Silverlighters (revised version as I edit)

8

Despite the fact I had decided I wanted nothing to do with Jonathon or Madison, they featured in my dreams that night. All of them did. Every time I turned, they were there, their cold eyes boring into me. And always, from the corner of my eye, was the boy from the cafeteria, his silvery eyes shining brighter than ever.

As though he was trying to tell me something, trying to warn me.

But whenever I tried to look directly at him, they were there instead.

The frustration I felt was so real it carried over when I woke, and stayed with me all that morning.

I asked Melissa about him as soon as I saw her. I figured if anyone knew who he was, she would.

“Cute guy in a leather jacket?” Melissa’s thin, pointy nose crinkled. She shook her head. “Nope – I would definitely have noticed.”

“But – he was right there – in the cafeteria. You must have seen him around school.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, Ellie. Maybe he was picking up his girlfriend.”

That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind and annoyed me more than I was comfortable with. It made the hollow space inside me thump.

I made a point of staying out of Jonathon and Madison’s way that week, but Jonathon made a point of running into me at every turn. At first I thought it was just coincidence, the way we would arrive at class at the same time, or how he’d be walking past as I closed my locker. Or standing behind me in the cafeteria line.

This amused Beck to no end.

“He’s looking at you again,” she said as I sat down with my tray.

“There’s hope for me yet,” Chris sighed dramatically, his hand covering his heart. “If only Lanita would look at me that way.”

“Hey,” Melissa thumped his arm playfully, her eyes narrowing as she looked over at them, studying Lanita, a pretty girl with dark eyes and long, shiny black hair. “You wouldn’t know where to look if she did.”

“You’re not jealous, are you?” Chris teased. “You know there will always be room for you in my life.”

“You’re dreaming.” Melissa laughed along with the rest of us.

“I dream about you every night,” Chris threw back with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

Of course, by then I had figured out the one Chris really liked was Melissa. But he wasn’t the sort of boy someone like Melissa would look twice at. Not that way, anyway. It made me wonder what their story was. It was obvious they were close, but sometimes I wondered if she knew how he felt and was just stringing him along.

You couldn’t help but love Chris. Slightly overweight, he was like a big fuzzy bear. The sort of person you just wanted to cuddle. He was one of those people that just made things seem brighter.

He was the all-round nice guy, the sort of guy any girl would feel safe with.

But he was also the guy who never got the girl, and I couldn’t help but feel for him when I saw the way he looked at Melissa.

By Friday afternoon I finally felt like I was beginning to get my bearings.

Somehow, despite my earlier fears, I was finding my feet as Ellie Fitzpatrick. It hadn’t been as hard as I thought it would be, but then, I’d had a lot of practice pretending I was someone else.

That was the biggest mistake I could have made. I should never have let my guard down.

“That’s just creepy.” Beck shuddered as we walked to our lockers.