Matchmaker

Befriending Coraline (Finally!)

(This is Ellington High and its fountain)

Candy and I walked out of algebra class. "So and then Ms. Harris gave me detention," I concluded my sad tale. "Tracy told me to meet her by the fountain after school today, to show me something." Candy looked genuinely surprised.
"You're friends with Tracy? Tracy Newman?"
"Not sure about her last name, but yeah, I am." Candy still looked confused. "What's so weird?"
"It's just... it's pretty hard to make friends with her. Even I hardly get a word or two out of her."
"That's... weird. We even exchanged numbers..." I murmured. Candy walked on in silence.

Sixth period was boring, lemme just say that. The teacher was an old guy in glasses who hardly ever looked back at the class, just writing, writing, writing on the board. I'm pretty sure that there wasn't a single person who didn't fall asleep at one point or another. I have no idea how she didn't get in trouble for this, but Coraline, who thankfully wasn't anywhere near me, even brought a small pillow and snored through the entire hour if class. Finally, the bell rang, and everyone immediately shot out of the classroom. I followed a bit slower. I pushed open the glass door and breathed in the fresh air. Being cooped up in a building for seven hours isn't very pleasant. Tracy wasn't here yet, so I sat down by the fountain and started tracing shapes in the water.

I saw something move behind the sheet of water, and decided to see if it was Tracy. After a couple of steps, I saw Coraline. My first reaction was to turn and run away, but I decided to approach her. She seemed clam enough, and besides, she was reading a book. She looked up as I approached her.
"Hi," she mumbled. I was glad for a greeting; this was going better than I expected.
"Hi!" I responded. She was silent for a few moment, until I started feeling a little awkward, but then she said without looking up,
"I'm sorry about what happened. I just get pissed easily, and I was in an especially bad mood today." I smiled.
"It's all right. Is... Are you in a better mood now?" She nodded.
"I... I think so." A few more moments of silence followed. I decided to take a risk.
"So... Is there any particular reason you were so pissed today?" I wondered, silently pleading she wouldn't rip my head off. She sighed and looked down at her feet, putting the book aside.
"Well... It's just kind of, well, everything," she responded with a solemn look.
"Everything?" I repeated. She nodded.
"Yah. My family, school, and I would say friends if I had any."
"Well now you do." She looked up at me, a sparkle of hope flashing in her eyes. "Really?" she asked. I nodded.
"If you want." Another pause, we seemed to be having a lot of those. I couldn't stand it any longer.
"Friends?"
"...Friends." We silently sat by the fountain, listening to the steady trickle and waiting for Tracy.