The Seventh Year

. 15 .

I sat through their banter, confused. Since when did they get on talking terms? It was common knowledge that half of the football team made bets on Cara, none of them coming remotely close to even talking to her. I had heard that Andy dipped out on the bet because Cara wasn't going to be able to give him immediate satisfaction. I guessed he did it to maintain his pride and record. He had kissed her in fifth grade and that was enough for him.

As for Cara, ever since middle school, she hated Andy and wanted nothing to do with him. When I talked about him, she would sigh like the world was ending. She even went out of her way to avoid bumping into him in the hallways. Ok, she does that to everyone.

Them casually sassing each other back and forth was new to me. I wasn't used to it, and it sprouted new theories and doubts in my mind.

"Is Bea your nickname?" Andy took his attention off Cara to talk to me. I looked at him with wide eyes and nodded. He smiled and I nearly melted at the sight of it. "It's cute. Pearson's the only one who calls you that around here."

"Well, all my friends and family do." I answered. By friends and family, I meant Cara, her parents, mom and my step sisters. It wasn't a long list.

"Can I call you Bea?" Andy asked.

"Of course!" I cried out way too enthusiastically. Cara smiled to herself and ate some lasagna. I kicked her leg from under the table. She winced, but didn't make it obvious. I made a mental note to apologize later.

Cara's phone began vibrating on the table. She picked it up and read the flood of messages she had just received. Judging by her expression, it was something she had to unwillingly deal with. Cara shoved the last of her lasagna into her mouth and picked her bag up. As she swallowed, she waved her hand at me.

"I have Stu-Co stuff to do. See you later!" She called out as she took off, leaving me alone with Andy. I didn't know whether to be nervous or excited.

"She's such a character." Andy said to himself as he watched Cara leave. "I bet you have tons of fun being her friend."

"Do you mean that in a sarcastic way?" I asked. "Well, yeah. I enjoy being her friend. She's just way too honest, but that's what's great about her. She's very dependable."

"And great at repelling creeps." Andy joked, but it wasn't much of a joke since it was true. There were two reasons why I had never had a boyfriend. The first was because I was too in love with Andy. The second was because my best friend scared them all away.

I sighed, worried about her future. "She's never going to get a boyfriend if she keeps this up."

"She'll find someone." Andy rested his elbow on the table. We looked at each other without bothering to turn away. "Love can change people. Look what it did to me."

"Hmm." I wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. It wasn't love that prompted me to change. Rejection was. Not feeling good enough, hating the person I was, all of that was like a slap across the face. Because of that, I became desperate to reinvent myself.

Rejection...

I slapped my hand on the table in realization. Andy looked puzzled as I stared at him with wide eyes. "That girl you mentioned last week. You got rejected, didn't you?"

Andy looked like he had been struck by an arrow. He leaned back and looked at me with parted lips. I had hit it spot on. It made me feel bad. Andy's gaze shifted here and there and he laughed. "Wow. I don't know where that came from, but I'm guessing it's pretty obvious."

Oh shit.

"How'd you figure it out?" Andy asked me.

"I've...been there." I replied and set my hands down at the edge of the table. "Anyway, this girl. Would it be shameless of me to ask who she was?"

"Ah." Andy sighed. He didn't look sad or hurt. He just looked empty and tired. Like he just wanted to escape his feelings. "You probably don't know her. She graduated before we got to high school. She was my brother's girlfriend."

Fuck.

~~~

I went to a private boarding school during my more memorable years of high school and they served vegetarian meals 3 times a day. It wasn't the best, but for vegetarian food, it wasn't bad. I wouldn't know the difference anyway, I was raised with a plant-based diet.

But during grade school, I went to this private school in Asia and the lunches served were all really fucking good. Like the kitchen was open for everyone to watch how the food was made and they were cooking all the damn time. It was gourmet.

v o t e a n d f o l l o w f o r u p d a t e s :)

~ Sharmi