that giggle all the time in front of her in her Art class. The star pitcher, Andrew Collins.

She smiles politely in return, "Um...sure," she shrugs.

He smiles, then practically pushes the boy who sits beside her out of his seat, and sits beside her.

He leans over her, not understanding the term "personal space" throughout the entire class period.  He made small chat, nothing serious, and although Gia ignores his advancements towards her, he was still nice.

As she walks out the classroom door to her next class, Andrew catches up to her.

"Hey! Giuliana, wait it!"

Sighing, she turns on her heel, "Andrew, like I said, it's Gia," she corrects him for the tenth time that morning.

Face-palming himself, he chuckles, "Right, sorry. Just your real name is so beautiful. Why change it?"

Gia smiles genuinely, "Oh, well thanks."

He nods his head, "Yeah. Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a date? Friday?"

With wide eyes, Gia looks at him like he's insane, "A date? But I don't know you."

"Well, that's the whole point of a date. For us to get to know each other," he laughs lightly.

He laughs too much, Gia notes mentally to herself.

Shaking her head, she replies, "I don't know. I'm new here and I kind of am not in the mood for dating right now."

"Well, what if it's just casual? Just two friends hanging out."

But we're not friends... She can't help but think.

"Why are you so adamant about dating me?" She blurts out.

He shrugs his left shoulder, "You're hot and nice. That's a rare combination."

She sighs once more, "I'm sorry, but no."

Gia isn't the type to go out with random guys. He seems nice, but she wasn't attracted to him, even if she thought he was cute. There were a couple times when he  touched her hand, intruding her personal space, and she felt nothing. No sparks as they say in the romance novels. It felt normal.

Nodding once, he says, "Alright, then. I respect your answer." Then with that, he wanders down the opposite direction of the hall.

The bell sounds, causing Gia to groan. Now she's late to class.

•••

Rosa Moretti always has a smile on her face. She's one of those people who smiles, even through the pain she may feel. But today, Rosa isn't smiling. Which is the first thing Gia notices when she goes to visit her mom at the hospital that afternoon after school.

She met up with her mother in the cafeteria, knowing she is on break . Her mother sat at a small round table with a hot cup of coffee in her hands. Her eyes are blank of emotion, dark circles under them, giving the impression she is tired.

"Mom?" Gia speaks softly as she takes a seat across from Rosa.

"Oh, Gigi," Rosa's lips twitch up for a split second, "What are you doing here, honey?" She asks before taking a sip of her drink.

Gia replies, "It was getting a bit too quiet at home." Gia found the silence when her mother's at work to be eerie sometimes.

Rosa sighs, "I really dislike my job sometimes..."

Frowning, Gia speaks up, "Why?" Her mother's loves being a nurse. Why would she say that? Is it because of her comment about being home alone? "Mom, I don't mind being home alone, you know. It's not that bad. You love your job- "

Rosa smiles ever so slightly, "It's not that, honey. Although, I do hate leaving you by yourself so much, that isn't the reason I don't like my job sometimes."

Gia breathes a sigh of relief, "Then what is it?"

With a sniff, Rosa then takes another sip of her coffee, before answering Gia, "I just hate the death that surrounds it. It's my dream job, yes, but I wish there just wasn't so much death...I...I just witnessed a boy, no older than you, lose his mother right in front of him."

Gia can feel her heart break at the thought. She felt for the boy she didn't even know. "That's so sad...I can't even imagine what he's going through," said Gia, softly.

Clearing her throat, Rosa blinks a couple times before speaking, "Gigi, there's something I should tell you."

Smiling softly, Gia says, "What is it, Mom?"

"That boy you were with the other day...how well do you know him?"

Gia has no idea why she's blushing at such an innocent question, "Um, not very much. Well, I'd say we're acquaintances- friends maybe?" Says Gia, sounding more like a question.

Sighing to herself, Rosa says, "I may have ran into him here one day...before you started school."

Gia blinks, "I'm not understanding..."

Her mother had introduced herself to him right in front  of her. Why would she do that if she knew him?

"He seems like such a nice boy, doesn't he? So quiet, and was very polite to me when I introduced myself. Not much of a speaker. His answers were one worded, but I didn't mind. He seems so troubled, it's hard not to feel sorry for him, huh?"

Gia doesn't answer. She looks down at the table, messing around with her fingers. Silently agreeing.

"I asked him, how old he was. He said he was eighteen. Then, I asked him what school. He said the one you'd be attending. So, I asked him, very nicely at that, if he can maybe look out for you. I told him your name and what you looked like. He had stayed silent for a while after I had asked. Then, he finally nodded, remaining silent."

Gia smiles bitterly to herself, "Well, that makes sense then."

"What does, sweetie?" Her mother asks her.

"Why he was so nice to me. Why he spoke to me when he didn't need to..."

Rosa sighs, "Gigi, there's more." She takes Gia's silence as a cue to continue, "He was at the hospital to visit his mother."

Gia's eyebrows shot up her forehead, "What? I-I thought his mother had..." She trailed off, remembering Lexie saying his mother had passed away.

Rosa's eyebrows furrow close together, "What? His mother was on a breathing machine....she's been sick for years. Cancer, it was."

"Was?" Gia quotes softly.

Looking down, not bothering to look back up at her daughter, Rosa relies, "They had to pull the plug this morning. Griffin was in the room."

Her breath hitches and her hands started to shake. Griffin had witnessed his mother's passing today.

"Is-Is here?" She asks.

Rosa nods, "He's been wandering around the halls like a zombie. I asked him why he wouldn't go home, he said he didn't have a home....just a house."

Tears made its way to the brink of Gia's eyes,  but she didn't let them show. "Um, thanks for telling me, Mom."

"No problem, sweetie."

Then with that, Gia was out of her seat, and rushing out of the cafeteria looking for her friend.

Gia found him in an empty corridor. He was just staring blankly at a wall. So emotionless. So tired.

He hears her heavy footsteps, and looks her way for a second, before looking back at the blank green wall.

"Griffin," she says as she nears him.

He doesn't bother to glance her way again. "You know?" He says, with lack of emotion.

She nods her head. With that, Griffin looks at her, his eyes bright red and filled with tears. Her breath in her throat hitches and his face twists as he shakes his head repeatedly. "My-My mom..." Without thinking, she wraps her arms around him, pulling his head onto his shoulder as he cries into her neck.

"I'm so sorry," she says, feeling her heart contrast as his arms wrap themselves around her waist.

She felt her own tears fall, when a sob escapes out of the back of his throat.