Lyle
"Wait up!" I shouted while scrambling out the door for my bus as fast as I could. By the time I shut the door, it began driving away. I sprinted down the sidewalk like a maniac, trying to catch up only for it to disappear out of sight.
"Oh." I moaned and grabbed my knees. I couldn't stop panting. I really needed to work out more. Maybe Johnny–No!
I shook my head. For a moment, the events of last Wednesday escaped me. Then I remembered, we weren't friends. Not in the least bit. Never. Okay, maybe some day. It depends on if him and I find more common ground because as of now, we were polar opposites. Speaking of opposites, I should probably stop thinking of other unimportant matters and find a way to school.
"Hmm..." I thought aloud as I looked around for possible ways of getting there. Then I saw my Dad's car and felt my heart jump.
Uh oh, I ducked behind the hedges as he came outside. Typically, I'm on the bus by then though that didn't happen. Dad was going to be so upset because he's adamant on punctuality. It didn't help matter that I had a bad history of tardiness in the past which were sometimes my fault while life did the rest. I couldn't be grounded, especially since I had a puppy parade thing to promote. Ugh, I'm such a loser.
As Dad pulled out of the driveway, I bolted down the road and turned the corner. I heard his car pass by where he luckily didn't–Never mind. He did see me.
"Lyle?" He called out as he rolled down his window.
I tried turning away though he honked the horn and yelled. "I know it's you!"
Rats, I closed my eyes tight before reluctantly making my way over and telling him the truth. "Sorry Dad. I missed the bus."
"They didn't wait for you?"
"No, but I almost made it." I closed one eye and clenched my teeth together in the hopes he wouldn't be too mad.
Dad faced forward for the longest time before letting out a deep breath. "Get in the car."
"Oh thank you–"
He grunted and put his hand out to stop me from speaking then he said, "You might need to hold onto something."
"Why?"
"We've got limited time 'cause you're not the only one running late today."
He looked me in the eyes before revving up the car. I quietly put on my seatbelt as we flew down the road. I held onto the upper handle for dear life and let out a few shrieks here and there until we made it to school in record time.
"Now, do you see why it pays not to miss the bus?" He asked completely unfazed by his own driving.
"Yeah." I nodded while I had both hands clutched onto the handle. Eventually, I let go and wobbled a little once I got out.
"Get you work done!" Dad shouted before he took off. It was his way of saying goodbye.
"You too." I responded despite that he was long gone. I held my head and made it inside where I found my table and slowly set things up. Everything was going swimmingly until a certain something wasn't here.
"Oh hell no." I grumbled to myself while desperately searching my bag. I dumped everything out onto the chair, except it wasn't inside. So now I had the cute puppy pictures, the information, but no banner or the flashy sign to indicate what this was. If anything, I just looked like the weird kid showing off pictures of his dog.
Really? I closed my eyes and held my head again. I kept internally kicking myself for my mess of a morning though it came to an abrupt end once I heard an audacious voice.
"Yo, can you tell me where the main office is at?"
"Yeah, you're gonna want to take a left–"
"Was I speaking to you?"
Apparently not. I rolled my eyes when he said that. His accent made my heart flutter a bit as I turned to see a tall, well-framed boy. His skin was rich and his dark hair... Damn. Not to mention those eyes. They were this piercing green color and somehow worked perfectly on him. I gazed at him and took in his presence before shaking my head and giving a real response. "I thought you were."
"Nope." He shook his head. "Does it look like I'd talk to the puppy boy?"
"Oh, I'm not–" I felt myself blushing uncontrollably. It was embarrassing so I turned away and frowned. "Never mind. Listen, do you want directions or not?"
"Sure."
"Do you have a name?" I asked while packing my things back up.
"Yeah, it's Dominic."
"Is that it?"
"No, dumbass." He scoffed. "If you need to know my full name, it's Dominic Cesar Romano."
"Yeah, I'm reconsidering this whole tour thing."
"That's cool." Dominic jeered. "Maybe then, I'll find some cute girl to give me a tour."
