I force down more waffles with orange juice, then Jason and I head to his car, and he drives us to school.
The car is dead silent. I force myself not to think about He Who Must Not Be Named. Maybe I’ll meet someone special when I leave for college. Until then, I’ll try to live my life in bliss. I’ll find my Mr. Darcy somewhere else.
“You’re quiet,” Jason says after we’ve been sitting here for a few minutes.
I shrug. “Just got a lot on my mind.”
He nods slowly. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Ryan. He seemed like a cool dude.”
“Yep. We’re just friends,” I lie. “But I’m happy I went to the dance with him.”
“I’m happy, too.”
We’re quiet again. He keeps his eyes on the road and I stare out the window. Ryan still enters my head, but I blink him away.
Jason pulls up before the school building and we climb out of the car. My eyes automatically look for the guy with deep blue eyes, but I don’t find him anywhere.
Jenna runs into my brother’s arms and they kiss. With my arms crossed over my chest at the sudden cold, I follow them into the building.
The hallway is packed with kids talking and laughing. I’m still looking for Ryan like an idiot. Even when I go to my locker to grab some stuff, my head still whips around.
It seems like I’m not the only one. Brianne and a few other girls’ gazes keep flicking to the door, too.
When there are only a few minutes left before first bell, the door opens and he walks in. He’s bent over like he’s carrying the world on his back.
Brianne rushes over to him, leaning close to whisper in his ear. I look away, not interested in seeing her giggle. I’m pretty sure he ditched me for a pretty girl. I mean, just look at me, with my lame T-shirt and jeans, no makeup, my hair pulled into a messy ponytail. I don’t know why I don’t make more of an effort like most girls. I guess I’m more comfortable this way and don’t need or want to change for anyone. Mom always told me I’ll find a guy who’ll love me for me. I hope she’s right.
The bell rings and everyone scatters to their classrooms. I shut my locker and turn to head to my class, when I smack into something hard.
It’s Ryan, passing me on his way to history.
“Sorry.” I step away.
He hardly looks my way, eyes straight ahead as he marches down the hallway. What the heck? Why is he being so rude? What in the world did I do to him?
No. I need to forget him. He’s not going to ruin my day and I’m not going to spend the rest of my teen years crying over a guy who doesn’t deserve me.
So I stomp past him, practically running because I’m so short, and reach the classroom before he does. Plopping down in my seat, I take out my textbook.
He’s the last to enter the room and lucky me that the only available seat is the one across from mine. Shoot. We don’t have assigned seats in this class.
Awesome. Just perfect.
From the other end of the room, I catch Brianne watching him. She looks like she wants to tear his head off. I guess things didn’t go well between them?
The teacher, Mrs. Lee, enters and begins the lesson. Then she announces that we’re going to split into teams of two and work on a project.
“Everyone team up with the person on your left,” she tells us.
I slowly turn my head to the left, to the guy with long black hair covering his eyes. He twists to me and our eyes meet. His are hard and empty, but there’s also something else in there, something I can’t describe.
He tears his gaze away.
The project is to write a report about a time era in history that affects us today. The only thing affecting me right now is the cold guy sitting next to me.
But I won’t let him get to me. I told myself to forget about him and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
I start working on the project alone, while he plays with his phone. It’s so much better this way, doing this at my own pace. Mrs. Lee told us to add more flavor to the project, make it more colorful. I’ll handle it all on my own. I don’t need favors from him.
