After Spanish class, it's finally lunch time, thank God. This has been one of the most exhausting mornings of my life.
All day, people who have literally never spoken to me before have been coming up to me in between classes and acting like we're best friends.
Keep in mind, these are the same girls who only last week were saying nasty things about me because of what happened with Sean, so you can imagine how confused I was that suddenly, they're acting like we braid each other's hair on the weekends for fun.
Of course, they immediately reveal their true motives when they introduce themselves to Hunter and then proceed to ignore me for the rest of the conversation. Somehow, this is simultaneously the most and the least attention I've ever gotten.
Hunter and I enter the cafeteria to stares and whispers, and one quick scan of the faces tells me everything I need to know about why. The girls look desperate, and the guys look threatened. It's pretty obvious that word is out.
There's a new kid, and he's hot.
Like I said, it's a small school, so it doesn't take long for news to make its way around, and the question on everyone's faces is clear. Why is the hot, new guy hanging around with Sean's ex?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's all most of these people know about me.
The feeling of eyes on me makes me want to disappear on the spot, but since my letter to Hogwarts never came, I'm going to go ahead and assume I don't have the ability to make that happen.
I'm all but hyperventilating as Hunter and I make our way through the lunch line, but I do my best not to show it. It's probably a little too soon to reveal my socially anxious side to him.
I decide to pay for both of our lunches as a thank you for yesterday. Of course, he protests, but I don't take no for an answer. He finally gives in after I promise to let him buy me lunch tomorrow. I try to ignore the implication that, apparently, he plans to hang around for a while.
Finally, we find the lunch table where Rose, Alex, Zack, Kimberly (Zack's on/off girlfriend), Jay, and Dejay are sitting.
"Hey guys," I say as we sit down. Everyone besides Rose is looking extremely confused as to who the stranger is that sat down across from me.
Oh right, am I supposed to introduce him? How do I do that? I don't want to sound overly formal.
Luckily, Hunter speaks up before I have a panic attack.
"Hey, I'm Hunter. I'm new here."
Alright, this is it. The moment of truth. Right here is where they decide if they accept him or not. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for their response. Zack looks up, the expression on his face unreadable. He opens his mouth to speak, and I wait with baited breath for what he'll say next.
"Hey man."
The rest of the guys look up, nod at Hunter, and then return to their conversation.
That's it? Well, guess I was worried for nothing.
Boys..
"Bro, remember how I crossed you up yesterday? Then I hit that sweet fade away while you were still trying to recover," Dejay says animatedly.
"Screw you man, that's not how it happened," Jay says, waving him off. "I remember that block though. Zack never even saw it coming."
"Shut up man, the sun was in my eyes," Zack defends.
Hunter laughs. "If I had a dime for every time I heard that one," he says.
Zack looks at him appraisingly. "You play?" he asks.
Hunter nods. "Point guard."
Well, that's it. He's in.
For my guy friends, ball is life, and yes, I know how cliche that sounds, but it's true. They play basketball pretty much every free second they get. It's part of the reason that I started playing. Jay and Zack are even hoping to play in college.
I smile to myself knowing how fast they'll become friends. After that, all the guys start engaging in a heated discussion about a bunch of NBA games I know nothing about. I play because everyone I know does and because it looks good on college applications, but I couldn't name three NBA teams to save my life. So I turn to Rose and Kimberly and we start our own conversation.
Kimberly looks at me with a wicked smile. "So Mia, I'm a senior, and still, all I've been hearing today is how a hot guy has been walking around with 'that Mia girl'," she says using air quotes for emphasis. Oh, the rumor mill knows my name. How nice. "You're some serious gossip today, girl," she finishes, nudging me with her shoulder.
Kimberly's a year older than us. She's tall, tough, and incredibly pretty. Don't ask me how a dork junior like Zack gets her to date him, because I have been asking myself the same question for the past year and still, I have no idea.
Zack claims it's his charm, but I say bullshit. Who knows what it is? All I know is that for some reason, Kimberly really likes him. Not love, of course. She'd never be caught dead admitting she loves anybody. She's far too independent for that. The way she cares for him though, it's a lot more than like, but I decided a while ago to just let those two crazy kids figure things out in their own time.
