First Snow

Chapter 6:That Face

Chapter 6: That Face

I walked to school with Alex and Luke. I yawned loudly, still sleepy from waking too early in the morning. I never understood why you get up before the sun does. A flashback of last night came to my head. Luke was really a fun person to be around. I thought about Marla nagging me to become more ‘assertive’ socially. Maybe I’ll try being more assertive around Luke...maybe later. Yeah. Later sounds good.

I sat down in Biology class, my favorite subject. Unfortunately, it was a boring lecture today. Mostly review. The teacher gave us a pop quiz. I don’t want to brag, but it was really easy. Then, we got our textbooks. I thought about how trees it took to create these textbooks and homework. Perhaps I could convince my parents to move to France so we could attend a school that made homework illegal. We would still have textbooks, but at least homework is gone and saves more trees.

The next 2 classes, PE and Math, are the only ones that I share with Marla today. She helps me get through these difficult times with her funny jokes about the teachers and latest gossip. I hate PE! I wasn’t the fastest and the only sport I like is martial arts. I also hated Math. Numbers and I are on a “barely cooperating” relationship status: I need math, but it hates me. Marla also passes these subjects with flying colors, so she can help me survive this year.

Lunch!!! Finally! I ordered a lot of food on my plate. The lunch lady gives me a half-smile and I smiled back. I located Marla sitting next to some other people that I recognized from our classes. I proceeded to walk outside when Marla called me.

“Halley!!! Come sit here!!” I cringed at her volume. Marla can be a megaphone when she wants to be. I couldn’t avoid her as many people stared at me. I hesitantly sat next to a blonde guy and a long haired Indian girl.

“Halley, this is Carson and Amisha. Guys, this is Halley.” Marla gestured to them respectively. She threw me a quick look that said Be more assertive! Carson looked like a person who has broken a lot of hearts. He was muscular, with sun-blond hair and sky blue eyes. He winked at me, which made me feel uncomfortable. Amisha smiled at me kindly. She had long black hair that reached to her waist and a friendly disposition.

“Hey. I think I’ve seen you somewhere before...in my dreams.” Carson leaned into me and winked again. I felt very uncomfortable and blushed. Who uses that line anymore? I looked to Marla to save me.

“Carson! Stop it! You’re scaring her!” Amisha hit Carson on the shoulder and he backed away.

“Hi Halley, I’m sorry for this idiot.” Amisha said. “Apologize to Halley!”

“Sorry...” Carson said. He shrugged it off nonchalantly.

“Hey, Halley!” Alex called. I turned around. She had that look on her face. Uh-oh.

“Marla, Alex is here. She has the devil’s look.” I looked desperately at her for help. She looked helpless as well.

“Uh-oh.” Carson and Amisha looked confused. She pulled them in and explained to her. In the meantime, I prepared for the worst.

“So, is this your boyfriend?” Alex teased.

A blush grew on my face immediately. To make things worse, Carson played along and put an arm around my shoulder.

“Yup, it was love at first sight.” He flashed her a million watt smile. I blushed neon red. I was about to say no when Luke stepped in.

“Come on, Alex. Do you have to tease her every time you see her around school?”

“Since when do you care? Or does someone have a thing for my little sister?” Alex turned to tease him. Uh-oh. Wrong answer. My whole face turned into a giant red tomato. Amisha and Marla watched like this was a really good soap opera. They munched on their pretzel sticks like popcorn. Carson just sat back and watched the show, his arm still around me.

“Wait, what?” He looked a little flustered. “No, I just think that you sometimes maybe are a bit brutal in your teasing. And, I mean, you do it every single time Halley’s not alone. I just think it’s a bit mean, is all.” He’s gonna to die. I considered whether I should prepare a eulogy for him.

“Ummmmm...Alex?” she looked at me. Sigh...I’m doing this to save Luke from Alex... Save Luke from Alex. I stood up and I hugged Alex really tightly. I looked up to her and gave her the cutest baby-ish face I could muster. “Alex...pwease stop teasing me...You’re embarrassing me in front of my friends.” Ha! I’m embarrassing myself even more than she did. I’m in 9th grade! I promised myself not to do the face again...Do it to save Luke.

It worked. She melted and hugged me back even tighter. Can’t breathe, can’t breathe, can’t breathe! I started flailing my arms around. She squeezed me even harder and started moving my body around. Her long dark brown hair closed off any small breathable holes in her hug. I could hear her squeal a little.

“Hey, Alex!” A voice said. Luke. “Come on, let’s go grab some food already.” Thank you! Alex and Luke walked away. I finally caught my breath and I hung out with Marla, Amisha, and Carson who carried on as if that ordeal did not happen. We exchanged phone numbers and went on to our next class.

The rest of the day was boring. I had Geography class with Amisha. She was pretty smart and funny. Then, dismissal time. I said goodbye to Marla, Carson, and Amisha and walked back home alone. When I reached my room, I changed my clothes. I wasn’t really hungry yet.

I looked around my room. It was fairly large and simple. Pale blue walls and minimal furniture. I had a lot of free space in the middle of my room. I laid down on the floor and my mind recalled lunchtime. Luke tried to save me.

Or does someone have a thing for my little sister?

Does he really have a thing for me? Nah. I dismissed that thought. I couldn’t imagine him with a girlfriend. Then, I worked on my tree-wasting, illegal homework.