Chapter Eight
Jamie Vandeviere
Being back at school on Monday felt... strange. Luke was right about the effects of the party; it led people into believing that I was officially a part of the "In-Crowd". Everywhere I went- hallway, cafeteria, classrooms- people stared and smiled at me, and when I waved them hello they acted like the fact that I was acknowledging them was astounding.
I have to admit... The fact that I had this kind of effect on people was kind of cool.
I was never alone, not even for a second. Bryce, Roger, and Seth, saved me a spot in all of the classes that we shared so I ended up moving from the unobtrusive side seats to the center of the room. Sitting with the jocks did have its advantages; they made the boring courses entertaining with their silly jests.
"So... you sitting at the Doom Table again?" asked Lucy as we walked over to the cafeteria together.
"I have to," I sighed. "Wanna join me?"
She snorted. "Please. If I sat at that table, it wouldn't be steak attached to my fork but Summer's head."
I giggled and sauntered to Luke and the guys, who were all laughing over something Roger had said. Summer was the first person to see me approaching; she gave me her infamous mean-girl glare the moment I set my tray down and I tried my best to ignore her. She couldn't have made it more obvious that I wasn't welcomed at "her table". As if I wanted to be around her while I ate. Candace, much to my surprise, cracked a smile at me. Yep, she smiled. Not the condescending one that mimicked Summer's but an actual smile. It made me hopeful that maybe she didn't dislike me as much as Summer did.
Across from me, Adam smiled. As my eyes met his crystalline blue ones, I blushed as memories from last night raced through my mind. Strolling around the lake with him alone seemed more like a dream than reality. Even though it doesn't sound like a big deal- I mean, we were just two friends talking a walk. Nothing romantic about that- my heart had been hammering the entire time.
"Jamie, what do you call really scared pasta?" asked Bryce, pulling me from my train of thoughts.
"Not again!" I groaned. Bryce had been forcing me to sit through his stupid jokes since first period; his jokes got lamer by the hour. Honestly, where did he get them from?
Luke sighed. "Ignore him. We always do."
"No! You have to answer!" Bryce insisted, looking so excited that his entire face lit up like a kid on Christmas. "Come on!"
"I don't know. I'm not good at riddles!"
"Bryce, leave her alone!" Roger guffawed. "It's bad enough that she has you in what, five of her classes? Give the girl a break."
Bryce gave Roger the finger and turned to me expectantly. When I shrugged at him, he sighed and said, "Chicken noodles. Really funny, huh? Gosh, you narrow-minded people have no imagination."
The guys groaned and smacked his arm for telling a joke this corny. I remember hearing a similar joke in second grade but I didn't want to ruin it for Bryce. This boy seriously needed a new hobby.
"Have you guys been to Rona's Cafe downtown?"
I tensed up when Summer's sugary sweet voice rang from down the table. Struggling to maintain a poker face, I peeked at her from the corner of my eyes and laced my fidgety fingers together under the table. Maybe it was just a coincidence. I mean, she wouldn't...
"I went there with my mom when I was a child," answered Roger, scratching the back of his head. "The food was pretty good."
"When you were a child?" Seth chuckled. "And when would that be, Rog? Twenty years ago?"
"Anyway," Summer ignored Seth's jest, "My mom and I went yesterday for brunch. She's all for doing charities these days so her new goal is like to help boost the small local business." She gave a resigned look, like she couldn't help having a mother so kind-hearted. "It was such a wonderful thing for her to do! I mean, you guys should have seen the place. It was a shack. They really could use the business." She smiled and I could feel her gaze on her without even looking up. "The owner looked like she was struggling to keep the place going. It felt good to help the needy."
None of the jocks or the girls seemed to grasp why Summer was bringing up this conversation. Not even Luke, who seemed to always be one step ahead of Summer on everything. I, on the other hand, knew exactly where she was going with this. And I hated her for it. I hated how she was belittling mom's cafe like it was as insignificant as a piece of worn-out clothing that should have been discarded a long time ago. Mom would be heartbroken if she heard Summer calling her heart and soul a shack. Besides, what Summer said was far from true. I wouldn't call my family wealthy, but Mom certainly wasn't "struggling to keep the place going." She made a good living off the cafe.
"Jamie, have you ever been there?" Summer asked innocently with a frown. "You're looking kind of pale."
I pondered over what I should reply. I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of embarrassing me in front of the popular kids but I also didn't want her to think I was hiding something. Besides, I wasn't ashamed of Mom's diner. I was proud of her dedication. So what if it wasn't a fancy restaurant?
