"Have you seen the new guy?" I was shaken from my thoughts as Ashley came and sat down at the lunch table right in front of me.
"Excuse me?" I asked, not hearing what she had said the first time around.
"The new guy. Have you seen him?" She repeated slowly.
I shrugged. I don't remember seeing any new guy, and I certainly wouldn't care either way.
I laid my head down on the table, the aroma or bleach and pizza filled my nostrils.
She slammed her hands down on the table and leaned toward me. She was always like this, over whelming. Hyper.
"Well he's fucking beautiful. No joke, Aphrodite is shaking with anger right now."
I picked my head up off of the table and stared up at her through my bangs.
"So why does this matter?" I ask, my tone bored.
She was upset, as I knew she would be. Ashley was the type of person that loved to see a persons expression after telling them "big" news. Unfortunately I was not the type of person to give out many expressions other than the bored one that currently resides on my face.
She pursued her lips at me, "Oh yes I forgot, Virgin Mary over here doesn't like boys." Sarcasm was literally dripping from her mouth and covering the table.
I laughed, "Hey, I like boys. At this high school, there really aren't any boys that are interesting or mature for that matter."
She shook her head lightly, "When will you understand, no boys are mature."
I laughed at that as Johnny Wilson came and sat down next to Ashley, slipping his arm around her.
"See, Johnny here is about as close to mature as you can get." Ashley was staring up at him, her eyes twinkling.
I seem to remember Johnny chasing around a number of girls at a party last weekend trying to slap their ass. Mature? I don't think so.
But instead of stating my rather interesting fact, I kept it to myself.
"Oh yeah, Johnny you are a real catch."I scoffed.
He rolled his eyes at me and continued whispering things into Ashley's ear to make her laugh.
Ashley, is what most people would call pretty. Which she is. Her hair was a light brown and her eyes a bright blue, the kind that matches the sky. She was tall and porportioned well, though she had slightly larger hips. Why she thought she needed to lose weight was beyond me.
Me on the other hand, not as great. I'm not as tall as her, certainly not as skinny. At least not in my eyes. Something I've always had a problem with. My hair is jet black and my eyes are a dark green.
"Hey do you want to run to the mall with me tomorrow? There is a sale I want to run by." Ashley once again pulled me from my thoughts.
I nodded lightly as the bell rang and students started to scatter to class.
She smiled brightly, "Great, I'll pick you up. My mom is going to let me use the car that day."
I grabbed my bag from the floor and hauled it up on to my back.
The thing nearly weighed ten pounds.
Good lord, today was going to be long.
The bus rumbled to life as I took as seat near the middle.
Once I was seated, I pulled my knees up to my chest and leaned my head against the window.
Ashley wasn't there again. Getting a ride with Johnny I'm guessing.
He was a jerk. I really don't know why or how she manages to fall for his bullshit every time. All I know is that I'm left to pick up the pieces every time he does something stupid.
Fuck boys.
What good are they? They flirt, they make you hope and then they ditch you. What is that shit? Am I the only person who sees this? And if you do manage to snag one they either end up cheating on you or lying to you.
The whole concept really made me upset. How are people so dense?
I was chewing on my lip in frustration when the bus pulled up at my stop.
Again hauling my bag, I drug myself off the bus.
The bus growled as it drove away. Or maybe it was laughing at me.
Silence suddenly flooded my ears and I was filled with a peaceful bliss.
Until I heard the footsteps behind me.
I turned my head slowly only to find the boy from this morning following me.
I picked up my pace, not wanting to deal with him.
Why is he following me?
He seemed to be gaining up on me.
I walked even quicker, almost in a slow jog.
I’m sure I looked like an idiot, nearly running with my back pack. What a fool.
It was nearly fall, the leaves were just starting to turn their light shade of orange and red. Such a beautiful season. I had always enjoyed this time of year.
But now was hardly the time to dwell on the pretty scenery in front of me.
His footsteps still carried on behind me. I heard a chuckle come from him and I immediately stopped.
Sharply I turned all the way around to him. “What?” I snapped loudly.
He continued to laugh, his face turning a light shade of red. “Do you think I’m chasing you?” He nearly gasped the question out between laughs.
I could feel my cheeks getting warmer, wasn’t he chasing me?
“Uh... erm… no.” I sputtered, “I’m just in a hurry.”
“For what?” He asked, skepticism in his voice.
I tried to think quickly, “I have to watch my little brother.”
His eyes narrowed, “Really?”
“Yes really and I—Why am I explaining myself to you?” I asked, mostly to myself, flustered. “I have to go, is there something you wanted?”
He smiled at me, the kind of smile that says I know you’re lying to me.
“Nope. Nothing, just didn’t want you to think I was some stalker trying to chase you down.” His smirk became more pronounced.
I scoffed, “You wouldn’t make a very good stalker.”
“Why is that?” He asked stepping closer to me.
I took him in then, scanning over his large clunky unlaced Nikes, his tight pants that were slightly sagged and held up by a Rasta colored studded belt. His dark grey jacket was zipped up mid way, a white t-shirt shown underneath. He had a necklace on with something dangling from the end of it that I couldn’t quite make out. His hair was long and shaggy, yet somewhat sculpted, sweeping to the side just above his eyes.
“You just don’t look like a stalker.” I shrugged, my voice becoming less sharp.
“Maybe that’s what makes me such a good one.” He arched one of his eye brows up, wondering how I would form a comeback for that.
I stared at him for a moment before realizing what I was doing, my voice became sharp again.
“Can we hurry this up? Why are you following me?” I huffed, my arms crossing in front of me, showing just how annoyed I was.
His head dropped, his hair falling in front of his face but not far enough so that I couldn’t see his smile.
“You are in my way.”
I looked at his baffled and angry, did he just say? “Excuse me?” I asked through my clenched teeth.
He lifted his hand out of his pocket and pointed to the right.
I turned in the direction of his finger. A house stood there. A cozy small house with smoke coming out of its chimney.
“I live there.”
I looked down and realized I was standing in front of the pathway to the door.
“You could have gone around.” I mumbled under my breath.
“I could have.” He laughed, stating it in a matter of fact manner, “But then I would have passed up this amazingly sarcastic conversation with you.”
I glared at him and turned away from him, trying to get far away from this place.
“Glad I could entertain you.” I shot over my shoulder.
___________
Should I keep this going?