They'll get there eventually.
"Why is everyone acting like this is such a big deal? I'm just showing him around," I respond. Quite honestly, by this point, everyone's whispering is getting on my nerves. "Don't people have anything better to do with their lives? This is the second time in less than two weeks that I'm the freaking rumor mill of this school."
"Well, if it helps, I'm sure this has made everyone completely forget about what happened with Sean," Rose offers.
"Yeah? I doubt it," I say glancing over to where Sean is sitting with Jessica and some of his other friends.
"Who cares what they think?" Kimberly intervenes. She must have caught me looking. "You know you're fabulous, and that bitch he's with now doesn't have a thing on you. Besides, she has a man voice anyway," she finishes with a shrug, taking a large bite of her apple.
Rose and I laugh. It's a feeble attempt at cheering me up, but I still feel a little better now.
We all have separate conversations for a while, until eventually, the guys and girls conversations mix.
"Come on man, like I'm going to take a movie recommendation from you," Hunter says to Zack. "You just told me that you still watch Glee."
"Hey, that show has a great plot line and music!" Zack defends, and all of us cant help but laugh. I'm pleasantly surprised at how well Hunter's already getting along with the group. If this keeps up, he might end up being a part of my life even after I'm done showing him around.
Considering the effect he's had on me after just a day, I can't decide if that's a good thing or not.
Jay turns to Hunter. "So you run track too then?" he asks.
"Yeah, I do. I'm actually joining the team today."
"Great," Jay says, slapping a hand on his shoulder. "We could use all the help we can get if we want to win the championship. What do you run?"
"I'm a sprinter and a jumper," Hunter replies.
"Great! So is Mia," Rose exclaims. "Looks like you guys will be spending even more time together, huh?" she says smiling at me.
I give her a forced smile. "Oh, yeah, I guess that's true."
"Sounds great," Hunter says. He smiles at me, holding my gaze with those eyes of his. I really wish he would quit looking at me like that. Eye contact is already kind of a weak point for me, but coming from him, it feels like it might burn me up from the inside out.
I tend to feel kind of self-conscious when people look at me for too long. Like if they stare at me for long enough, they'll find something wrong. When the thought enters my mind, I look away and focus my gaze on my food in front of me.
"So how do you guys know each other anyway?" Dejay asks, and it's like the entire table goes quiet to listen in.
Oh crap. I knew this was going to happen.
I brace myself for Hunter to tell everyone about the embarrassing events of yesterday that lead to our meeting and have everyone gossiping about that too. I see him glance at me out of the corner of his eye before answering, and I brace myself for the blow. Only, it doesn't come.
"We don't really," Hunter answers. "This morning while the principal was showing me around, she spotted Mia and asked her to show me around for a while. Luckily, she said sure."
"Oh that sucks. I got stuck showing someone around once too, it was torture," Dejay says. "Having to walk them here and there. Practically like babysitting."
"Wow, thanks for that, man," Hunter replies.
We all continue talking this way until eventually, the bell signaling the end of lunch rings.
We all stand to leave, but I set a hand on Hunter's arm, holding him back as everyone passes. I swear, I'm usually not this forward with anyone, but I have something to say.
He doesn't fight it, doesn't pull away. He just stands back and waits. Once the group is out of earshot, he looks down at me with those eyes of his. But he doesn't look confused or annoyed, he looks concerned. "What's wrong?" he asks.
"Nothing," I quickly reply. "I just wanted to say...thank you for not telling everyone what happened yesterday. I'm kind of embarrassed about it, so just, thanks. It means a lot."
Hunter stares at me for a moment, a look in his eye I can't read. "I could tell by the way you were looking that it wasn't something you wanted to talk about," he replies. "You don't have to thank me, it was just common courtesy."
Maybe he's right, but he'd be surprised how uncommon it actually is.
He runs a hand through his hair and steps closer to me before continuing. His body is only a few inches away from mine now. "Besides," he says with a smile. "Maybe I like having something that's just between you and me."
My face immediately flushes, and I can tell he sees the obvious effect he's had on me when he chuckles. He sets a hand on my back and starts guiding me towards the cafeteria door. "Come on, we'll be late for class," he says.
Oh gosh, I am so in trouble with this one.