"Good luck with that." I told him after gathering my things and walking away, though I didn't get far. I just couldn't escape his voice.
"Good luck to you too."
Huh? I immediately stopped and looked back. "What?"
"Oh you know, with your life. The one you don't have."
"Mind your own business."
"Will do." Dominic snickered.
Ugh, I could feel my headache coming back and I barely talked to this douchebag. Luckily, I wouldn't have to deal with that again the rest of today.
Over the course of the coming hours, I found myself calming down. I got to write, sketch pictures of anime characters, and of course, math. The true scourge of life next to twerking, the knockout game, and fidget spinners. Yuck, I swore those things were addictive yet evil.
"Look at how fast I can spin this." Odessa bragged to her friends as she spun it in her right hand.
"Bitch, you ain't doin' it right." Audrey yanked it from her and spun it faster while taking a selfie.
"Are you two really arguing over a spinner?" Steven turned to them and asked.
"Yeah, so what?" Odessa quickly jumped on the defense.
"It's not like we're snorting meth." Desiree justified it and laughed until she backpedaled by saying. "Hey, remember that time we snorted those pixie sticks?"
"Oh, that was horrible!" Audrey emphasized while her followers died from laughter. "Seriously, why did we even do that?"
"We wanted to fly?" Odessa suggested.
"That explains why we drank Red Bull afterwards." Desiree chimed in.
They all laughed loudly again where Steven grumbled and leaned in closer to me. "I don't know how you do it, man. They're so annoying!"
"I just keep repeating the same number and eventually, I don't even notice them."
"That works?"
"Well it does for me." I shrugged. "Either that or repeating chocolate over and over again, works too."
"Thanks for the tip."
"You're welcome."
Steven flashed a smile before he went back to doing his homework while I did the same. Unfortunately, my drive was cut off by the intercom.
"Lyle Calhoun, please report to the principal's office."
"Why?" I asked sparking a lot of kids to laugh.
"Don't ask why, just come this instant."
Whoa, I sat there speechless over the fact, the secretary responded. I swore he could be savage sometimes. Everyone went from laughing to quietly judging me. During that time, I grabbed all of my things and left. I really wondered what was it this time. I briskly hustled down the hallway, walking as fast as I could. Once I was inside, Principal Normack gave me quite the greeting.
"Ah, Mister Calhoun." His booming voice was like a bright flash. It was radiant enough to make me squint, though eventually I recovered.
"Yes, sir?" I responded and took a seat nearby. "What's going on?"
"Well today has been a real circus with a number of staff changes, big announcements, and finally a new student."
"New student?"
"That would be correct." Normack answered as a large grin emerged on his face. "You have the honor of giving him an official tour since he's already gotten lost and tried leaving but I convinced him to stay."
"W-why me?"
Normack sighed loudly. "Unfortunately, the other three declined the offer to give the new student a tour, but lucky you. Today you'll not only be meeting your new peer, you'll also be welcoming this student to the planning committee."
Why do I feel I've already met him? The thought swirled through my mind as I took a moment to process this situation. "Wait, what's his name?"
"Dominic Romano."
Oh no, I looked forward for the longest time. There was no way in hell I was gonna spend precious time with a prick like him. Eventually, I shook my head and scoffed. "You cannot be serious."
"I'm afraid he is."
Dominic... His thick yet silky, Italian accent rung in my ears as I turned my head toward him. He stood by with his arms crossed, flashing a smirk.
"Ah, there you are." Normack happily welcomed him inside much to my utter dismay.
No, this couldn't be real, I sat in my chair and squirmed inside. I wanted to scream so badly.
"Sorry I'm late, sir." Dominic chuckled as he strutted on in with his swagger. "Usually I know my way around, but this place is a maze."
"We get that a lot."
"Well I ain't that surprised." He beamed right in my ear as he sat down. I did my best to refrain from looking at him.
Despite the fact I was looking down, I could tell Normack was watching us both. Dominic sat up all arrogant and proper lie he was being interviewed for a magazine. Meanwhile, I had my bowed the way kids do when they're caught lying. Either way, he knew something was up.
