Avoiding Goodbyes ~Slow Updates~

Chapter 4 - Avoiding Goodbyes

Chapter 4

      Friday came slowly. I had my class before lunch with Hannah. It was trigonometry, which I wasn't very good at. Math was never one of my best classes.

     "You can sit with me, Bailey, Andrea, and Kayla for lunch again, like yesterday. I think Noah will be sitting with us, too and Will McClain might, too. Him and Andrea totally have something going on, don't you think?" she whispered. "Andrea really never goes out with many guys, because she doesn't want to be known as a slut or something. I don't know."

     "That's good," I replied. Hannah gave me a look. "That she doesn't want that label, I mean," I added. She nodded.

     "Yeah, true, but Bailey, on the other hand, doesn't care. I mean as long as the guy is hot, she'll date him. Poor Noah, she probably doesn't even like him. Noah's a good guy. And he's like insanely hot, too!"

     "Wow. That's a mean thing to do," I sighed, ignoring that last part. It wasn't like I needed someone to tell me he was hot, I knew that.

     "Kayla has been dying for them to break up. She's had the biggest crush on Noah since, like, forever. You can so tell, can't you?"

     "Yeah, sure." I looked down at my nails. Why do they always talk about stupid things?

     "Yeah," she responded, then stopped walking and made a weird 'thinking' face. "Hey, do you and Peter Mare have something going on? I saw you talking to him this week. And he drove you home, right?" She asked. "He's pretty cute."

     "No, no, no. We literally just met and, I mean, he did drive me home yesterday—" disappointment filled her face "—but only because my mom couldn't pick me up. I swear, I'm not interested in him at all."

"Did he like try anything?" I could tell she was getting jealous. I knew jealousy all too well, always being jealous of those who got to stay at the same school and make long-lasting friendships.

"No," I said, but realized, "wait, yes. He asked me on a date, but—"

     "He asked you out on a date? On your first day of school?!" she shreiked. Everyone passing by looked at her like she was some mutant.

     "No need to scream!" I whispered. I grabbed her wrist and walked over to a more private area in the hall.

     "I would be really careful around him, Keaton. He's a real heart-breaking prankster."

     "Yeah, I've noticed. Well, the prankster part..." I smiled briefly, remembering the marker incident. I pushed it away immediately, hoping she wouldn't notice my smile.

     "Wait," she paused. Dammit. "Didn't you get in trouble because of him? Why are you smiling?" she asked, with eyes literally turning glossy. I was hurting her bad. I should not have said those things.

     "I just remember Mr. Gordan's face when Mr. Lawrence let us off the hook. It was like this." I copied the angry face that Mr. Gordan made.

       She smiled. "Oh. So, now, back to Peter. He asked you out? What the hell is wrong with him? Why would he like you?"

     I blinked. That actually hurt my feelings, like a lot. I was stunned. I knew I could be blunt, but never like that. I looked at the floor and she gasped, covering her mouth.

     "Oh, no, no! I didn't mean it like that!" she apologized. "I'm not saying that he has a problem because he likes you because I think you are, like, some weirdo, which I don't, but, I just think it's crazy how he likes you after one day of school."