A͟͟T͟͟T͟͟E͟͟N͟͟T͟͟I͟͟O͟͟N͟͟

Part 7

"The moment I snapped, everyone turned to look at me, the whole cafeteria was silent!", I roll my eyes

Joey laughs, "This is what you're upset about?"

I furrow my brows

"Don't let them get to you, it's not worth your time. They will notice that you care and do more things to piss you off."

"Just don't let them bring you down", he looks at me

I nod, maybe I should take his advice and just forget about it

They're not even worth making me mad anyways, "You're right"

He smiles

It gets silent again so I break the silence, "Why did you decide to pick me up from school...out of the blue?"

Joey looks at the road, "My appointment ended early for some reason"

He looks at me, "I chose not to go back to school right after but my mom forced me, I understand why but other than that something told me to go"

What does he mean by something told him to go?

"What do you mean?", I look at him

He looks back at the road, "It was a random feeling"

"There was something telling me that I should go or else something bad would've happened"

Is he talking about me...?

He means that if he didn't go I'd be stuck in school upset or my day could've gotten worse?

"What made you feel that way?"

Joey's gaze is on me, there's on and off moments where his eyes are on me

"I felt like if I went then it'd make someone's day", he looks away

My heart softens, he definitely is talking about me

He looks away when I catch him looking, "Are we there yet?"

"Almost", he smiles

I can't stop thinking of where he's taking me throughout most of the car ride, I just hope the school doesn't call home

They'd freak if they found out I ditched school with Joey, I don't know what my mom would think of him, first she meets him and thinks he's a nice guy then she finds out he ditched school with her daughter. Yeah no, that's going to make him look bad

"We're here", Joey unbuckles his seatbelt

I get down from the car, "Woah..."

I take a moment to admire how beautiful it is here, so calming and peaceful

"The beach?"

He smirks and runs to stand near the water

"Hold up", i laugh trying to catch up

Joey is pretty fast at running, I roll my eyes when I catch up and stand beside him

Suddenly it's quiet, "Why did you choose to take me the beach?"

He takes a moment to breathe in and out looking at the beautiful sky and water flowing back and forth

Joey turns to me, "I just need some fresh air"

I nod and he looks at the blue sky and ocean, I just take a moment to admire him

Gosh he's so cute, I can't believe he really asked to ditch school with me and take me to the beach

The thought of that is making blush quite a bit, I'm in a calm state of mind just admiring his beauty

"So", Joey turns to me

"Where do you want to go eat?", he asks

I make a confused look, "right now?"

He laughs,"Of course silly, I'm hungry"

A smile forms on my face, "I'm fine with whatever you choose, it's up to you, I mean I already ate not too long ago"

He smirks, "C'mon I know you're hungry"

"Alright", I blush, "We'll decide on the way?"

Joey nods and we walk to the car, we get in and he drives off

"I'm kind of craving some burgers...", he looks at me, "what about you?"

"Sure, I mean I'm down"

"Alright", he continues driving

We arrive and get down, there's not too much people here to make feel anxious

I have never been seen in public with Joey before so hopefully we don't see anyone we know here, that will be so awkward

Joey takes our order as I pick a table to sit at, he grabs a seat and we wait for our food to be ready

"It's pretty nice here", I smile

"Right?", he answers

I nod and from the corner of my eye I spot  Allison's sister and her boyfriend enjoying a burger

Gosh...now this is awkward

Hopefully she does not recognize me or looks my way, she will be so surprised seeing me here that she might even make a scene and approach me

Joey notices me staring, "What are you looking at?"

I'm caught off guard, "Huh?"

"What are you staring at?", he laughs

"Nothing...", I nervously smile

He furrows his brow like he knows something is up,"you sure? You don't seem like it"

I need to stop being so nervous and awkward, gosh

"It's Allison- her sister is sitting right across our table..."

"What about it?", he asks

"She doesn't know I'm not friends with Allison anymore and I don't want her to approach us and start a conversation, that would be so awkward...especially because I just know she's going to tell her right after she gets home"

"Lauren", he takes a deep breath

"Calm down, take a deep breath and exhale, everything is going to be alright just stop worrying about it", he looks into my eyes, "okay?"

I nod

Our table number gets called and Joey gets up to get our food, he sits back down with our food and we dig in

The burgers here are so great, wow

Soon we are down with our food and we make our way out of the restaurant, I'm relieved Allison's sister did not walk up to us

Maybe I should just start taking Joey's advice, he knows how to calm me down, it really helped