7
Somehow I already knew where Jonathon was the moment I walked into the cafeteria. And he knew where I was. He looked up as I walked in.
Being careful not to look directly at him, I searched for an empty table.
It was a strange feeling, being so aware of him. It made me feel self-conscious. It also heightened my senses.
I was relieved when I heard Beck call my name.
“Ellie – over here.”
I fixed a smile on my face as I headed for her table, too aware of the exaggerated sway of my hips in my heels, and – imagined or not – the feel of Jonathon’s eyes following me.
If it had of been Bianca, I would have just sat down, and asked her if he was watching me. But it wasn’t Bianca. Bianca thought I was dead.
“Hi,” I said, relieved to see Beck’s friendly face all the same.
“The others should be here soon.” She took a bite of her burger. “You going to get something to eat?”
“I’m not really hungry,” I said.
My stomach was tied up in knots, and the idea of food at that moment was slightly nauseating.
Then Melissa – who I met earlier that morning – was there.
“Hi Beck. Hi, Ellie.” Melissa set her tray on the table, the smell of hot chips wafting past me.
“Hi.” I smiled at Melissa, glancing warily at the camera she pulled from the black case around her neck.
“What’s with the camera?” Beck asked.
“Mr. Engle asked me to take some photos for the yearbook.” Melissa grimaced. “Like I don’t already have enough to do. Hey Ellie, smile.”
The flash went off as I leapt to my feet, my father’s warning still fresh in my mind. I did it without thought. To be honest, I thought my father was being completely paranoid, but his warnings were so deeply ingrained in me that my response was automatic.
“Hey,” Melissa pouted. “I didn’t want a shot of your boobs.”
“Sorry – just realized I was hungry after all,” I said, my face flushing as I turned towards the cafeteria. “Maybe I’ll grab an apple.”
“Here, have mine,” Melissa said, tossing a shiny red apple at me.
“Um – thanks,” I said as I caught it. “You don’t want it?”
“Nah – they give them out with the fries. Supposed to make them seem like a healthier choice or something.” She shoved a handful of fries in her mouth.
I sat back down, glad that Melissa seemed to be much more interested in her food than the camera.
A boy with shaggy blonde hair reached over Melissa’s shoulder. “Thanks, you shouldn’t have,” he said as he helped himself to her fries.
Melissa smacked his hand away, but she was smiling as he sat down next to her.
“You better watch out for Chris – he’ll eat anything that isn’t nailed down,” Melissa warned.
“So, you’re Ellie,” Chris smiled, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
He had a round, shiny face, and warm blue eyes.
“If you want anyone to show you around town, just give me a shout,” he said.
“Yeah – take you all of five minutes,” Melisa smirked. “Welcome to Boringville.”
“It’s not that bad.” Chris nudged her arm playfully, his snub nose dimpling. “A few of us are thinking about going to the movies on Saturday. Maybe grab a pizza after. You still coming, Mel?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” she said through her fries.
“I’m in, too,” Beck said. “How about you, Ellie?”
“Sounds good,” I nodded.“I’ll have to check with my father first.”
Beck turned to the others, her mouth opening to say something, when she suddenly turned back to me, her voice low. “I don’t believe it.” Her large brown eyes sparkled with excitement.
“What?” Melissa leaned over the table, gathering her long, wavy hair over one shoulder to stop it falling in her food.
“Jonathon – he’s staring at you,” Beck said to me.
“He is?” Melissa said before I could open my mouth.
Melissa snapped her head around to look behind her.
“Way to be obvious,” Chris hissed, glancing curiously at me.
I had no idea what the deal was, or why it should be so strange. And there was no way I was going to look, no matter how much I wanted to.
Melissa flipped her head back to face us again. Her strawberry tresses sent fries skittering across the table. “I don’t believe it,” she said, her brow wrinkling as she studied me.
“So – I’m not imagining things?” Beck said to Melissa.
Melissa shook her head. “But why her?”
“Why not?” Chris said.
“I don’t get it,” I mumbled, my face flushing.
It was like they had forgotten I was at the table, even though they were staring at me seconds before.
“You will,” Melissa said knowingly. “Just give it a few more days.”
Chris rolled his eyes at Melissa. “It’s like we’re invisible to them,” he told me. “The only time any of them pay as any attention is when Madison is in full-bitch mode.”
“Oh,” I said. I had no idea what else to say.
“It’s like they came out of the Twilight Zone or something.” Melissa shuddered. “They give me the creeps.”
“They transferred in at the start of the year.” Beck kept her voice low, as though she thought they could hear her. “Rumor is they got into some sort of trouble and got sent here as punishment. They stay at a boarding house with the out-of-towners.”
