Late Bloomer

Chapter 3 The Unstoppable Girl

Okay, new day, new plans. First, a new hairdo. No more long and loose locks to get snagged in lockers for me. No, I'm switching over to a ponytail. It would help for my second task on the to-do list anyway—to make it into the cheerleading squad.

I have been trying to get in the squad since eighth grade and ever since then, I could never get in. Why you might ask? It's not because I wasn't good enough. Every year when it was time for the coach to pick a new captain, she always picked Karen, which meant that she could pick the team members which meant that I had no chance as long as she was captain. But this year I was keeping my hopes up. The coach had to pick a new captain. She couldn't pick Karen for the fourth year in a row. But before I had to deal with that drama, I had to deal with the golden boys again.

I headed straight for my new locker to drop off my books before the first period. Jules had gone to sign us up for the cheer squad and I was alone. You'd think I'd have noticed if a golden boy walked right up to me but I was so engrossed in thinking about the cheer squad that I didn't.

"Thea." I jumped and looked up. Matteo had just called my name and was standing in front of me. I blinked wondering if he was real. I mean, why would he talk to me again? I had nothing more to do with him after yesterday.

"Me?" I asked, somewhat stupidly. He gave a faint smile and spoke.

"Yeah, you. That's your name, isn't it?"

"Er yeah..." Okay, that was stupid, asking if he was talking to me when he said my name.

"Why did you change your locker?" he asked. Wow, that was short and to the point.

"I—my—" I wasn't sure how to answer. I couldn't tell him the truth but how could I evade him? The guy was staring me down with big brown confused eyes!

And then I realized, it was none of his business.

"Why do you care?" I asked. He fell back a little, as though I'd slapped him or something.

"It's just that—you've had that locker since freshman year. Don't tell me you changed it because of that little accident yesterday?" he raised his eyebrows at me. I felt the words get caught in my throat again. Why was he putting me in these situations?

"Even if I did, I don't think it concerns you," I said, turning my gaze away from him.

"Actually, it does. Because you traded with Karen Kensington and I'm not comfortable with the fact," he said. I frowned. Why wouldn't he be comfortable? He had the girl who worshiped the ground he walked on right next to him. Shouldn't he be enjoying that?

"I thought you'd like having your number one fan close to you," I said, turning around and facing him again.

"I—argh." He gave a little groan and punched the wall nearby in frustration. "Look, would you mind switching back? I don't want to have a locker next to Karen. Please." He sounded so desperate when he said 'please' that I almost wavered. But I couldn't. Because I couldn't bear to have a locker next to him.

"I'm sorry but I don't want to go back to that locker," I said and began to walk away. He persisted after me.

"Thea, please." Whoa, where did that come from? I felt sort of tingly at his voice.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," I said and turned away. I heard him sigh and I felt funny inside. Like a giant rock fell in my chest. Was I—guilty?

~

For the rest of the day, I put the matter out of my mind. In English, I glanced at Matteo curiously to see if he'd gotten over it. To my surprise, he was sitting with folded arms in his chair, earphones in his ears and his eyes closed. He might have been on a bus and not in class for all he knew, which was a ridiculous thought because the golden boys all drive expensive sports cars and have never even been on a bus.