Am I Pretty Yet?

Chapter Six

This chapter was edited 07/29/16.

___

"Everyone's staring at you," Faith subtly whispered into my ear as I reached a hand into my locker to pull out my notebook for World History. I slowly lifted my head to take a quick scan of the hallway. People were, in fact, gawking at me. Or rather, the girls were gawking in surprise and the boys were... well, the boys were doing a mix of staring and checking out. I ducked my head back down, my face heating up.

Someone slammed their shoulder dramatically against the locker beside my own, and I felt myself jump, as well as everyone else in the hallway. The eerie quiet disappeared fast and students were milling about again: opening and shutting their locker doors, clicking and spinning in locker combinations, chattering amongst themselves. The janitor rolled his cart along the floor, the wheels squeaking against the blue and white speckled tile floor. I looked up at the shoulder slamming culprit.

"Parker," I mumbled, surprised.

He leaned his face close to mine, zooming so quickly in front of me that I stumbled backwards, knocking into Faith. His eyes were searching every part of my features, from my eyes to my cheeks to my lips.

"Huh," he said, and I squirmed. "Maybe my twin actually does know what she's doing." He smiled and I blinked, blinded by it. One of his front teeth was chipped, yet somehow it strangely added to the charm that he was exuding. "She did a good job on you."

"Um," I quietly breathed, unsure of what exactly to say. I wasn't used to getting compliments at all. "Thank you?"

"Don't make it sound like a question, be assertive." I blinked again. He waited. I cleared my throat, slowly shutting my locker door.

"Thank you," I tried again, this time making sure my voice sounded sure of itself when truly, on the inside, it was almost like tasting a new food for the first time. The "thank you" resonated around the roof of my mouth, sounding weird on my tongue.

"Better," he replied, sounding just like Richel. He looped his thumbs through the strap of his backpack, which was slung lazily around one shoulder. He turned to Faith, sending her his chipped tooth smile. "Hi, I'm Parker."

"Faith," she replied, sending him a guarded expression. She widened her eyes at me, shooting me you-know-this-guy-and-does-he-have-a-friend looks. I tried to shush her with my telepathy friendship powers, but clearly they weren't working out so hot.

"Have faith in me, Faith," Parker teased, and Faith actually cracked a smile. "I don't bite." His green eyes rotated their way back to me, and he winked. "Much."

Faith coughed obnoxiously, lightly kicking the back of my shoe. I dropped my notebook, bending down to pick it up, but two hands beat me to it. When I looked up, I smiled.

"Harrison. Hey," I sighed, smiling in relief and taking my notebook from his hand. Parker held onto another end but let go. He smirked, folding his arms and resting his back against a locker that was most definitely not his.

"Hey," Harrison slowly replied, eyeing Parker with disdain. Leslie stood beside him, her fingers interlocked with Harrison's. She sent me a small smile, then did a double take only this time with wider eyes.

"Nina?" Leslie laughed, astonished. "Is that you?"

"No," Parker cut in. He sent me another wink, and Harrison frowned. "This is the new and improved Nina Gregory. She only talks to me, so looks like I'm going to be stealing her away before the day begins."

Everyone lapsed into an awkward, confused silence. I stifled a laugh, biting my tongue.

"Joking," Parker said. "I'm joking." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair, brown locks that reached just above his shoulders in waves. "Man, no one knows sarcasm in this town."