Chapter Four
Rosie grabbed her tray of food and went in search of Rebel, but he wasn’t sitting in his usual spot. So he wasn’t here yet, but she knew he’d be here soon enough.
“Hey, Bookie,” Rebecca, one of the school bitches said and smirked. Bookie, the stupid nickname Rebecca had decided to give Rosie freshman year because she read a lot. Rebecca was an idiot, though, because Rosie didn’t take offense to the name.
Like reading was such a bad thing? An insult coming from Rebecca, who spent more time in the girls’ bathroom putting “her face on”—Rosie didn’t give a second thought to the girl.
She made her way past the table where all the “popular girls” sat, which just happened to be close to where Rebel and his friends sat.
She sat down, and only a couple of minutes later Rowley and Max sat down across from her, two of Rebel’s closest friends, and just as wild as Rebel.
“Hey, Rosie,” Rowley said. He was the nicest of all of Rebel’s friends, especially when it came to her. The rest usually just gave her a smile that lasted about a millisecond, and then she was invisible to them.
Maybe they didn’t like the fact the “nerd” hung around, or maybe they didn’t like that she was a girl and invading in their “guy time”? Either way she didn’t care because it didn’t bother her.
Rosie, due to her unpopular status at school and the fact she didn’t really have friends, had grown a thick skin in middle school. Being teased had made her realize that this time in her life, where it was all about cliques and reputations, didn’t matter.
She’d be out of school soon enough, starting college, and she wouldn’t have to see these superficial assholes anymore.
She started eating, but glanced around to see if Rebel was anywhere to be found. Rebecca was staring at her, but Rosie ignored the daggers being pointed in her direction. Another group of girls entered the cafeteria and started chuckling, and then she saw one guy come in alone.
She’d never seen him before, and he looked out of place with his leather jacket, the sunglasses he was wearing indoors, and the hardest look on his face.
“That’s some new kid. Charleston, I think is his name.” Rowley was the one to speak.
“He looks like a douche,” Max said.
Rowley chuckled and shoved half his burger in his mouth. “What the hell kind of name is Charleston anyway?” Rowley had his mouth full, so the words were muffled, but she heard them well enough. Rosie didn’t bother commenting that Rowley’s name wasn’t that “normal” either, or that half the guys they hung out with had nicknames for each other.
Rosie watched as the guy came further into the cafeteria, saw Rebecca sit up straighter and her interest pique, and Rosie had to roll her eyes. That girl was like a damn piranha when it came to the opposite sex.
And then Mr. New Kid gave one glance at Rebecca and kept on moving. She was surprised, and a little impressed. Rebecca was a bitch in every sense of the word, but was gorgeous and had a body that rivaled the ones walking down a runway for Victoria’s Secret.
He came closer to her, and although he wore sunglasses she felt his stare right on her. Shifting on her seat and pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, she looked down at her tray of food. He made her feel a little uncomfortable, like if she were staring right in the eyes of a savage wolf.
Really? You used that as an analogy?
He stopped in front of their table, and she looked over at him. The guys stopped eating and were looking at him as well, and for a second no one spoke or moved.
“You got room for one more?” Charleston asked, as he looked right at her.
“Uh,” Rosie managed to say, and glanced at Rowley and Max. She didn’t want to make this call given the fact she wasn’t the only one at this table, but she also didn’t want to turn someone away. “I don’t have a problem with it, but it’s not just up to me.”
Rosie smiled. She knew all too well the feeling of being pushed aside by people that wanted to be assholes. She wasn’t like that, and never wanted to make anyone feel like they weren’t welcome.
“Move along.”
The sound of Rebel right behind her had Rosie turning in the plastic seat and staring up at him. He was glaring at the new guy, his big body tense, and the annoyance coming from him as clear as if it was a neon sign flashing on his forehead.
For a second Rebel and the new guy just stood there staring at each other, and then finally Mr. New Guy looked at Rosie, smiled, and turned and left. She was confused as hell as to what was going on, and when Rebel sat down beside her she didn’t bite her tongue.