The sounds of feet shuffling, voices and laughter filled the hallways as the bell rang signaling it was time for lunch. I contributed only to the sound of shuffling feet, having Tyler nowhere to be found. It wouldn’t be a good picture if I talk and laugh while walking alone now, would it? Right, so I made my way silently to my locker.
It has been a while since I’ve eaten lunch with Tyler. I wasn’t really missing it though, he bummed breakfast from me again this morning. I just accepted the fact that as long as Tyler was going to be my ride, my mom would have to make extra breakfast for the pig-like appetite he has. My mom didn’t seem to mind either, she was actually quite happy to have Tyler over. Probably because she was missing Matty and his humungous desire for food as well.
Once I had placed my stuff inside my locker, I headed to the direction of the cafeteria, thinking about the events that happened in chemistry class. Colby was there again early, sleeping before class. I couldn’t help but think that there has to be something going on for him to be always in school that early. Surely it was not possible that he’s like the nerds who always wanted to be on class in time, as if their seats will suddenly develop legs and run away from them.
Ms. Flirt didn’t sit beside Colby during class, which made me wonder again what he said to her. Must be something really sinister. Today, I think he actually asked Hannah Smith to sit next to him. Remember, nerd extraordinaire? Why on earth would they be sitting next to each other if Colby didn't ask? Surely Hannah wouldn't sit next to him purposely, she certainly didn't do so yesterday. They look quite good sitting there together, their clothes matched. Both of them were wearing green—on Colby a green shirt that brought out his eyes even more, and on Hannah a shapeless green plaid dress with matching green socks.
He answered another question correctly today, this time it was about colligative properties. I answered a few ones too, so did Hannah. Still he shot me glances over his shoulder, just like yesterday. I still find them mildly aggravating, but not as distracting. Maybe I was finally learning how to tune out those green stares. Those deep, mesmerizing green stares.
Lost yet again in my thoughts, I dragged my feet until I was in front of the cafeteria’s entrance doors. I was about to push through the doors when I felt a hand tug gently at my ponytail. Feeling slightly annoyed, I turned around, ready to give whoever it was that tugged my ponytail a piece of my mind. My eyes fell on a white-shirted chest, making me raise my eyes. Grey met sparkly brown, and my irritation vanished.
“You going in?” Kyle asked, a smile lighting up his face. I smiled back and nodded. With that, Kyle stepped in front of me and opened the door. Holding it open, he waved me first to get in, bowing slightly. I crossed my arms, letting a quiet laugh escape. He was acting like one of those gents you read about in historical novels. Playing along, I curtsied, pretending to grab on an invisible skirt, and walked gracefully (well, as gracefully as I could manage) into the cafeteria. I heard Kyle laugh as he caught up with me, releasing the doors from his hold. I didn’t realize how close he was until I felt his breath on my ear. It tickled as he huskily whispered, “We should totally try out for theatre.”
I could just imagine how low he should’ve bent down to reach my ear. I nodded my agreement, ignoring the slight tingles I felt when his breath brushed my ear. “Yeah, we definitely should,” I said, surprised by how normal my voice sounded considering the tingles. “Preferably Shakespeare.”
Kyle nodded his head in response. He then placed his hands on my shoulders and steered me to the lunch line. Luckily there weren’t too many people in line yet. I suddenly felt really hungry as I eyed the concoctions the lunch ladies would be serving today. I spotted pizza. Oh thank heavens. You can’t go wrong with pizza. Kyle seemed to share my sentiment as he picked up four slices of pepperoni pizza onto his tray. He then grabbed a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, a slice of apple pie, a small carton of milk and a bottle of water. Perhaps noticing my slightly amused expression, Kyle turned to me and looked at my tray. I had two pizza slices, a banana, and bottled water. From my tray, his gaze moved to his tray, then settled on my face with mischievous eyes.
“I’m a growing boy,” was all he said as he wiggled his eyebrows at me. I laughed and said, “I know.” I’ve witnessed enough boys eat in my lifetime to not be surprised by his mini food mountain.
Holding back a smile, I added, “I was wondering, though, how are you able to maintain your girlish figure? Seeing you eat like a deprived growing boy and all.” Where I found my confidence to tease Kyle Pennington, I had no idea.
Kyle looked at me wide-eyed, feigning mock hurt. He huffed and frowned, and I couldn’t help the big, wide smile that split my face. While Tyler acting like a little kid makes me want to choke him, on Kyle it worked. He looked absolutely adorable.
“What are you smiling at?” He grumbled. The twitching at the corners of his mouth was an indication though, that he was just joking. That and possibly that he found me funny. I shook my head. “Nuthin,” I sang.
