Anni … An Unwilling New Start | Part 4

I approached the school building slowly. Really slowly. I had almost tripped over my crutches at a traffic light on the way and was glad that nobody saw me.
About a week after the phone call with Stephanie, I began putting her crazy plan into action. She had sent me a pair of bright pink crutches by post the very next day, which her older sister had used for a torn ligament a few years back. My "mission" was to show them off at school and find out if Sebastian would react at all.
Since being back at school after my little accident, fit and with all limbs intact, he had greeted me when we saw each other, but otherwise hadn’t seemed interested in me at all. And yet he had been so eager and caring while playing the doctor at the gym! I wanted to know what was going on with him - so much so that after several discussions I had finally agreed to Stephanie's experiment.
Already in the fifth grade, when I had first become friends with Stephanie, she had been a little wild, creative and extroverted; pretty much the polar opposite of me. Presumably my life until now would have been much more boring without her. Again and again she had taken me on adventures and always managed to infect me with her enthusiasm and her imagination. "Obviously, she still has that effect on me today," I thought, grinning to myself as I finally reached the school doors. The students loitering around the entrance in small groups gave me curious glances. I had bought a black bandage for my ankle at the pharmacy. This was now wrapped around my right foot, which I held off the ground with the help of my crutches. On the left foot I wore a black flip flop; my outfit completed with beige shorts and a light blue top – luckily it was still very warm and sunny. The main door was open allowing me to hobble inside. My first class of the day was history on the first floor, meaning I had to shuffle my way up the staircase, which had wide steps luckily. Despite this, I was still not very adept in my maneuvers; in order for my parents to remain unaware as to what I was planning, I had not been able to practice beforehand. Shakily and somewhat tiresomely I struggled to get upstairs, as the other students overtook me on either side. Although I had hurried, I only just made it to the classroom as the bell signalling the beginning of the lesson rang. Herr Gruber, my history teacher, was just about to close the door, but seeing me coming he held it open with a pitying look as I stopped in front of him, completely out of breath. "Oh, you poor thing!" he said as I limped past him to my seat. "Did you break something?" – "No." I blushed again. "Just a pulled ligament!", I answered, making the effort not to speak too quietly. Out of the corner of my eye I squinted at Sebastian, who sat diagonally behind me in this class, and seemed to be staring at me right now. I fell a little inelegantly into my seat, laid my bandaged right foot on my backpack under my desk and placed my crutches on the floor beside me. Mr. Gruber began the class and seemd all set to begin a long lecture on the French Revolution. I had a pen and paper prepared, but was still unable to keep up with what was being said. I could feel Sebastian's eyes on my back. After five minutes or so, somebody tapped me from behind. I flinched and turned around quietly. Sebastian had passed me a folded piece of paper across the desk, which I surreptitiously took and unfolded. "Come to Max with me after 8th period?" Max was the pub Sebastian had shown me from the car when he had driven me home after my fall. In the summer you could sit in the outside seating area and many of my classmates went there after school to hang out. Although I was already due to finish school after the 7th period that day, I wrote a big "OK" on the note. I folded it up again and handed it back to Sebastian whilst Mr. Gruber was writing something on the blackboard.
I couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the day, as all sorts of crazy thoughts kept popping into my mind. Had I finally "revealed" what was up with Sebastian? Why had he been ignoring me for days, and now moments after arriving at school with a bandaged foot and crutches, he suddenly wanted to meet me? Did he really have an inclination towards limping women, feet or even foot injuries? I simply couldn’t imagine that such preferences really existed. And if at all, then certainly not in such "normal" people!
After the history class during first period, we had looked at each other briefly, but not spoken to one another. One of Sebastian’s mates had started chatting with him and so they had left the room together. We didn’t have any of the following classes together, so I would just meet him directly at Max. When the 7th period was finally over, I set off towards the bar, and was glad I had an hour ahead of me. My arms ached from the unaccustomed posture whilst using the crutches, and my "good" leg hurt from carrying the extra weight all the time. Still, I had the feeling that I was definitely covering ground a bit faster than I had that morning. Theoretically, I could have just walked normally for a bit, but I was too afraid of being discovered to try.

After about 20 minutes, I reached Max, where a few guests sat at the tables outside. It was pretty empty overall. I sat down at a small table with four chairs in a sunny alcove, put my backpack on one of the chairs, leaned my pink crutches against it, and put my bandaged foot up on another chair. I kept Stephanie up to date via WhatsApp. "What should I say ?!" I texted her nervously. "We already talked about everything you have to say!" Stephanie answered. "You rolled your right foot again at home, you were in a lot of pain and your mother drove you to the doctor. He diagnosed a torn ligament in ​​your upper ankle and prescribed the bandage and the crutches. Relax, you can do it!"
Relax, yeah sure! I had just ordered a cappuccino when Sebastian drove up and parked in front of Max.