my boyfriend, you know.”
I nodded and looked back to my food.
“He’s new to our school, too.” She added, not wanting to drop the subject.
“Who’s new?” Anabel asked, oblivious of what we were talking about as she had been talking about her brother, Tyler, to one of the other girls at our table.
Lisa snapped to her with an annoyed expression. “I was only telling Celia that Dmitri is new to our school too and that he is friends with Justin.”
Funny how talking about boys can cause a ruckus between girls; every head at our table was at our attention and leaned in to hear our conversation.
“He tends to keep to himself.” Cassidy commented, her bottom lip seemingly puffed out. I made the connection that she had a little crush on him.
“We bumped into each other last week. It was a little weird, I suppose.” I added considering I didn’t want them to think I was intruding on their territory or anything.
The boys came out of the lunch line, all with smirks on their faces and walked towards us. I did my best not to make eye contact with any of them.
One of them leaned over Lisa and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. The broad shouldered blond must be Justin. The rest of the boys sat at the very end of our long table and continued their conversation.
I made eye contact with Lisa, briefly, who merely smiled at me and turned her face in their direction. She stayed like that for a few moments, obviously making her own observations.
“You must have made an impression Ms. Celia.” She commented innocently.
“Oh, why is that?” I asked with equal innocence.
“Because he hasn’t stopped staring at you; He didn’t even notice I was watching him.”
Her words forced me to look over at him. Just as she said, he was looking at me. He tilted his head and turned only when he couldn’t hide the smile that had formed.
“It’s nothing I’m sure. He probably only wants me to feel welcomed like you have.”
“Well, he never smiled at me like that.” Anabel interjected. The statement creating several girls to burst out in quiet laughter.
Lisa stood up and most of the girls followed her lead. Lunch was over before I even had a chance to learn more about my new acquaintances.
I was on my own for 5 th period, which was probably a blessing in disguise. The class went by so much faster not having to worry about appearances. It was next period I wondered about.
I was going to sit next to Lisa for an entire class about British literature. The idea alone felt a little intimidating.
She met me in the hallway with a grin spread across her face.
“Okay, so prepare yourself to meet the most incredible individual on the planet.” She began. “Our teacher, Mr. Hamric’ is from Europe and is unbelievably handsome.”
So basically, I was taking a class filled with girls who Only take his class to gawk.
Disgusting!
Just then, another figure drastically stole my attention. A tall lean male, who looked vaguely familiar, walked past us and disappeared into the room we were heading to.
“Who was that?” I asked Lisa, absentmindedly.
“Oh, that’s Kyle. He is a history freak. Of course he only takes this class to learn more about a topic he is practically an expert in.” she complained. “Anabel might have had a chance to get transferred in had there been any vacant seats at the beginning of the year, but, Whatever!”
We walked into the classroom and almost immediately I realized one thing. The class was basically all female, our teacher was appealing, but most of all, I knew Kyle from the store. He’d been one of mom’s regulars.
Walking to our seats, I noticed how he glanced at me a few times but would then stare down at his journal. Almost as though he didn’t want me to make the connection.
Mr. Hamric’ announced my presence in the room and everyone greeted me enthusiastically. The group was working on Austin’s influence in British literature. The current novel : Pride and Prejudice .
At