Laughter finally escaped from Kyle’s mouth, but was cut by a buzzing of complaints behind us. Oops. I guess we were delaying the lunch line. Kyle and I exchanged a glance, and turned our sheepish looks at the people behind us. Kyle even flashed a peace sign, which made me chuckle again.
After paying for our food, Kyle and I made our way toward the center tables. Cynthia was not there yet, but a couple of Kyle’s teammates called out greetings as we neared them. I smiled as I took a seat between Kyle and Carl Lowell, the blonde, curly-haired, brown-eyed point guard. He was only 5’9”, but he was very fast and was great with the ball. That explains why he’s our prized ball keeper. Carl has a killer crossover move as well. He turned to nod his head at me and I nodded my head back, causing his thin lips to stretch into a smile.
The two boys reached over my tray to do a complicated handshake thingy, which I watched with raised eyebrows. How do guys come up with this stuff? It was like the more complicated the handshake is, the more special it becomes. I guess the uniqueness factor plays a part.
I picked up a piece of pizza from my plate and drizzled hot sauce on top of it. I like them spicy. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kyle looking at me as I emptied about one-fourth of the bottle into my pizza. Setting the bottle of hot sauce down on the table, I turned to glace at Kyle fully. With a grin, I brought the hot and spicy piece of pepperoni pizza and took a bite. Nom nom nom. He shook his head at that, and with an amused smile, grabbed his own slice (minus the hot sauce) and shoved it into his mouth. I then remembered how Tyler ate those pancakes my mom cooked. When Ty was shoving pancake after pancake into his mouth, he really did look like a deprived growing boy. When Kyle did it though, it looked normal. Good, even. How was that possible?
Kyle managed to finish his four pizza slices in about sixty seconds flat. He was now attacking his spaghetti and meatballs while I barely finished my first pizza slice. I’m not a prissy eater or anything like that. I just like savoring every flavor explosion inside my mouth whenever I take a bite of something really, really delicious.
I felt a nudge on my left shoulder, making me turn to look at Carl. “Not a pretty sight, eh?” He whispered, lifting his chin toward Kyle’s direction. That made me smile, and I shook my head. “Not at all,” I whispered back.
His body shaking with silent laughter, Carl leaned back on his seat. I bit my lip to keep from laughing as well. Carl was one of the boys from the basketball team that was very much like Kyle. He was nice, and he was the laid-back kind of guy, never hogging the spotlight. Well except when he was at the basketball court. Both Carl and Kyle couldn’t really help it if they’re like the gods of that sport.
Something heavy landed on my head, and gently pressed downward. Turning to the other direction, I saw Kyle’s narrowed eyes staring at me. His hand was resting on my head. I didn’t miss the teasing smile on his face though, as he said, “Now you’re laughing at me!”
Raising my hands up in surrender, I put on an innocent face. “I didn’t hear anybody laughing,” I said. I glanced at Carl again and he was still leaning back on his seat, his face now bearing the same innocence as mine that I almost laughed again. He was one great actor.
Kyle tugged on my ponytail again and rolled his eyes, the smile never leaving his face. “I can’t believe you called my figure girlish,” he said with a sigh. He then flexed his arms. “These guns are anything but girlish!”
Carl burst out laughing at that, and I giggled as I rolled my eyes. “You know I was just joking,” I said. Kyle’s tall frame was lean but muscular. He wasn’t overly muscular, though there were definitions of muscles in his arms, chest, abs and legs. I’ve seen him shirtless once; he was practice shooting by himself when I went to the gym to retrieve a notebook I’ve forgotten on the bleachers. He has really nice arms, and his stomach was flat and fairly muscled. He was right, I thought as I my eyes skimmed through the outline of Kyle’s flexed arms. Kyle’s body was anything but girlish.
“Okay Kyle, you can stop flexing now,” Carl said. “I want my lunch to stay inside my stomach.” At that, Kyle put on an angry hulk-like face and threw a piece of pizza crust at Carl’s direction. Carl’s mouth dropped open in mock annoyance and threw the piece back, and soon they were throwing the same piece of pizza crust back and forth. I just leaned back against my seat to avoid getting hit by the pizza crust as I watched the piece moved from one direction to the other.
A pair of arms suddenly circled themselves around my shoulders, and in an instant I knew it was Cynthia. The unmistakable sweet smell could only come from her. You know, if pink has a scent, it would be how Cynthia smells. I patted her arm with my hand and after a while, she let go. I was not usually the touchy-feely type, but Cynthia makes me feel comfortable with it, so it’s okay. Kyle and Carl stopped their pizza crust tennis match and were looking behind their seats, probably at Cynthia. I heard Cynthia whisper to someone, but I was too busy drinking from my water bottle to pay attention.
