I pursed my lips before answering.
“Oh, um, it’s great,” I shrugged, smiling embarrassed by my thoughts.
Great because of one beautiful blue-eyed creature in my next class.
“You moved here from San Diego, right?” she asked, still twirling her hair.
“Yes, at the beginning of summer,” I answered.
“Then how is this place great? I would love to live in San Diego. What the heck made you come back here?”
“The weather,” I replied, my tone laced with sarcasm.
“Huh?” she asked, drawing in her eyebrows.
My dry humor was obviously lost on her but at least Layken chuckled.
“Whatever,” Riley sang, rolling her eyes, biting into a chip and crunching loudly.
Layken’s other friend Brooke was beautiful, with long straight black hair and large brown eyes. Her olive skin glowed without any teenage flaws. She could easily have been a model. She was not as friendly as the others, regarding me warily, using one word responses to address the group. It seemed she was annoyed with my presence, but I wasn’t positive.
Stop being so insecure, Claire. She could have had a bad morning.
Reese was the lone boy of the group. His hair was close in color to my own, resting just below his ears, framing his strong jaw. He was handsome with grey eyes and long lashes. He seemed nervous, refraining from most of the conversation. Looking around the room constantly and tapping his foot, he was beginning to annoy me.
Layken assured me he was much more talkative when Brody was around.
“He’s late, as usual,” she said.
Maybe that is why Reese keeps looking around; he’s hoping his buddy will show up so he doesn’t have to be bored to death with girl talk. The world does not revolve around you, Claire.
Eating lunch, socializing with other kids my age, I felt relaxed. It put me at ease and for the first time I felt like a normal teenager. This was how a girl my age was supposed to live, hanging out with friends, chatting about whatever came to mind, carefree and worriless. I kept moving my gaze across the brightly lit room hoping to catch a glimpse of Brent, but I didn’t see him.
My comfortable feeling was long gone the second I glanced up and spotted Logan at a table across from us. His eyes were fixed on me, creating tension. The feeling was thick, like the fog that covers the river in early morning. Logan was glaring at me, disgust seeping from every pore on his face.
Layken noted his lurking and my discomfort, whispering so that the table couldn’t hear what she said. “Don’t worry about him, he’s a jerk. He always gives the new person a hard time. It’s like his life’s goal or something. Just ignore him. He’ll get bored with you in a day or two,” she stated matter-of-factly. “I can’t believe I ever went out with him. He had a nice truck. I guess I thought he was cool. Boy, was I wrong,” she finished.
Laughing nervously, I decided to take her advice, turning my eyes back to our group and to the conversation at our table. There it was again, that calm feeling rushing through my body after Layken spoke, soothing away my anxiety. It must be genuine friendship that made me feel this way. I mentally scolded myself for having avoided it for so long.
Reese got up from the table abruptly, his expression angry, talking under his breath, seemingly to himself. He crossed in front of me and smiled. I’m not sure why but his smile made me blush and I smiled back shyly. Reese moved gracefully and I saw Brooke staring at him admiringly. She liked him. It was obvious, but he ignored her completely. I noted Reese’s rudeness as there was no way for him to miss the way Brooke was looking at him. He must have been the cause of her annoyance. My heart squeezed a little, watching Brooke frowning wanly and fiddling with a few grapes in front of her.
See, don’t be so paranoid. It wasn’t even about you.
Crossing to Logan’s table, Reese leaned down to speak with him. Logan peered over his shoulder at me with that familiar look of hate in his eyes. My body instantly tensed and I looked away. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but it couldn’t be me. I’ve only said three words to Reese and he had said even fewer to me – Reese Phillips – that’
s all I got out of him. Logan’s posture suddenly changed and he stared at his tray.
You’re being paranoid again. Get over yourself.
Reese glided back to the table, taking the empty seat next to me which earned me a harsh stare from Brooke. His lips were pressed tightly together. I considered asking him what his conversation with Logan had been about but decided against it. He ignored my questioning stare, starting up a conversation with Riley as though nothing weird happened.
Perhaps nothing weird did happen.
I decided he could have been asking Logan about homework and my paranoia was just getting the better of me. I resolved not to bring it up. Continuing to eat lunch, I peeked at Logan’s table several times, but he didn’t look over. I was relieved that Reese had disturbed his efforts to torture me.
Layken and I walked to art together while she told me that Brooke really liked Reese but he’s not into her which made hanging out with the two of them really hard. I was trying to listen, but my stomach was in a ball, and I felt flustered with anticipation knowing that in a few short steps I would get to see Brent.
Reaching the door, I peeked in and began scanning the room. I spotted Brent standing in front of a table in the back of the class. He was talking with a small group of girls who were giggling at every word he said. I felt the slightest bit of jealousy lingering in a dark place somewhere near the back of my mind. Stepping into the room, my eyes lit up and I smiled brightly, staring at him, urging him to look at me. He turned and our eyes locked. Something distant and cold replaced the welcoming gleam I usually felt when I looked at him. Taking a step toward him, I ignored the rejection I saw in his stare. Leveling me with a shunning glare, he turned his head and continued his conversation with his admirers until the bell rang.