A heavy silence fell, and I stared down at the table.
I could feel Beck and Melissa watching me.
“Is he still looking?” I asked, trying to shift their attention away from me.
I heard a chair scrape on the floor.
“No,” Beck said.
“Good.” I raised my head, firmly telling myself I wasn’t going to look over Melissa’s shoulder. To keep my eyes low.
I hadn’t counted on Melissa moving her chair closer to Chris.
I could see her watching me out of the corner of my eye.
Jonathon was directly in front of me, about five tables away.
He chose that moment to look up.
Beck elbowed me in the side, and my face flushed, but Melissa just grinned and turned to wave at him.
Jonathon’s smile was impulsive, a slow curving of his lips, until Madison hissed something in his ear that made his jaw tighten.
I didn’t think my face could feel any warmer.
I was wrong.
I turned to Beck. “What – is Madison his girlfriend or something?”
“Hah!” Melissa shrilled, too loudly. “So you’re team Jonathon.”
“What are you talking about?” I hoped my cheeks weren’t as red as they felt.
Beck leaned in. “Most everyone has a raging crush on at least one of them. Personally, I prefer Morgan. There’s something so dreamy about him,” she sighed.
“Which one’s Morgan?” I asked, glad the conversation had moved away from me.
“The one with the delicious skin. Makes me think of chocolate. And I loooove chocolate. I swear, I could totally gobble him right up – but he’s just so – so serious. Watching them all the time. It’s like he thinks he has to keep them under control or something.”
“What do you mean?” I kept my voice low to match Beck’s.
Beck shrugged. “I don’t know. He acts like he’s their keeper. Makes you wonder what they did. They keep to themselves, but Madison gets a little crazy sometimes. He’s the only one who can control her.”
“They’re not even human,” Melissa said. “They’re brain-dead zombies.”
I raised my brows, surprised at her vehemence.
Beck laughed. “Melisa’s just annoyed. She’s team Andrew, but he rejected her.”
“Andrew?” I took a bite of my apple, not wanting to seem too interested.
“The blond one,” Beck said.
“I got over that ages ago,” Melissa snapped, her eyes hard. “You know I’m with Mick now.”
Melissa leaned closer to me and hissed, “They’re on drugs, you know.”
I nearly choked on my apple.
“I’m serious,” Melisa hissed. “They’re junkies.”
“You’re not going on about that still?” Beck sounded exasperated.
“I know what I saw,” Melissa said.
“But – if they’re taking drugs, wouldn’t it make them hyper or something?” Beck said. “Not – not zombies.”
Melissa gave Beck a withering look. “I’m not talking about those sorts of drugs. They’re valium zombies.”
I couldn’t help but think Melissa would benefit from a healthy dose of valium herself. But I had to admit – she had a point. Madison was the only one I’d seen display any real sort of emotion at all.
Melissa turned hard eyes on me. “I wouldn’t waste your breath,” she warned.
“God – you’re such a bitch,” Chris said at the same time Beck said, “Why? Is it that impossible to believe that one of them could like her and not you? I mean – look at her. She’s gorgeous. You’re not the only pretty girl in the world, you know.”
Mortified, I stared at the fries on the table. I wasn’t used to socializing with so many people at once, or the dynamics that went with it.
And I especially wasn’t used to people jumping to my defense, or saying I was pretty. It completely threw me.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Melissa said. Then a moment later, she purred, “You said I’m pretty.”
I looked up in time to see Melissa fluff up her hair and grin disarmingly.
“Yep,” Beck picked up a fry and launched it at her, “but Andrew’s prettier.”
“He is, isn’t he?” Melissa sighed.
“Guys can’t be pretty,” Chris said.
“Of course they can.” Melissa said. “I mean – look at those eyes. Have you ever seen eyes like that before? And don’t even start me on his lashes.”
“Don’t let Mick hear you say that,” Beck chuckled.
That was when I felt the strange prickling sensation in the middle of my forehead, just between my eyebrows. It wasn’t an unfamiliar sensation. I had felt it before. It was kind of like a light electric current.
It only seemed to happen when I was feeling particularly restless or anxious.
I rarely felt it during the day.
Sometimes, the feeling was strong. So strong it woke me at night.
The last time I had felt it was the night of the explosion.
Occasionally it was accompanied by a smell – the faint scent of ozone, like when it’s just about to rain.
It made me feel safe. Protected.
At that moment the smell was particularly strong.
Calm swept through me. I breathed in deeply as the smell grew stronger.
The prickling intensified.
I turned, and that was when I saw Him.
Some people just catch your eye. There’s no defining why. It just is.
