I swallowed slowly and shook my head, waiting for the yelling or suspension or whatever usually came with these things. It did seem a little odd that we were doing this in the hall, however.
“You will be glad to know that Ms. McFadden is fine, but if you begin any more fights with any other students, we will be forced to place you under suspension.”
“But, I didn’t…” I opened my mouth to rebut—after all, I hadn’t started the fight—but stopped dead in my tracks. His face had changed; his eyes were panicked and drifting, like he was afraid of me, too. “Yes, sir.” I said.
Mr. Ray didn’t say anything else; he simply nodded his head and walked on past me.
I didn’t wait long before I ran down the hall in an attempt to get away. Great. Everyone thinks I am crazy, or possessed, or something. I entered the cafeteria and headed for my usual place, not bothering to get any food. My stomach wanted to turn itself inside out already; I was afraid of what it would do if I put food inside of it.
I slammed my bag down on the table and pulled out my ancient phone, flipping it open to send Ryland a few choice words.
You owe me. BIG!
I snapped the phone shut and placed my head on the table, wishing more than anything that I could just disappear.
“You look terrible. I thought you would be happy after your PDA yesterday,” Wyn giggled as she sat down.
“Not my boyfriend,” I reminded her, not bothering to lift my head.
“Well, everyone else thinks so, so you might as well ride it for all it’s worth.”
I had to remind myself that Wyn didn’t know me, no matter how much we hit it off yesterday. “Going with the flow” was not my thing, neither were PDA’s for that matter. My phone buzzed and I snatched it up.
What happened? Do I need to come and set some minds straight? ;)
I could feel the scowl creep into my forehead.
No! Stay away from me! You’re ruining my reputation!
“So, what’s wrong then?” Wyn asked.
“Just what happened earlier,” I whispered, not wanting to elaborate.
“Why? What happened?”
I looked at her skeptically. How could she not have heard? My attention pulled from her as my phone buzzed again.
No! People are talking to you! Acknowledging your existence! Scandal! I say, scandal!
I was torn between laughing and scowling more, his jokes wriggled under my skin even over text, but it wasn’t in a bad way.
“How’s Ryland?” Wyn asked, looking up at me from over her soda straw.
“What?”
“Ryland,” she continued, gesturing to my phone. “You’re obviously texting him; you are grinning from ear to ear.”
I shook my head, wiping the smile from my face. I hadn’t even realized it, but I was. This whole thing had become a weird, tangled mess of trouble, irritation, and entertainment.
Jos, I’m sorry. I thought it would help, and I was wrong. Tell me what I can do to make it up to you. Are you okay? His text was followed by a picture he had taken of himself, his face twisted into a pleading puppy-dog face.
I laughed aloud, his face wiping away a bit of my stress.
I think you owe me a movie.
“He’s fine,” I answered her question a little late, snapping my phone shut.
I looked up to Wyn, grinning widely and then stopping short, the smile disappearing. Directly behind her, the blonde-haired man stood, leaning against the window-lined wall.
I must have jumped because Wyn shrieked and dropped her soda. The dark liquid began spreading across the table, threatening another one of Wyn’s vintage band shirts. I grabbed a wad of napkins and began throwing them on the soda.
“What’s up with that, Joclyn? You scared me to death; I thought you saw a ghost!”
I moved my head to look around her, but the man had disappeared.
“I don’t know. I think maybe I’m being stalked.”
“Stalked?” I could hear the disbelief in her voice.
“Yeah, there was this guy in my English class. He just stood there, staring at me. It’s creeping me out.” I knew I sounded crazy.
“First, you’re dating the hottest guy I’ve seen in years, and now you’re being stalked. You’re one lucky girl.”
“Not my boyfriend,” I growled through gritted teeth.
Wyn just sat and smiled at me. Ryland always told me I was fun to tease; I guess he isn’t the only one to think so.
“So you’ve said. Maybe your stalker was just a teacher’s assistant, or even a janitor, who thinks you’re cute,” Wyn offered.
“I don’t know. The way he was staring at me; it was creepy, like he was trying to see inside my soul.”
Wyn raised her eyebrow at me. “See inside your soul?”
“Yeah, that sounded a bit crazy,” I said.
“Ya think?”
My phone buzzed and I picked it up, ignoring Wyn’s over-emphasized eye roll.
How about hamburgers from Sonnies, movie, my room, Saturday night. I found the perfect grade B movie – you’re going to love it! The Evil Dead.
I couldn’t help the smile from creeping back onto my face.
Sounds perfect, but you better throw in ice cream.
“Well, if you see any more soul-eating monsters, let me know and I’ll take care of them for you.”