"I've been there plenty of times," I responded smoothly, staring straight into her cold, piercing eyes. "My mom actually owns the place."
Every pair of eyes at the table widened at my relation. Luke looked staggered for a while but the shock was quickly replaced by indignation as he whipped his head to Summer's direction.
I had to hand it to Summer; the show that she was putting up was believable enough to earn her an Oscar. "Oh my gosh!" She gasped and put a hand over her mouth. "Oh my gosh, Jamie, I hope you're not offended. I honestly didn't know..."
"It's fine," I tried to smile at her, though it probably came out more like a grimace. "I have to get to class. See you guys later."
It was probably cowardly of me to leave but I was afraid that if I stayed at that table with her for another second, my indifferent facade would crumble. Up until today, I had never been a hundred percent sure about helping Luke because even though Summer had pissed a lot of people off and had done many terrible things, I had never been one of her targets. She just made it personal. I didn't want her to win.
I strode straight to my locker after dumping my tray, feeling resentment and rage filling up every part of my body. The picture of her smug face kept popping into my head... How dared she use Mom's cafe to pick on me? I mean, it would be one thing to embarrass me in front of her friends, but to involve my family... She really crossed the line. "Whoa! Easy on the locker! They're not as sturdy as they look," chuckled Adam, who up until this minute I hadn't noticed standing behind me.
"Oops," I said, feeling foolish that I was taking my anger out on my locker. It wasn't its fault that Summer was vile. "Sorry, locker."
"Are you okay?" The sympathy on his face caused my throat to constrict. "You seemed upset at the table so I thought I should check on you."
"I'm fine," I assured him, not very convincingly, I suppose, since the next thing he said was,
"I'm sure Summer feels terrible about what she said."
Oh, Adam, you apparently don't know Summer all that well. If Summer didn't feel bad about messing around with her boyfriend's best friend behind his back, why would she feel terrible about degrading my mother's café in front of my new set of friends?
"I'm sure she does." The chances of her feeling bad over what she did would be as slim as she and I holding hands and declaring ourselves each other's best friends. Never going to happen in a billion years.
"I know this probably isn't the best time to ask you this but I rarely catch you alone..." He raked a hand through his hair, grinning as he said, "Will you consider going to dinner with me this Saturday?"
Oh.
My.
Gosh.
I didn't know what to say. I mean, yes, I'd dreamed of this before in the past, but I never thought it would actually happen. Not even after last night. I should be ecstatic being asked out by Adam Bryant, who I had always thought was way out of my league. But instead of feeling happy, I felt guilty. Guilty by how much I wanted to say yes. But deep down I knew I couldn't do this. It wouldn't be right, knowing how much my best friend liked him. I knew if the situation were reversed, Lucy would never say yes for my sake.
"Adam, I can't."
"You didn't even consider. Unless..." He raised his eyebrow as he trailed off. "There's someone else that you like?"
"No." I didn't know how I could explain it to Adam without bringing Lucy up. If Lucy found out I told Adam that she liked him, she would kill me. "It's just not a good idea."
The bell rang and a myriad of people started filling the hallway. Adam walked off to his next class after gently giving my shoulder a pat and I could see the confusion and disappointment in his eyes. How absurd it was for me, Jamie Vandeviere- the girl that had been overlooked her entire life- to turn down Adam Bryant, one of the nicest and most popular guys at school. The whole thing was utterly ridiculous.
I fixed my gaze on the photo of Lucy, Clara and me taped to my locker. Lucy was my best friend; she was what was most important. Besides, if it weren't for her and Clara, I never would have teamed up with Luke and Adam would have never noticed me. I owed it all to them.
I shut my locker with a sigh, hoping I did the right thing.
-&-
I spent my afternoon classes replaying the scene with Adam in my head, secretly wondering what would have happened if I had given him a different answer. Then as soon as that thought crossed my mind, guilt would rush over me. It was like a seemingly endless repetition, and it drove me crazy.
"Jamie!" I was about to walk over to my truck after school when I heard Lucy hollering my name from the parking lot. I waved at her as I approached, my heart accelerating with every step that I took. You said no, Jamie. She doesn't have a reason to be upset with you. Still... I didn't think I'd ever been more nervous in my life.
"I heard Adam asked you out."
I swallowed when she stated that sentence unsmilingly with a thoughtful look on her face. Even though I told myself there was no need to feel ashamed, standing here in front of Lucy made me break out in a cold sweat. I didn't dare to ask her how she found out. Now was not the time to ask; or any time, for that matter.
"Lucy..." I stopped myself when I saw her watching me with a weird expression, the corner of her lips inching upward. Wait... why was she grinning? Either I was delusional or Lucy had lost it.
