It was much the same the whole day. Everyone was suddenly interested in Sam and me. More people talked to me that day than all the other days I had been at school put together. The only one who had nothing to say was Matt, though I caught him watching me throughout the day.
The attention of all the other students got old fast and I regretted going to the pizza place the night before. For someone who preferred to fade in the background, I felt like I had a spotlight pointed at me the entire day.
Finally, the last bell of the day rang; Sam and I exchanged a look of relief. The stares had sapped all the cheerfulness out of Sam’s normal demeanor.
“I feel like I’ve been in a fish bowl the whole day,” she said, sounding annoyed.
I agreed with her. I hoped that this new popularity would wear off soon. I didn’t know how many more days I could put up with all the attention and mocking glances.
Mark and Shawn were waiting for us on the front stairs. Their day hadn’t gone the way they had planned either. They had lost track of time at the Boardwalk.
“So, we didn’t get any research done,” Mark explained to us apologetically.
“How did you lose track of time at the Boardwalk?” I asked curious.
They looked sheepish. “Um, you lose track of time when you go into the arcade and blow through fifty bucks worth of change,” Shawn muttered.
“Oh, so you get to go play games all day while were in school?” Sam said in mock anger.
They stumbled over themselves to come up with excuses. “We would have left sooner, but Shawn kept challenging me to rematches of Galaga,” Mark said, trying to defend himself.
We burst out laughing. “I was just kidding,” Sam said. “We don’t expect you to be working all the time.”
“What a way to sell me out though,” Shawn said, throwing a fake punch at Mark. >I giggled again still tickled from the look he had on his face. “You should have seen the look on your face,” I said between my merriment.
“You are so beautiful when you laugh, your whole face lights up, it makes me happy just to see it,” he said as he stroked the side of my face with the back of his hand.
The laughter stuck in my throat as a new heat began to fill me. When he looked at me like that, I felt like the most special person in the world.
Chapter 11
Once Sam and Shawn came back from their walk, we decided to enjoy my newfound freedom and go out to dinner.
We picked a local pizza place downtown that Mark swore was the best around. Now that he was no longer working at my school, there was no reason we needed to avoid the restaurants around our school.
The pizza place was loud and crowded with students when we arrived. A hush seemed to fall on the place when we pushed through the doors. It ended quickly, as the gossip hounds turned away, trying to act like they weren’t staring.
I spied Matt in a corner booth with a bunch of his cronies. Mark spotted him at the same time, I had to swallow a laugh when he pulled me close and planted a sensual kiss on my lips, leaving no question that we were together.
Sam snickered beside me. She knew exactly what Mark was doing. Shawn looked a little confused, so we filled him after we claimed a table in the back. He slapped Mark appreciatively on the back as they got up to place our order at the old fashioned counter with swivel stools.
“You look so much better,” Sam said, studying me.
“I feel better, and now that I can do your breathing trick, I feel like I’m finally turning a corner.”
“I’m glad. We all need to be in tip top shape. I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.”
The guys came back and I was happy for their intrusion. I was sick of worrying about all the doom and gloom. I just wanted to bask in the moment like any other teenager. Soon, we were all laughing at more of Shawn’s anecdotes and the conversation flowed lightly around our table. It was hard not to notice the envious stares directed at us from the gossip hounds, probably wondering how we had gotten so close and at ease with each other. Their conversations seemed superficial compared to the ones that our group was sharing.
The bell rang for our pizza and the guys went and grabbed it along with a pitcher of soda. The pizza was excellent. The cheese was melted a golden brown and oozed over the sides with each bite we took. I ate until I was filled to the brim. The guys ate us under the table; we teased them about how much pizza they had consumed.
“Hey we’re men. We need lots of food for our bodies,” Shawn said, sticking up for him and Mark.
Once we had our fill, Mark and Shawn told us about their trip.
“We think one of the couples is headed this way,” Mark said.
“Why do you think that?” Sam asked.