Tyler smirks at me and looks over my shoulder, which prompts me to look over to see Alli. “Not the only reason.” He stands and winks at me before departing. “See you around, Serena.”
I watch him back away, eyes on me for a couple of seconds before he disappears into the bustling high school crowd.
And just like that, a mini butterfly starts to bloom inside my stomach. Before I can even process it, Alli joins me… along with two unfamiliar faces.
“I would say sorry I’m late and made you find your own way here, but,” Alli’s eyes dart towards Tyler’s direction. He’s not sitting nearby, but he’s also not far. Definitely not in earshot, which is likely the only reason why she says the following, “Looks like you didn’t need help?” She winks at me and starts poking my arm.
I slap her advances away to get her off my metaphorical dick. “It’s nothing.”
“Nothing?” One of the unfamiliar tablemate’s questions. “We saw you drooling.”
I look down and begin unboxing my lunch. “It’s nothing.”
Becauseit is nothing. I hardly know the guy.
His name is Tyler. He likes Thai green tea. He goes to Skyline High. He’s the only person I’ve ever opened up about being perfect all the time.
Alli facepalms herself. “I’m so rude.” She turns to me and waves a hand towards the two strangers sitting with us. “These are my friends. Grant Johnson and Priya Singh. I’ve known them since freshman year.”
Sometimes I forget Alli has friends outside of me. It doesn’t necessarily make me upset or jealous that she has friends beyond me, but I’m wary about making new friends. And I’m slightly scared Alli will be the only friend in like… ever. Alli’s gentle pat on my arm is reassuring, silently telling me that Grant and Priya are genuinely good people.
I might have mommy and trust issues, but I hundred percent trust Allison Castillo. So, with a silent agreement with her, I turned my attention to Grant and Priya. “It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Serena.”
Grant waves and starts unwrapping his BLT. “Oh, we know, we’ve been dying to meet you since Alli told us you’re attending.”
I let out a soft giggle and start picking at my noodles while sharing them with Alli. “Well, I can only hope you heard good things about me.”
Priya starts making small talk, ripping her bag of chips open. “So, do you have any socials? We can follow each other.”
“Oh yeah, I took a hiatus, but I just downloaded the app the other day. Let me log in and send you a request.”
I reach for my phone and log back into Instagram. It was a part of my New Year’s resolutions to take a break from social media, but then I thought since I’m going to school, I should go back to being somewhat active and document my life online.
Instagram loads up, and I’m not expecting too many notifications since I don’t have too many followers, mainly just family, cousins, and Alli. I have some new follower requests from spam-looking accounts and cousins, and just then, I see it.
TyWestman liked your post.
What? How did he even find me?
I don’t have time to investigate before Alli peers into my phone, taking note of the notification.
“Why did Tyler Westman like your picture?” Alli pokes the bear, making Priya and Grant turn their heads at me.
I continue eating my noodles, instantly locking my phone to hide it from Alli’s curious eyes. “He’s a customer at the bobashop,” I look at Grant and Priya, “where I work. We just ran into each other this morning and he recognized me. I don’t know how he found me, honestly.”
I leave out the part where we ran into each other at the lake party. And the one where we spoke about our worries and feelings.
Grant slaps the table at my words, a few tables around us stare, but we ignore them. “Tyler Westman?! Shut the fuck up.” He whispers a yell.
“What?”
“Tyler Westman is golden as fuck.” He says.
I raise a brow, confusion written on my face. “Golden?”
“Golden,” Grant says, like it’s common knowledge around here, “Everyone’s favorite person. Handsome and in with the popular crowd. Tyler Westman is the golden boy on campus. He’s captain of the lacrosse team, won state last year, he’s insanely perfect in everything he does and he’s drop dead gorgeous. Just look at him.”
Grant’s gaze drifts toward Tyler, who’s focused in a conversation with his friends, his easy charm is shown even from a distance. I finally take a good look at him compared to the days at Boba Republic and the lake party.