"I cannot believe you turned him down! What were you thinking? Adam Bryant asked you out!"
Why was she making it sound like a good thing?
" Lucy, you like Adam. You're my best friend and I would never betray you like that."
Lucy rolled her eyes at me and put her arm around me. "Jamie, Adam and I were never gonna happen. I mean, he barely knows who I am! I had a crush on him, so what? I had a crush on Ian Somerhalder, too, but that doesn't mean I get to call dibs on him!"
"But-"
"I saw the two of you last Saturday at the party and I can tell he's into you," she continued, and was it just my imagination getting carried away or did her smile stiffen? "He's a great guy so don't say no on my account, okay?"
"Lucy, you've liked him for so long-"
She held a hand up to stop me again. "If you keep this up, Vandeviere, I'm going to call Adam for you. I'm telling you it's completely cool with me so hurry up and go tell him you've had a change of mind!"
Lucy wouldn't be telling me this if she wasn't really over Adam, would she? I mean, that was what I loved the most about her: she always said what she really felt. No sugarcoating. All of a sudden, I felt overwhelmed with emotions, especially appreciation for Lucy. How many people can honestly say they have a true friend who always has their best interest at heart? I was extremely lucky to have Lucy and Clara.
She playfully gave me a shove with her hips when I remained as still and stiff as a statue.
"Okay, if you're sure," I smiled at her at last, squeezing her hand.
"I'm positive. Besides," she jokingly flipped her hair with a smirk. "It's Adam's loss. And just so you know, I'm still holding out for Ian."
-&-
I could have done this over the phone but I was so excited that I wanted to tell Luke the news in person. He would be thrilled, right? I mean, dating someone from the popular crowd would definitely help secure my spot as a part of the In-Crowd. I could picture him going, Nice job, Jamie. You're making progress on the whole popularity thing already.
Luke and the guys had football practice today so I raced to the football field and waited for him by the bleachers. It wasn't long until I saw him strolling by with his gym bag slung over his shoulder, bobbing his head along some music he was listening to on his iPod. Knowing he couldn't possibly hear me with the music on, I ran over to him as quickly as I could and tapped him on the shoulder.
He spun around in surprise as he removed the earbuds from his ears. "Jamie? What are you doing here?"
"I have good news. Guess what?" I grinned at him.
He chuckled. "Judging by that smile on your face... Wait, did Summer get run over or something?"
I laughed and shook my head. "Adam Bryant," I enunciated the words clearly, "asked me out on a date. Can you believe it?"
I had expected Luke to give me high-five or say something along the lines of "Good job" or "Nice". Surprisingly, instead of doing neither, his face fell. This was a complete one-eighty from the scenario I'd pictured in my head. Why was Luke reacting like this? I couldn't think of any reason why the news would upset him.
"And I'm assuming you said yes?" The annoyance in his tone was easy to detect.
"Luke," I smiled awkwardly, still perplexed. "I thought you'd be happy that this happened. I mean, dating someone from your crowd would mean that I'm one of you, right?"
"Please, Jamie," Luke scoffed. "You're not doing this for me or for our plan to take down Summer. You're doing this because you actually like the guy."
His reaction was completely appalling. I mean, I hadn't expected him to jump up and down with glee with me, but I never imagined he would be angry. "Why are you mad? He's your friend."
He glared at me. "I'm not mad."
Right. Very convincing.
"Then what's wrong with you?" I demanded To be honest, this side of Luke frightened me a little. Over these past couple of days, I had gotten used to the easy-going, funny, friendly version of Luke. Seeing him behaving this way toward me... I didn't know how to deal with it.
"Nothing's wrong," he retorted exasperatedly. "I gotta go. I've got practice."
I stayed where I was, stunned, when he began walking away from me after shooting an aggravated look at my face. It took a while for what had just happened to register in my head. My first argument with Luke... I'd never imagined it would be over Adam. And why on earth was he being so... mean? There was no reason for him to be pissed off.
Everything felt wrong. So wrong.
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I'm finally done with my midterms! Couldn't be happier, haha. Thank you all for waiting and again, I just want to say how grateful I am that you guys are still reading this story. I know I've lost quite a few readers for not posting regularly and I'm very, very sorry about that... But school and life do come first for me. So to all of you that are still reading/voting/commenting, you guys are SO awesome! I love you all and I hope the rest of the story doesn't disappoint you.
It just occurred to me that I never casted Adam. I think Chace Crawford would be the perfect actor to play him, what do you guys think? :)
Thank you all again! <3