Dragon Guard
Chapter 2
Part 2
Ben walked from his normal lunch
spot to fifth period PE, a smile on his lips. His friends had resumed their
teasing from break, but it had been good-natured, so he didn't mind. And each
got a turn in getting picked on about a girl, so it was all fair. He supposed
he liked Melissa well enough, and they'd probably be going out again, as soon
as she pushed the topic enough for him to ask her. But there was something
about the new girl. He'd never felt this way about Melissa, and he hadn't even
talked to Andi yet. She'd been in his thoughts nonstop since break. He'd hardly
even thought about the zombies.
Whoa! He stopped in his tracks.
What was stranger? The fact that he'd seen what he assumed were real zombies,
or that a few hours later it hardly phased him? Shouldn't something like that
consume his thoughts? Give him walking nightmares? But it didn't bother him at
all.
As if on cue, he looked to his
left and saw Andi by herself at a drinking fountain. It was the perfect
opportunity. With the distraction of everyone heading to class, no one would
notice him talking to her. And her mom did tell him to say hi, right?
Who was he kidding? He couldn't
do that. What would he say? Yes, he'd dated Melissa last year, but the guys
were right. If she hadn't initiated it all, basically insisted, they'd have
never gone out. And they'd been flirting on and off since elementary school.
How would he start something with a girl he didn't even know?
She finished her drink and
turned towards him. He should go, continue on to the locker room for PE, but
his feet wouldn't move. What was it about this girl? He needed to at least look
somewhere else so she didn't think he was some creepy stalker.
Too late. Her eyes caught his,
and she smiled, ducked her head, and looked up again. C'mon, do it. There would
never be a better opportunity. He'd faced zombies that morning. This whole day
was probably a dream anyway, right? Go up to her. Say hi.
His legs obeyed even as him mind
screamed, "No!" What was he doing? He couldn't think of anything to
say. Wasn't his first remark supposed to be witty or funny or something? This
could only end with him looking dumb.
Thankfully, or maybe
unfortunately, she didn't run away. Her smile brightened and her cheeks
blushed, but she held eye contact. "Hi," he said when he was close
enough. "My name's Ben." Somehow his voice came out comprehensible.
"Hi, I'm Andi. Well, really
Alexandria, but
I go by Andi."
"Cool. First day,
huh?" What? Lead with that? Stupid-stupid-stupid.
"Yeah. Seems like a good
school. People have been really great so far."
"Nice. Where are you off to
next?" Better.
"Algebra with Mr. Simms. Do
you have him?"
"Yeah. First period. Always
do your homework and you'll be fine."
"You can pretty much say
that for any class, though, right?" she said with a laugh.
"He gets mean when you
don't do it. Way more than other teachers. I'm still stinging from this
morning."
"But I bet it motivates you
to finish your assignments for the rest of the week." A half-smile
lingered on her lips.
"Yeah, you're probably
right."
"So there you go." She
gave him a playful nudge on the arm, and a spark shot between them. Not like a
static electricity shock, but something deeper, something he couldn't explain.
She felt it, too, because her eyes went wide.
"Can I eat lunch with you
tomorrow?" he asked, the question coming out all at once. "I mean,
unless you already have someone to sit with. Or something." Not only did
he have no clue where that came from, but it sounded way too lame for her to
accept.
"Yeah, that sounds
great."
Wait, had he heard her right?
She said yes? Yeah, she did. "Meet me here and we'll pick a spot."
Did she notice he had a hard time getting it out without hyperventilating?
Her slight smile said yes, but
instead of commenting, she said, "Sounds good. I'll be here."
"Awesome."
"We better get to class.
You already skipped homework today, so you probably don't want to get a tardy,
too."
"I'll be fine. I have PE.
But you shouldn't be late to Simms's class. I'll see you tomorrow, if not later
today."
"Sounds great. Thanks for
everything."
She smiled, waved, and headed
towards the math building. He watched for a second, and then turned towards the
locker rooms. As he did, he gave a start. Across the way stood Melissa, dressed
head to toe in her signature pink, staring at him with a big frown on her face.
He contemplated waving, but that might make things worse. Instead he ducked his
head and pretended he hadn't seen her. It wouldn't work, but at least it would
keep him out of a confrontation for the moment. As he walked into the locker
room, it came to him that he didn't care if he smoothed things over with
Melissa. There was something special about Andi Thomas.