“Well guys, I’ve invited someone to sit with us today,” Cynthia said quite excitedly. My eyebrows scrunched together as I took a long gulp of water. A hollow feeling started to settle in my stomach. I pulled the bottle away from my mouth and slowly licked my lip. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?
Then I heard a very familiar clearing of throat, his clearing of throat, just as I was putting my water bottle back on my tray. My action froze and my grip on the bottle tightened slightly. Of course. I have incredible luck.
*****
Colby sat across from me, next to Cynthia. He looked good today, his green shirt fitted him perfectly together with his dark jeans and Chuck Taylors. I figured only someone with Colby’s looks and physique could pull off a green shirt with red shoes without looking like he came out of Santa’s factory.
It was rather awkward, sitting there with Colby in front of me. Cynthia was talking to him non-stop, and he was so far being polite, offering nods and little smirks here and there. I wondered if he will pull off another Miss Flirt scenario though. I blinked and immediately ruled the thought out. I didn’t think Colby would tell Cynthia off, considering he willingly sat at the popular table. He seemed a little off though, like he didn’t feel too comfortable sitting there surrounded by uniform-clad cheerleaders and varsity jacket-wearing jocks. He hid it well with his smirks, but his eyes tell otherwise.
My arms were crossed above my chest as I leaned back into my chair as far as possible, as if the small distance would make me escape Colby’s eyes. Yes, if you were wondering, he had been darting glances at me every ten seconds or so. That was the reason how I knew he was feeling slightly out-of-place. His eyes didn’t sparkle brightly and self-assuredly as they used to. It was also because of that fact why I couldn’t bring myself to tear my eyes away from his, whenever they caught each other.
Colby handled himself well with the jocks, I must say. He might not be jock material, but he has got the looks to be part of the “it” crowd. I feel like a broken record, I must’ve said that Colby looked good nth times. He offered a hand to Kyle and Carl while introducing himself. Kyle and Carl shook his hand, of course. It also led to the awkward scene of Cynthia trying to introduce Colby to me. She must’ve forgotten that Colby and I were already acquainted. I almost rolled my eyes at her antics. Was this the same girl who last night called me to ask if I could introduce her to the boy she just tried to introduce to me? Colby interrupted her before she could finish her introducing us with a “I already know Kayla,” while staring into my eyes. I didn’t have the chance to say “You don’t really know me,” for Cynthia laughed and said how silly of her to forget that Colby and I had chemistry class together. They had been sitting across from me ever since that little incident, and I’ve not uttered a word.
“You’re awfully quiet, Kayla,” Cynthia piped up, tilting her head while looking at me. “You okay?” She added while playing with her dark wild curls. I raised my eyebrows at her, honestly feeling a bit surprised that she noticed the presence of someone else sitting around the table besides Colby. She was kind of acting a bit like a flirt with Colby around, just the toned down version. Oh well, at least she was not purposely tugging at the hem of her cheerleading uniform to expose herself to the whole of the cafeteria.
I shook my head and forced a smile. “Just thinking,” I said. Cynthia seemed to accept my response as she nodded and turned to Colby again. This time though, Colby was not paying attention to Cynthia at all. His gaze zeroed in on me. What is it with this boy and staring at me? Honestly I could really not figure him out. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Cynthia looking back and forth Colby and me. That made me avert my gaze from the intensity of those green orbs. The moment I averted my eyes though, a pair of brown ones caught mine. Kyle was looking at me as well, and his gaze was not as intense as Colby’s. His was soft, and his eyes were laced with concern. He didn’t say anything, but the way his brow furrowed and how his head tilt a little to one side questioningly told me he wanted to know if I was feeling alright. I half smiled at him, lifting the right corner of my mouth to tell him that yes, I was okay. The skeptical glance that adorned his face the moment after he saw my smile told me that my smile was not so convincing.
Beside me, Carl let out a huff of breath and stood up while explaining that he had to go see Eliza. Eliza Miller was Carl’s girlfriend. She’s a pretty girl, petite, with short red hair and hazel eyes. She’s an incredible artist (she sculpts), and her carefree gypsy style was really endearing. No wonder Carl adored her. Kyle glanced up at Carl and nodded, and the two did their handshake again. Carl patted my head (okay, I’ve noticed that people loved doing that. I might have been a dog in my past life or something), and then turned to Colby with a small smile.
“Nice to meet ya, Colby,” Carl said, extending his hand out across the table to Colby. Colby stood up as well and took Carl’s hand, shaking it firmly. He returned Carl’s small smile and said, “Nice meeting you too, man.” They finished their handshake, and with a wave, Carl paved his way out of the cafeteria, his varsity jacket flapping against his sides as he walked.
