The Other Side

Chapter Twelve

Nolan frowned to see Levi was back among their group when he and Mindy joined them for lunch on Monday. Just because he was going to teach the guy to use his black magic didn’t mean he wanted to hang around with him.

“There you are!” Jenna cried. “I’ve been waiting all weekend to talk to you.”

            Mindy furrowed her brow. “Why didn’t you just call me if it was so important?”  

            “Because this was way too important to talk about over the phone.”

            “Um, okay. What’s up?”

            “You have to give me the four one one on that tasty treat that came to the party looking for you.”

            Mindy slid her eyes toward Nolan who was cracking up beside her. Tasty treat. That was a new one and sort of surprising to hear coming from Jenna’s mouth. Considering how eccentric she was and her recent crush on Levi, Nolan figured he was too normal to be her type.

            “That was your boyfriend right?” Jenna guessed, and Mindy nodded. “I knew it. What’s his name?”

            “Don’t tell her my last name,” Nolan spoke up. “I don’t need your friends finding out who I really am.”

            “His name is Nolan,” Mindy answered.

            “How’d you meet him?” Jenna asked.

            What am I supposed to tell them? Mindy thought.

            “Tell them whatever you want as long as you don’t tell them my last name,” Nolan repeated.

            “We, um, met through our moms,” Mindy lied. “Our moms went to high school together, and we met for the first time when he and his mom moved here over the summer.”

             Nolan marveled at her ability to spin such a plausible yarn. Though it took a bit for it gain steam, it wasn’t something that would raise any suspicion. Not to mention, any lied she told added more weight on the evil side of the proverbial scale.

            “How come we’ve never met him before?” Denise asked.

            “Oh, he doesn’t go to school here. He goes to Central,” Mindy explained.

            “How come you never talk about him?” Jenna added.

            “Who gives a shit?” Levi interjected. “I know I don’t. What about you guys?”

            The way the rest of the guys in the group nodded their agreement made Nolan smirk. No matter what Levi said, they would’ve gone along with him. That’s the way it’d been all of Levi’s life. Something about him made people want to follow him. Thanks to Nolan, he knew why. 

             “No one’s talking to you anyway,” Jenna pointed out.

            “Maybe not, but you’re ruining my lunch with this slumber party bull shit,” Levi retorted.

            “Then maybe you should go somewhere else.”

            “Or maybe you should.”

            Jenna hopped to her feet. “Come on, girls. We don’t need them anyway.”

            Mindy followed when Jenna started in the opposite direction. So did Nolan but not because he really wanted to hear what they had to say. For once, he agreed with Levi. He wasn’t interested in hearing what they said about him, but hanging out with them was the lesser of two evils. Besides Mindy, Levi was the only person who could see him. Just because he agreed with the guy didn’t mean Nolan wanted to be his new best friend.