Page 34 of Finding a Melody

We continued to play and I kept catching Bryan staring at me. Finally, after Toby managed to get another person killed, I let out a huff of breath and turned to Bryan, tired of this game. Toby had whittled the fourteen characters down to like six already and I was pretty sure we were only halfway through the game.

“Okay, what is going on?” I asked.

His eyes widened slightly before they turned into a challenge and he glared at me.

“I told you nothing,” he answered.

I pointed at him. “And I call you on your bullshit. Why do you keep staring at me then?”

Toby laughed. “Are you giving her the creeper man stare?”

Bryan scowled at him.

I narrowed my eyes at Bryan. “You have something to say, I know you do. Just come out with it instead of being weird.”

Bryan’s expression melted into nervousness, and he glanced away.

Holy shit. I hadn’t seen this expression on him before. It didn’t fit with who he was.

He licked his lips before taking in a deep breath and releasing it.

“Since I got in trouble, my mom’s demanding that I go to a party Saturday night,” he said. “It’s one of those annoying parties filled with rich people trying to either kiss each other’s asses or belittling others. I hate them. Makes me feel dirty.”

I waited him out though I had a good idea where this was going. I tried my best to keep my amusement to myself. That would only piss him off.

“And I was wondering if you’ll be my date,” he finally asked, still not looking at me.

I leaned forward and grabbed his left hand. His eyes flickered up to me. “Yes, I’ll be your date, and I’ll beat away all the girls with my purse. I’ll even borrow one of my mom’s stupid expensive purses to make them jealous.”

His shoulders slumped, and he squeezed my hand. “Thank you.”

“All you have to do is ask.” I narrowed my eyes. “Instead of staring at me like a creeper.”

Everyone laughed and we went back to killing off all the characters in the game until it was time for the others to head home before they got into even more trouble. I enjoyed every moment of it as we argued with each other and ate junk food. These were the rare moments of happiness that I was going to treasure for the rest of my life.

Chapter Ten

Since the boys weren’t allowed back in school until next Tuesday, I had to go without them. It was weird. Really weird. They had encompassed so much of my time these last two weeks and so many of my thoughts involved them that not having them around me in school made me feel lost and reminded me so much of how alone I had been.

I didn’t like it.

And I hated that they were able to affect me like that. For too long, I kept to myself. They slammed their way into my life, and now that they weren’t around, I felt that hole all over again.

I really didn’t like it.

On Tuesday morning before classes began, it was quiet. I tried to work on some music sheets, but it was hard to focus. I kept on expecting the guys to show up, laughing and being loud. Instead, I began picking up on whispers, and a few times, I caught people staring at me. My stomach tightened with anxiety as I met the eyes of a girl with dyed black and purple hair. Her eyes narrowed before she looked away and said something to her friend.

I bit the inside of my cheek and went back to staring down at my work instead. This definitely wasn’t paranoia. They were talking about me. Even if I couldn’t hear them.

Calculus was extra boring without Bryan next to me. Lillian noticed that I was alone right away and smiled big, giving me a wave before sitting down. I had a feeling if the bell hadn’t rung, she would have come over to talk to me. I still didn’t know what to think about Lillian and Hazel. They talked to me when they had the chance, but it was few and far between. I did sense genuineness from them at least.

Frankly, even being the most popular girls in the school, they always felt genuine. There were other cliques filled with people who weren’t nice. They were quick to judge or bully. Lillian and Hazel never did anything like that, and I think that was why they were even more popular. They were pretty, outgoing, and nice.

The rest of that class ticked by too slowly. I worked on homework and noted what was due so that Bryan didn’t miss any assignments. British lit was much of the same. In music analysis, Mrs. Odera managed to crack a joke about the boys and their singing talents, and then we spent half the period going over what they did wrong. I noted everything so I could tease them about it after school. It was great. The song itself was absolutely adored by the teacher and students, but the singing and music accompaniment could have been better.

At lunch, I took up my normal position at my tree and jumped into my homework, trying to ignore how much I hated being there by myself. I swore, the whole day, I was cursing the guys out for getting suspended. This really sucked.

“It was about you, wasn’t it?” Hazel asked, coming over, her camera around her neck.