Three Years Later...

Chapter 3: New Friends, Old Acquaintances

I dumped my bag and the Calculus book on the table, and slid in the seat next to Cara. She was sipping her milkshake with a faraway look on her face.

"Hey Cara." I greeted her, crossing my legs on the chair. I hardly cared if my sitting position looked un-lady like; after two and a half hours of attending spine-breaking, and incredibly dull lectures, all I cared about was comfort.

I don't get a response from her. "Cara?" I repeated, but she was staring at something at one end of the cafeteria, seemingly deaf to the outside world. I followed her gaze and my eyes fell upon Evan who was standing in a corner, talking to a group of guys. He was laughing about something, his grey eyes shining as he motioned wildly with his hands. Confused, I glanced back at Cara, who had a small smile playing across her lips as she watched him.

"Ohhhh." I uttered gleefully, letting out a small laugh as it clicked. Evan, with his messy, blond hair, dimpled cheeks and bright, grey eyes was one of the most good-looking guys in our entire school. The fact that he was also a senior resulted in him being constantly surrounded by a flock of girls. I leaned forward and snapped two fingers in front of Cara's face. She blinked, breaking out of her reverie.

"Oh, hey Em." She murmured sheepishly, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.

"You looked mesmerized." I grinned, and before she could reply, Lynn appeared from behind her and remarked, "Of course she does. She's had the hots for him since forever, practically."

Cara spluttered, and opened her mouth to speak.

I interrupted her, not giving her a chance to argue, "So I guess that increases Evan's number of fans from, hmm," I pretended to count mentally, "Lets see, from four hundred and ninety two to four hundred and ninety three."

"Now now, Emma, we all know his number one fan is Cara Walker," Lynn added, nudging her playfully and winking, "The rest don't matter."

I laughed, and our bubbly, black-haired friend drew a chair beside us, her hands clutching a can of soda and a bag of chips. Cara shot her a steely glare. "Thanks for announcing it, best friend." she huffed, slurping the last remnants of her milkshake and getting up.

"I didn't announce it, I only told Em." Lynn shrugged, and gave her a surprised look. "Where are you going?"

"Finding new friends." Cara retorted, turning her back on us and marching away, just as a familiar mop of brown hair made its way towards our table. Lynn rolled her eyes, not taking her seriously, and Ryan dropped in Cara's empty chair. He stole a chip from her bag and popped it in his mouth.

"Hello, ladies." He said, smirking openly and running a hand through his hair. Baffled at his sudden, flirty side, I glanced at Lynn who rolled her eyes again and tutted.

"You're a disgrace." she commented, shaking her head in disdain. Ryan quickly left his chair and leaned beside her, trying to look cool. "Hellooo ladies." he whistled.

"Try again."

"Hello ladies." He murmured in a deep voice, perching himself on the table and glancing at us through his eyelashes.

"Still not good enough." Lynn remarked, her eyes are twinkling at his failed attempts, though she's trying not to smile. "And get off, I like eating on a clean table."

Ryan pouted dramatically, and slid off, resuming his seat beside her.

"Nice." I told him, laughing, "That was impressive."

"I was teaching him how to act around young, beautiful women." Lynn explained to me, grinning. "As you an see, he sucks at it."

"Probably because he's not practicing around the most beautiful woman here." I joked, "Should've tried it on me."