The Thing About Three (PUBLISHED)

chapter two | up in the bleachers

Megan Malone was something akin to being the bane of my existence. She used to be the closest thing Denton High had to a queen bee, but not in the stereotypical "mean girl" way that people usually think of.

She wasn't explicitly mean, and she didn't bully, but she did manipulate and talk about you behind closed doors, all with a perfectly artificial smile on her face. She wanted everyone to think that she was their friend, but that word always came with an ulterior motive.

Megan even classified me as a friend, mainly because that sounded a lot nicer than what I used to be to her before she graduated last year, which was: the girl she roped into giving her the answers to her homework.

Ever since my freshman year, she would seek me out in class, always conniving me into letting her take peeks of my tests or assignments because she knew I was too nice to really say no to her.

I think the most annoying thing about it all was that she was smart. She had the capacity to learn the material and do the work, but she was too lazy to actually do it. Instead, she always preyed on my nicety and took her fill.

It was annoying, but I hated ruffling feathers so I never said anything and thanked God that she was an upperclassman and that I didn't have to deal with her my senior year.

"Oh! Hey, Dallas," Megan smiled warmly at my companion, acting as if she hadn't seen him when she approached, as if she wasn't there solely to see him.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her hand trailing down the length of it and stopping at her ends were she twirled the hair around her fingers in a flirty gesture that I was sure was some signature move of hers.

I'd been dealing with this girl for years, and had gotten to the point where I could see right through her. At first, I thought she was nice, and that she really wanted to be my friend, but I'd found out pretty quickly that she only wanted to be friends with a person when they were useful to her.

Even then, when she no longer needed me for answers to tests and homework, I was still useful to her.

Just because I was friends with Dallas.

I saw her smile drop for a split second when her eyes grazed over Dallas's arm around me, but it was so fast that I almost thought I imagined it.

"Are y'all enjoying the game so far?" Despite having said "y'all," she was only looking at Dallas.

"Well, the team's down by 12 points, so we're not enjoying ourselves too much," Dallas answered for us in a friendly voice.

My head whipped toward the scoreboard, shocked by the score. I had been so caught up in everything that was Dallas Whitlock that I had barely even noticed the game.

Megan was nodding when I looked back at her, still smiling brightly at Dallas. "You know," she began, "I was wondering if you could take a look at my car for me. Every time I brake, it makes a screeching noise." She shifted her features around to make a sad, innocent expression. She pouted her pink lips slightly, staring at him with doe eyes.

Oh, please.

"Sounds like you need new brakes," Dallas replied, "why don't you come in sometime this week and I'll check them out? And if you need them replaced, I can hook you up with a discount."

A discount? Really?

"Oh, you're just too sweet," Megan cooed.

"Hey Meg, here's your cocoa," Sierra Cole announced, strolling into the conversation with a disposable cup in hand. She made brief eye contact with Dallas and I before turning back to her friend.

Unlike Megan, Sierra was actually a very kind-hearted individual. I'd never heard a bad thing about her, and thought that she was really sweet, which made it even harder for me to understand why she hung out around Megan so much. The two were practically attached at the hip back in school.

"Oh, thanks," Megan said, taking the cup and holding it with both hands.

Sierra looked down at us with a faint smile, her way of politely acknowledging us.

"So, would Saturday be a good time for me to show up?" Megan suddenly asked, continuing where she left off with Dallas.

"Uh . . ." he looked at me. "I don't know, do we have anything scheduled?"

I shook my head. "No, we don't," I said to Megan. "I'd shoot for morning time, though. Afternoons can get busy for us."

She raised an eyebrow. "'Us?'" I didn't miss the way her eyes narrowed slightly on me. Her expression didn't seem anything other than warm and friendly, but, again, I knew how to read her.

She was curious about me, about my relationship with Dallas. And I think it was bothering her, because she was beginning to see me as something other than one of her "friends."

I was becoming a threat to her, and something deep and dark inside of me loved every second of it.

I nodded again. "Yeah, I work as the part-time service advisor after school and on the weekends."

"Oh," Megan said, feigning a delighted surprise, "well, I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow, then." Her words seemed innocent, and she looked friendly, but I saw something close to jealously in her eyes.

She turned towards Sierra. "Where's the nachos?"

"They were taking too long, so I left Noah to wait for them before the hot cocoa got cold."

I froze, thinking I misheard because surely Noah wasn't actually there. They had to be talking about some other Noah. Definitely not Noah Caraway.

I settled on that thought, taking comfort in it. Because if it actually was Noah Caraway, I didn't know what I'd do.

"Here's your stupid nachos, Meg," a familiar voice said as the owner of the voice walked up the steps toward us, "and why are you guys all the way up here?"

Someone answered him, though I'm not sure who it was because the man standing before me was, in fact, Noah Caraway, and I couldn't take my eyes or thoughts away from him.

Looking back, I can't help but wonder what my life would look like if it hadn't been him in that moment, if it had been some other Noah like I had been hoping for.

Because, it if hadn't been him, if he had never come back into town, things would've been a whole lot different for me.

Because this is where the story starts getting interesting.

・●・○・●・○・●・

1,722 words.

Question: What movie or tv show have you watched recently?

I recently just binge-watched The Night Agent and I thoroughly enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I usually avoid watching shows and movies because I would rather spend my time reading, but I've seriously not read a single book in almost two whole months that was able to keep my attention.

I think this is because I've read every good book on Kindle Unlimited and Wattpad and now I'm left with the mediocre/bad ones. It's rough over here, y'all! I've been re-reading books I've liked in the past because I'm so desperate for a good book!

Please drop any book suggestions here!

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