I’m not talking about something as dramatic as love at first sight. Or lust.
It’s like they have an aura about them that makes them stand out. One that somehow makes you feel as though you already know them. That makes you want to get closer.
It’s not something I can explain with any clarity. But it’s what I felt when I first saw the boy who would soon change my life in ways I’d never imagined.
He was on the edge of the cafeteria, glaring at Jonathon and the others. He had thick, black hair that was hanging slightly below his strange, silvery eyes.
I could actually see them shining from where I was sitting. Not in a creepy way, it was more that his eyes reminded me of the moon. Both dark and silvery at the same time.
A darkness seemed to surround him, somehow both exciting and frightening.
He was sitting on a table, his feet on the seat, wearing jeans and a black leather jacket. He didn’t look much older than me, but something about him seemed older than time. Like he knew things no one else knew. Dark secrets lurked in his eyes.
He reminded me of a sleek black panther, the way he sat there, watching, observing. The dangerous energy surrounding him exuded a sense of expectation. Like something was about to happen.
“Who’s that?” I nudged Beck, harder than I meant to, and jerked my head in his direction.
I swear, it was as though he felt me looking. There was a strange, knowing look on his face as he caught my eye.
I turned away, confused by the feelings he evoked in me. Feelings that made my reaction to Jonathon pale into insignificance. What I felt for Jonathon was immediate and strong and confusing and – if I was completely honest with myself – stirred feelings in me no other boy had stirred before. It was like Jonathon had a direct connection to my hormones.
But this – this boy – somehow I felt that I knew him.
“Where?” Beck asked.
Steeling myself, I turned, something inside me awakening.
But he was gone.
I thought I saw a shimmer in the air – a silvery haze – but when I blinked, it was gone.
A fierce and unexpected surge of disappointment surged through me.
“Never mind,” I whispered.
Deep inside me there was a place I usually tried to ignore. It consisted of an empty ache that sometimes threatened to consume me. I’m not sure when I first became aware of it. I always assumed it was the hole my mother’s death had left.
But right then – at that moment in time – it thudded dully.
Beck nudged me, and I looked up.
Jonathon was watching me, his brow raised slightly. They all were.
This time I didn’t look away. I wasn’t going to let Madison intimidate me.
“Wow – what did you do?” Beck asked.
I shrugged. “Um – I don’t know. I sort of ran into Madison and Jonathon this morning. Then she saw him talking to me at my locker.”
“Madison probably put them up to it,” Melissa said. “She’s always playing mind games.”
“She’s not the sort of girl you want to get on the wrong side of,” Chris warned.
I shrugged, uncomfortable with the attention, and was glad when the conversation returned to the weekend.
After lunch Jonathon was waiting at my locker.
“Careful,” I warned, still thinking about the boy with the strange silvery eyes. “Might become a habit.”
“Waiting for you?” Jonathon leaned closer, his words whispering past my ear. “I can think of worse things.”
I was secretly pleased by his comment. Just being this close to him made me feel a little giddy and breathless. It also helped push the empty ache away a little.
He smiled – a friendly smile that reached his eyes this time.
I felt myself softening. Damn hormones were getting the better of me.
But it was more than that. Jonathon seemed more relaxed this time – not so cocky. I found myself wondering if it was some sort of defense mechanism. If maybe just being near me made him feel as nervous as I felt.
Or maybe it was because Madison wasn’t watching.
Or so I thought.
“Déjà vu,” I murmured as Madison headed straight for us, a furious scowl on her face. “What’s with you two, anyway?”
“Absolutely nothing,” he grinned, proving he was human after all as a dimple formed in his right cheek. “I’ll see you around, Ellie.”
Confused, I just stared after him as he walked towards Madison, wondering if there’d been a point. I had no idea why he was waiting at my locker. Or had Madison scared him off again?
Madison threw a brilliant smile my way, her eyes hard and cold as she linked her arm through Jonathan’s, and I decided then and there I had enough to worry about without getting involved in their strange mind games.
I didn’t want anything to do with either of them.
* * *
A/N: This story is my first attempt at writing YA fiction and the idea of 'putting it out there' for people to read was terrifying. So I just wanted to take a moment to thank those who have read it.
And to the wonderful people who left comments or voted, I just wanted to tell you how much this means to me. To the writers out there – you understand the thrill of this, especially when the act of following your dream can be both exhilarating, filling us with hope that maybe we might make it, but also terrifying, plaguing us with insecurities and doubt at the thought of someone else actually reading our creations.
When someone is moved enough to comment – it makes it all worth it. It allows us to dream a little bigger.
Anyway ... back to the story.