Longer
A little bit after my last big post here, we had our big Pep Rally day on Homecoming, so the school schedule (order of periods) was a little different. I was walking out of Intro to College Chemistry, said hi to a freshman friend of mine (also a saxophone bando, nice guy) when Hallee walked up beside me and began talking with me a little bit. Our conversation, which was centered mostly around the weather conditions for the evening, was short, but I somehow managed to keep a suave (as opposed to squeaky) tone of voice. I wasn't sure about the amount of eye contact; maybe it was because the hallways were busy and she didn't want to crash into anyone coming the other direction, or because she possibly was shy. We went about our separate ways when we reached a hallway intersection, but not before exchanging "have a good day"s. I remembered to smile. I can't remember how much she smiled, but that probably doesn't matter that much. My mood was instantly improved significantly for the rest of the day.
(Interruption: Our Thespian President, Claire, had assigned me to send out text reminders to everyone who had signed up for the Remind.com Set Con class. Hallee is one of them. I regularly send 4 reminds per week, or one for each Set Con shift, and usually send out friendly messages within, or reference lines or songs from the musical in a pun. Claire told me just yesterday that they make her day and that I should keep up the good work. Since today has no Set Con shift, I sent a Remind that said "Hey, you! Yeah, you! You're amazing, you know that? Don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Have a great day! You deserve it!". Untiet left a thumbs-up reaction on the message.)
Now, about a week later I was in Mr. Untiet's (my drama director's) office, talking with him a little bit about the musical's set design when she walked in. I said, "Hi there, Hallee!" in my friendly voice, and she replied, "Hi, Levi" back, in a little depressed voice. Now, I'm not sure if she meant for it to come out that way, but this concerned me a little (I'm waaaaay over-analyzing this). Even worse, last Saturday, when I was just beginning my Set Construction 8-hour shift (with a 1-hour break, of course) I was started off by cutting some plywood with a jigsaw. When I heard her set her keys down on the counter, I stopped, waved, smiled and greeted her in my usual way. That's when the most terrifying thing happened: she looked at me with the saddest face of hers I had ever seen, and simply waved. Mr. Untiet noticed and asked why she looked so sad, but I didn't overhear her answer, as I had resumed sawing. I was concerned for the rest of the day. Untiet told me at the end of it that she was apparently stressed over schoolwork and tired; I concluded that I probably wasn't the reason she looked so depressed to be there.
Unsure, I talked to Molly again on Monday night, and she told me that not only was Hallee stressed over Anatomy homework, but this annoying freshman committed hit-and-run on her car just the other day, and has been denying he left a huge gash in the back of it ever since, even after the police got involved. In other words, I was very unlikely to be the reason. I explained to Molly I wish I knew how Hallee felt about me, and that I wanted to be the sunshine of her day, every day. She suggested that I should try to start casual conversations with her now and then, and to be persistent, but not overly persistent. She also described Hallee as a nice and sweet girl, but also a "gentle little thing". What exactly this meant, I'm not sure.
There are multiple reasons why I seldom find the opportunity to talk to Hallee casually. Reason #1: We have only two classes together: Band & Choir. In Band, she sits in the middle of the room where the miscellaneous percussion instruments are, as she switched to xylophone or something after her junior year. When the walking instruments go outside to march, she and the other miscellaneous percussion either stay inside, or watch us outside. During Choir (she has a beautiful voice, by the way) she sits in the soprano section at the beginning and usually starts what appears to be homework on her Chromebook. I don't want to interrupt her. Reason #2: When she's not alone and busy, she's talking to her friends. If there's one thing I learned from my parents, it's that you don't interrupt a person when they're talking. She's always in a very happy when talking to her friends, and I'd hate to give myself a new reputation by ruining that kind of thing.
I can talk casually with anyone in school I know and have a short, friendly conversation, but I can't find the courage to have one with Hallee, even if I found the opportunity. Since Claire is one of Hallee's best friends, I've been considering talking to her about it, but I think I might want feedback here first.
