Splinters: Part One

Part One | 10

"Good! You need more than one person to tell you you're crazy."

"I just... I don't know. I've never really participated in Halloween. It kind of freaks me out."

Dipping a fry into some ketchup and eating it, I surreptitiously glanced at Collie's table. Unfortunately, Zech had his arm around her again, but I could tell in her face that she was almost disgusted. It satisfied me to still see that she hated him.

"Why don't you go talk to her?"

I jerked my head towards Grady. Feeling heat rise up to my cheeks, I shook my head. "Talk to who?"

"Collie. As if you haven't been constantly looking at her like I don't notice."

I shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "I haven't been-"

"I may be stupid, but I'm not blind."

I stared at him in confusion. "What? That doesn't even-"

"I know you like her. Everyone probably does."

"She doesn't feel the same way."

Grady gaped at me. "Okay, maybe you're stupid and blind."

I felt offended. "What?"

"You don't think Collie's into you?"

"No?"

"She's even looking at you right now."

I turned, and sure enough, Collie's eyes met mine for the shortest second, and then she looked away. I waited for her to look at me again, and when she did, I smiled at her. It seemed as if a million bricks had been lifted off her shoulders. That's what it felt like for me, anyway.

"What happened, anyway? Weren't you two friends?"

I looked away from Collie and back at Grady. Staring at him for a short moment, I resumed back to eating. "You could say that."

"Why aren't you anymore?"

I didn't know how to answer, so I didn't. I changed the subject to P.E., which he wasn't too keen on having.

After lunch, I hurried to catch Collie. She was walking ahead with Zech, holding his hand. I don't know why I was surprised. It wasn't anything new. I wondered if they really were together, and the thought made me cringe. It didn't make sense, though. I remembered Zech encouraging me to tell her how I felt. Maybe he was just setting me up though. 

In the end, his entire plan was to embarrass me, lead me away from Collie and lead Collie away from me. He wanted to have fun while doing it, and that meant inviting me to a party and making me humiliate myself in front everyone. I glared at the back of Zech's head, continuing to follow them.

Today was another day where I'd have a class with Collie, so following her didn't exactly look like following her - even though it kind of was - it looked like I was getting to my own class.

Zech dropped her hand right when they reached the door and he bent down to kiss her cheek. I practically stared daggers at him. When he turned and laid his eyes on me, he smirked, and purposefully let his shoulder bump into mine, causing me to stumble. I rolled my eyes at him and looked towards Collie. She still didn't know I was behind her.

"Hey, Collie." I said, entering the class room.

She whipped her head around, meeting my gaze. She looked very surprised for a minute, blinking slowly.

"Mr. Pierson. Miss Mathers, have a seat please." the teacher said with bored eyes and an expressionless tone.

Collie sat in a desk diagonal from mine. She glanced back at me, our eyes meeting for a short moment. She was about to say something to me, but was interrupted by the teacher again, this time, scolding her to look forward.