"Have you two met?" He asked.
"We sure did." Dominic proudly announced. "Right, Luke?"
"It's Lyle."
"That's shocking." He laughed. "Isn't that the name of a lizard or something?"
"Excuse me?" I turned to the right and looked him in the eyes. "What did you say?"
"You heard me."
"Wow, that's real mature, you–"
"Hey." Normack cut in. "You two can argue later. Now, is this going to work out?"
"With all due respect sir–"
"Yes." Dominic interrupted. "You don't gotta worry about us."
"Great." Normack concluded as he inadvertently dismissed us.
Dominic stood up, then he leaned in and whispered in my ear. "You better hold onto your hat, boy. We're gonna have some real fun together."
"We'll see about that."
"We sure will." He chuckled while patting me on the back. "Come on, let's do this."
Oh dear lord, I face-palmed before reluctantly joining him out in the hall. He still had that infuriating smirk on his face. To our surprise, I didn't give in. Instead, I took a deep breath and gave him the general tour.
"Over here, you'll see the library." I pointed out and searched for a moment in the hopes Elise was around to save me. Unfortunately, she wasn't which meant I'd still be stuck with this jerk for another hour.
"Dude, cut that out."
"Cut what out?" I asked.
"That stare." He pulled my face away from the windows. "I get you have a thing for librarians–"
"I don't."
"Really? 'cause you sure look like you do."
"Nope." I looked back one more time before moving forward. "I was just looking for a friend."
"What friend?"
"Why do you even care?"
"Oh, I don't." Dominic scoffed as he walked beside me. "I was just surprised."
"What, by the fact I have friends? Which by the way, I do. Have them. Friends, that is."
"Sure you do."
"I'm serious." I reiterated to him. "I have friends."
"Yeah, and I'm the grim reaper."
Even though I didn't like him, I couldn't help but laugh. He did too until he turned the corner and I completely stopped moving. I faced him again and said, "So he put you on the planning committee?"
"I know. It's lame as fuck."
"Welcome to my world." I teased with a smile.
"What, the lame part or the desperation?"
"Hey..." I argued. "I'm not desperate."
"Your little campaign says otherwise." Dominic pointed to the fliers I put up last week.
I stepped forward and examined them myself until getting halfway through. "Uh..."
"Don't sweat it." Dominic came by and put his hand on my shoulder. "It's kinda cute."
"Really?"
"Well, until you go full-on camp counselor with your cause."
"Oh!" I broke off from him as he laughed hard. I shook my head and scoffed. "You know that's my life, right?"
"I know."
"Then why is it so funny?" I demanded.
"You ain't ever gonna change that shit."
"Watch me."
"Yeah, save the wolves and the owls, but let that mutt down the street get its mouth blown off," Dominic said with the mocking hand gestures and everything. "Real smooth."
"Funny." I rolled my eyes at his obvious sarcasm. "You're a real dick, you know that?"
"And you're an easy target."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Dominic looked me in the eyes and came closer to the point I gasped as he cornered me into the wall. "Just watch your back. Nobody can protect you from all the shit that rains down on us. Hell, why do you think I live with my uncle?"
"You live with your uncle?"
"Yep." Dominic nodded. "Even ask Aria over there."
I looked over to see Aria's eyes widen. I took a step closer though she left pretty quickly. I wonder why. Moments later, I felt a swift movement in the air.
"Look, I can take it from here." Dominic swiped the map out of my right hand.
"I'm gonna need that back."
"Don't worry, I'll return it." Dominic casually responded as he walked away. Part of me wanted to go after him, but the other half decided to stay. No, I wouldn't chase him. I was finally free. Free from his frustrating smugness, his smoldering looks, that... hypnotic voice. Damn it. Why am I feeling like this? Why?
I rested my head on the nearest locker and kept watching, even after Dominic was long gone. Despite my disdain for this guy, I couldn't help but smile. There was something about him that really struck a chord with me. I wish I knew what it was or why he got me all stirred up though nothing came to mind. No answers, no ideas, nothing. All I could think about was him and what he said. Maybe he was right after all.