45 Days to Save the Bad Boy

Four

Since everyone else was talking to someone, I crept over towards Breton.  No one had noticed me enter the room, so I guessed I had at least a minute to find out what was going on.  Tugging cautiously on Breton’s sleeve, I waited for him to look at me.  After a minute, I tugged again, harder.  

“Breton!” I whispered.  “Hey!”  Startled, Breton turned to look at me.  “What are you all doing here?” I asked, making sure to keep my voice down.  He shrugged.

“It was Hayley’s idea.  She thought you might be lonely, waiting in the classrooms until everyone else comes, so she said we should join you today.  Dallas told us what your first class was and here we are.”  Breton did not sound very happy about being here, so I didn’t say anything as he turned back to face the room again.  I waited a minute, then spoke again.  “Hey Breton?”  He turned to face me.  “Thanks.”  I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but I guess I didn’t really need to know.  He sighed.

“You’re welcome.”  Then he raised his voice.  “Hey everyone!  Georgie’s here!”  My eyes widened in panic as everyone turned to face the two of us.  Breton had a lazy grin spread across his face as he called out to Hayley, “Nice to see you were paying attention hen she walked in the door.”

“Oh boo-hoo,” Hayley replied.  “So I might’ve been a little caught up in a conversation.  That’s none of your concern.  Sorry Georgie, I should have been paying attention.”  I was stunned by the apology.

“That’s okay.  Thanks for being here,” I told her with a grateful smile.  “That was nice of you guys.”

“Hey, we’re your friends.  That’s what friends do.”  

The next few minutes I was pulled from table to table.  York wanted to know if I liked his hair.  (Yes, purple was a very daring color for a guy to pull off.)  Lucas and Frank were wondering if I knew how to fold paper airplanes.  (I surprised them when not only could I fold paper airplanes, but I knew eight different types of planes to fold, and all of mine flew better than theirs.)

“I have a lot of spare time,” I explained sheepishly.  They didn’t care as long as I could teach them how to fold so many.

Hayley, Jelly Bean, Donna were discussing boys.  Unfortunately, I had no experience talking about boys with other girls, and so the conversation lagged.  Hayley promised that I would get used to talking about it eventually.  Although I wanted to join the conversation, I kind of doubted that I would ever get used to talking about something like that.  I didn’t talk to Chris or Dallas, but I thanked them with a smile from across the room.  

All too soon, the bell rang and Breton’s friends had to go.  I waved goodbye to them as some of my classmates started filing through the door.  

“Hey Georgie, sit with at at lunch?” Hayley invited as she tried to resist being tugged out the door.  

“Y-yeah sure!” I replied.  Someone outside the door pulled on Hayley’s arm.  “You better go before you’re late for your class,” I told her.  She nodded.  “See you at lunch!” I called.  Then she was out the door.

I think my sparkling white table will be deserted today.  Smiling, I thought about Hayley’s invitation.  I was going to sit with Breton’s friends.  But maybe they were my friends too.  I must be getting better at this friend thing.  I’ve more friends now, and it’s only been two days.

Lunch was, to say the least, awkward.  Peter was staring me down from one end of the table and on the other end, Breton was staring me down.  I sat across from Donna, who seemed to notice what exactly was happening at the ends of the table, and next to Dallas, who was oblivious to anyone except for Chris, who was next to him.  Similarly, on the other side of me, Hayley was talking to Jelly Bean next to her and Brogan across from her, who was next to Donna.  Next to Jelly Bean was Frank, and across from Frank was Lucas.  York say across from Chris, and Brad sat next to York, close to Peter.  No one was paying me any attention except Peter, Breton, and Donna, but that wasn’t necessarily wanted attention.  Yikes.  Also, I was kind of squished, and my arms were stuck at my sides because Hayley and Dallas were pressed to closely against me.  This meant that I couldn’t reach my lunch on the table right in front of me, unless I wanted to press my face forward and try eating without hands or arms.