Gold Rush

Chapter Two

“Er…” I stared at the floor of my locker, not sure whether to be amused, or irritated. It was only lunchtime, and my locker was already filled with papers. Rian’s blazer hung by one of the hooks near the top, and two of his new books were on the top shelf. I didn’t mind that. It was the papers. They were all unorganized, littering the bottom of my locker. Letting out a sigh, I stooped down to shuffle them into one pile.

            “Hey!”

            Immediately I stood straight up, smashing my head against a rather hard chin. I winced, rubbing the sore spot. “Ow…”

            A masculine chuckle erupted from the person behind me, and I turned to see Noah. “Hi,” he greeted with a grin. “You have a hard head.”

            “You have a herd chin,” I responded, wrinkling my nose at him. “Um, what’s up?”

            Noah’s expression turned sheepish and he shuffled on his feet. “I can’t seem to find the cafeteria… could you help me?”

            How cute. “Of course,” I responded with a laugh. “Hold on, let me just set these papers up here…” I stood on the tip of my toes and shoved all of Rian’s papers onto the top shelf, above his books.

            “What are you doing?” A new voice, not Noah’s, demanded.

            I glanced over my shoulder to see Rian staring at me curiously. “Cleaning up your mess,” I told him with a frown. “I thought you said you didn’t use your locker that much?”

            Rian shrugged. “I don’t want to carry around books or useless paper.”

            “Can you try to keep them at least a little more organized then?” I asked, pushing a lock of my hair behind my ear.

            Rian smirked. “I don’t know, can I?”

            I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, a high-pitched voice cut me off. “Oh my god! It’s Rian!”

            “Hi Rian!”

            Rian shut his eyes for a moment, letting a small sigh out through his teeth. Noah chuckled, bumping his hip again Rian’s. “Lady’s man already?” he joked.

            Stephanie, a girl from my homeroom, came up to us, her eyes wide in excitement. “Noah! Hi!”

            “Hello,” Noah responded, flashing a grin at her.

            “Are you going to lunch now?” she asked, her eyes darting back and forth between Noah and Rian, completely ignoring me.

            Noah nodded. “Yep.”

            “Want to sit with me?”

            “Sorry,” Noah started, suddenly putting a hand on my shoulder. “But I’ve already promised I’d sit with my locker buddy today.”

            Stephanie’s eyes finally flicked to me, her face falling slightly. “Oh…”

            I gave her a sympathetic look.

            “Maybe another day?” Rian interjected, gaining her attention.

            She brightened up immediately. “Of course! Just let me know!”

            “Will do,” Rian responded with a warm smile. “Stephanie, right?”

             “Right!” she chirped giddily. “Um, have a good lunch!”