“Lunch isn’t that long,” he said, “So you’ll come over after school,” he told me and I nodded. “Great, you can stay for dinner too then.” He just smiled. Dad, I thought.
“Sorry I can’t stay for dinner, dad will want me home tonight,” I said, sad I couldn’t have both.
“That’s fine you can stay for dinner another time,” he proposed. I nodded, smiling to no one in particular, things were finally right and going back to usual.
“So, what is going on with you and James?” Emily asked in Science, that was all anybody was asking me now, even some girl I hardly spoke to in my math class asked, it was all getting to be very annoying, I hated being the center of attention.
“Nothing,” I said, sounding a little frustrated. “We were friends for a long time.” Why can’t we be now? Why was everyone freaking out?
“Okay, I was just wondering,” she said putting her hands up in defense.
“Sorry, it’s just all people are talking about and asking me, it’s driving me a little crazy.” I sighed. She gave me a silly smile and went back to her desk. Tiffany smiled at me when no one was looking, I looked around and smiled back. It was beginning to feel like we had a secret friendship. When we were leaving class, she bumped into me at the door.
“Hey watch out,” she said, looking pissed.
“I was walking here first or do you think just because you have more plastic, you deserve the right of way?” I asked. She stamped her foot and left, our little fights were always fun and a great distraction. At my locker, I opened the ball of paper she’d stuffed in my hand. She wrote in a sparkly purple ink, probably some sort of gel pen. Are you going out with James? I read, feeling a little annoyed, then in very small writing at the bottom, was scrawled, you should. I grinned to myself, I wasn’t expecting that from anyone, much less her. Tiffany was full of surprises.
“Hey what’s that?” James asked, sneaking up behind me and scaring the bejeezus out of me. I jumped started and quickly crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into my purse before he could grab it.
“I, um… nothing,” I said with an unconvincing grin. He looked at me curiously.
“Nothing?” He repeated, cocking his head sideways in disbelief.
“Nope.” I smiled, shutting my locker. “You ready?” I asked him, he nodded his head and led me to the cafeteria, his arm around my back.
Derek looked annoyed to see James and I walking together, talking and joking but I ignored that and took the seat beside him, acting like I didn’t notice.
“Hey.” I smiled to him, Emily, and Tara. I got some awkward “Heys” back in response. Thanks for trying to seem normal, guys. I tried to add them into our conversation, especially Derek who was the most awkward but it wasn’t working too well.
“Laura keeps staring at you and pacing by our table, are you two still going out?” Derek asked, opening his mouth for the first time all lunch. I looked up and sure enough there was Laura. Big brown eyes, dyed blond hair, tall, really tall, a lot taller than I was, probably five foot nine, all angular and skinny. She was Ali’s ex-best friend and also James’ most recent girlfriend. I didn’t think she was pretty, she was too skinny and gangly and always hunched over awkwardly. Or maybe that was just my jealousy and the fact that I looked nothing like her. I looked at James, waiting for his answer.
“Oh yeah, I guess,” he said, looking like he’d forgotten. His hazel eyes looked into mine worried that I’d be angry. I knew this look, I’d seen it thousands of times. I nodded and smiled.
“Then why don’t you bring her over here, don’t want her thinking you forgot about her,” I said, disappointed with his rude behavior and disappointed they were still an item. Part of me wanted to believe that when he had said he loved me and kissed me, that he meant it as more than a friend, that he felt how I felt but he clearly didn’t. He shot up and went to her, obviously not wanting me to be disappointed in him. Derek started talk to me once Laura was there, I guess he didn’t feel as threatened.
“If you love animals, you should come to my aunt’s farm with me this weekend,” he said warmly.
“It’s so cool that your aunt has a farm,” I said surprised.
“Yep, with horses and everything.” He smiled. “So, do you want to come?” he asked me.
“I would love too!” I said joyfully. Derek smiled back at it, his light blue eyes smiling too. The table went quiet again and everyone but Derek and I were talking and now James was the one who looked pissed.
“Can we go?” I heard Laura whisper to him.
“You can if you want to, I’m staying here.” James whispered back, annoyed. She tried to kiss him but he moved out of the way of her shiny red lips. The bell rang and both Derek and James walked me to my locker. James had hardly spoken to Laura at all, I wondered if it was always like that.
“Was lunch weird or was it just me? I asked Tara in gym.
“Oh my God, I was scared to ask you. Hell yeah!” she exclaimed. “When you talk to James, Derek gets all weird and pissed. When Laura was there and you were talking to Derek, James looked pissed. I feel bad for Laura, you can tell he doesn’t really like her,” Tara continued but I didn’t really follow the rest. Tara looked at me expectantly.
“James doesn’t like me that way,” I told her at the end of her little rant.
“So, he just goes around professing his
