Frostbitten Past

VI

The last place she wanted to be was math. But she was delighted at least to find the new boy was not in her class. Perhaps the only reprieve she had.

* * *

She couldn't break eye contact as she stared at the pale boy from across the room. He looked regal and in charge as he sat there, peering at her like she was some sort of animal in a cage. He leaned his chin on his hand effortlessly, and didn't turn to look at Shaniah, who placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned into his ear to whisper to him.

Andorra wanted to pretend she couldn't hear Shaniah speaking, but she could. She could hear everything that slipped past those cherry red lips, and it sent her cheeks flaming in embarrassment.

"I think it's so cute how the new girl is so obsessed with you. Isn't that just adorable?"

Andorra wanted to tell Shaniah that this boy was newer than she was, but that would require crossing the cafeteria and admitting that somehow, she had just heard those whispered words, meant only for the boy to hear.

The boy didn't move from his position. He leaned back in his chair and continued to regard her, a single dark eyebrow raised. His clothing screamed rich, but they weren't unlike the clothing that other boys at the school wore. Perhaps more clean than the others, more tailored to his body.

Andorra jumped when Kyle placed his tray across from her at the table. Her concentration and her focus on the boy shifted to the blonde across from her, his easy smile putting her in a state of jumbled confusion.

Shaniah, noticing where Kyle was sitting, glared at him from afar, but Kyle didn't seem to notice or care. He just smiled at Andorra, his fingers reaching for a fry on his tray. "Hey."

She couldn't force a smile. Instead, her eyes looked back to the boy, whose gaze was still on her. She felt her cheeks warm as her eyes found Kyle's again.

He didn't look back. "So, you're interested in the new guy?"

Andorra busied herself with the sandwich in front of her. She couldn't actually answer that, because no, she wasn't. Not really.

"I wouldn't say that," she offered, biting into her sandwich. "More like he's so much different from the other people here that I can't help but look." She wasn't about to share what had happened after school on Friday.

Kyle let out a bark of laughter. "I think he's ridiculous. I mean, look at him. He looks like he belongs on a clothing magazine cover."

Andorra didn't say it, but she wanted to tell Kyle that he too looked like he belonged on the cover of a magazine.

"I think he'll adjust well here. All the girls love him."

Kyle's grin turned cocky as he leaned towards Andorra. "Except one, right? Miss, I'm too good for any boy."

Andorra stared at him for a moment, because this had to be a joke. She wasn't too good for boys. She had spent many times in her bedroom wondering what it would be like to have a boyfriend. Wondering what it would feel like to hold his hand, to lean forward and kiss him whenever she wanted. Of course, if she was ever bold enough to even do that.

Many, many nights, she had dreamed of what it would be like to love a boy, like in her books, or the movies. Sometimes, she was chaste about her dreams. Sometimes, she was desperate.

But this, her time in Maine, was by far the closest she had come to even befriending a boy. Befriending anyone, actually.

"I'm not too good for any boy," she muttered into her sandwich, hating the way her cheeks burned.