Carl’s departure was followed by a couple more people leaving our table, until it were just the four of us—me, Kyle, Cynthia, and Colby. After Colby has settled down once again on his seat, a silence fell over the table. I kept glancing around, anywhere but at Colby’s eyes. The silence was broken when Cynthia cleared her throat.
“Well, I was thinking maybe we could all go bowling this Saturday,” she said, her gaze sweeping the table. “Should be fun, don’t you think?”
Kyle put his arms on the table and clasped his hands together. “I guess so,” he replied. He looked over his shoulder at me and asked, “You’ll go, right?”
I was still leaning against my seat with my arms crossed above my chest. I shrugged and said, “I don’t know.” And it was the truth. I didn’t really know if I’d be able to go. I play decently, and bowling is kind of fun, but being stuck in the Bowl-o-Rama with Colby for God knows how many games can be somewhat excruciating. Plus, mom might need me for something over the weekend.
“You should come.”
The sound of Colby’s voice made both Kyle and I turn to him. Of course he wanted me to come. He wanted someone to annoy, or someone to make fun of. I tried not to roll my eyes. I just shrugged, not bothering to answer Colby.
Cynthia was looking at Colby with excitement in her blue-grey eyes. “Does this mean you’ll come?” She asked Colby. I was pretty sure she was crossing her fingers underneath the table. Her legs, even. I scooted down to take a peek. Yep, she was.
Colby licked his lips and ran a hand through his tousled hair. “Maybe, if I don’t have anything else to do,” he answered, looking briefly at Cynthia before fixing his eyes on me again. He opened his mouth, seemingly about to tell me something, but Kyle interrupted him.
“Yeah Kayla, you should come. I can pick you up,” Kyle said, smiling at me.
Upon hearing what Kyle said, my head snapped up. Are you freaking kidding me? I chuckled, deciding to take the situation lightly as I turned my body toward Kyle. “Now, why would you do that?”
Shrugging, Kyle grinned and said, “To make sure you’ll come.” He leaned back again on his seat. “I’ll even camp out on your front yard if I have to,” he added while wiggling his eyebrows at me.
I rolled my eyes, but there was a smile on my face that I couldn’t hide. Before I could retort something back at Kyle, Colby interjected. “I’ll do that, too,” he said with his infamous smirk. When I turned to glare at him, I saw Cynthia raising one eyebrow as she looked back and forth between Colby and me. Great. I almost groaned. Now she was probably thinking that Colby and I had something going on between us, regardless of what I’ve told her last night.
“Maybe we should set up camp together.”
My head snapped back to Kyle, but his eyes were on Colby. Kyle’s stare was cool, and as I peeked out of the corner of my eyes at Colby, I saw Colby’s confident stare aimed straight at Kyle. Both wear little smirks on their faces.
Colby grunted in response, his smirk widening. “I prefer separate tents.”
Kyle chuckled at that, said it was no problem and he did not want to share a tent with Colby as well. Cynthia now has a confused expression on her face. Frankly, I was confused too. What the heck was this? I was so confused that I couldn’t focus on what the two boys were saying. When the mention of one of them camping out in my backyard as well came up though, I broke out of my confused state and gawked at both Kyle and Colby. That was it. I banged my hand against the table. Both boys stopped and turned to look at me. Oh goody, I got their attention.
“Nobody is camping outside my house!” I exclaimed while shooting daggers at Colby, and turning a softer glare toward Kyle. Kyle started to open his mouth but I narrowed my eyes at him, making him raise his hands up as if he was surrendering. I let out a breath as I deflated back to my seat and I didn’t notice Kyle trying to hold in his laughter. As my gaze turn to Colby though, he was not as subtle as Kyle as little snorts were coming out of his nose as he shook in silent laughter. I guess that did it for Kyle as well, since a loud guffaw escaped from him. Okay, cue confused state back on. I turned to Cynthia, and she was leaning back on her seat. She met my gaze, her bottom lip stuck out, and shrugged at me.
I settled on just focusing on Kyle because I know that hope would be lost if I try to ask Colby what the heck were they on to. Kyle looked at me, his eyes shining from his laughter. He managed to choke out, “We’re just playing around, Kayla.”
To be honest, I was stumped. They were playing around. Colby and Kyle.
This must be what’s being in the Twilight Zone felt like.
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I am having a major writer's block. Sorry. This might be all over the place hehe. I'll try to make the next one better. Thank you for reading! Comments/votes are appreciated :D
Photo is of Neil Etheridge, the Philippine National Football Team's Goal Keeper, and a hot piece of man meat. Raaaaawr! I just wanted to show him off hahaha :)