what we thought

8

Piper grins widely after I inform her of my interaction with James.

"He's so into you." She squeals excitedly.

"I don't know." I say uncertainly, fidgeting with the end of my sleeves. "Maybe that's how he acts with all his girl friends."

She pokes my arm, smirking. "You like him."

"Okay, we've been talking about him way longer than we should have been." I say, in an attempt to change the subject. "Let's talk about this Cornelius."

"Cornelius?" She repeats, seeming to be confused.

"Yeah..." I trail. How could she forget about the guy she's talking to? She never forgets. "The guy you kissed at the party. Ring a bell?"

"Oh!" Recognition crosses her face. "Yeah, he's great."

"Do you have a picture?"

She shakes her head. "He's camera shy."

"Hm.. really?" I furrow my forehead in utter confusion. I know Piper well enough to know that she doesn't take no for an answer. So I know she has a picture because even if he is camera shy, she would have convinced him to take a picture with her. That means she's lying to me. But why? I decide to let it go, it's probably nothing anyway.

Holden returns and sits next to me at our table. Piper glances at her phone and then excuses herself to the bathroom.

"Where is everyone?" Holden asks, bringing his lunch out. He has Panda Express.

My jaw drops. "You left campus and didn't tell me?"

"No." He chuckles. "Julia had an off so I asked her to buy me some."

Julia is someone I have admired from afar. I am merely a friend slash acquaintance to her. She has it all. The grades. An athletic boyfriend. And she's every teachers favorite student. I've always wondered how she managed to have the ultimate life.

"Where is everyone?" He asks again, opening his bowl. The scent of chow mein and fresh chicken fill my nostrils.

"Corey is still in class finishing up last minute homework. Piper just left. Ryder is getting lunch. I haven't seen Alex today and I think Gio has a club meeting." I recite, taking a bite of my salad.

"Where's James?"

I swallow, peering up at him. "What?"

"James." He repeats.

I shrug, "I don't know. I think he's with his friends eating."

"You don't sit with him during lunch?" He clarifies.

I stare at him, a bored expression on my face. "We literally only text and if we see other in the halls then we have a short two minute conversation."

Holden quirks an eyebrow, twirling his noodles on his fork. "Don't lie. I saw you two getting cozy at Ryder's house."

Heat rushes to my cheeks, but I don't smile. "I was just comforting him."

"Sure," He retorts sarcastically.

Alex comes to our table, Jessie walking next to him. Jessie is Alex's girlfriend. She's shorter with light brown hair and blonde highlights. She has brown eyes and a slim athletic body which comes from swimming. Jessie sits across of me and Alex plops down beside her. She sighs heavily and looks at me, her brown eyes piercing mine, "Mia, be honest with me. Did Alex smoke on Saturday?"

I quickly glance at Alex, to get a read on his expression. His eyes are wide, and there's a slight fear hidden under his normally confident demeanor. I turn to Jessie, shrugging. "I honestly was too busy to notice if he did or didn't."