Sweater Weather

Ophelia

When I went to school the next day, Jay was at his locker talking to some girl. I didn't know who it was until I reached his locker. Jay was beaming. He smiles but most of the time his smile isn't that bright. They seemed to be laughing and having a good time.

"Hey, Lia! This is Layla, the girl at the park."

"Oh, hey!" I said to her. She smiled and gave me a friendly wave.

"What were you guys laughing about?"

"Lays was showing me this one video about this guy who was stuck in a sinking canoe and he was asking his friend Sara to help him. It was the funniest thing ever!" Jay said.

Oh, so they're on a nickname basis already. What's so funny about someone in a sinking canoe? I decided to pretend that it was funny.

I started to laugh, "That does seem really funny." I lied.

"I know right? It's even funnier if you actually see the video." Layla said. At first I thought she wasn't going to say anything.
"She and I spent all of last night talking and getting to know each other. At first it was awkward but then we warmed up to each other." I could see that. They seemed pretty friendly with each other.

The bell rang and I said, "It was nice meeting you officially, Layla. I have to go to class but I'll see you guys later."

I expected all three of us to go our separate ways but Jay and Layla were going in the same direction. I assumed they had the same class or they were just heading in the same direction. I tried not to let it bother me too much and went to my history class.

Theia sat down next to me and asked, "Need to talk to someone?" I nodded my head.

"We'll talk at lunch." The bell rang which meant class had started.

"Alright, I hope you guys studied for the test over the weekend. Everyone get out a pencil and put everything else away." Mrs. Prezly said.

Shoot! I totally forgot that we had a test today! I had studied last week but the information wasn't fresh in my mind anymore. I probably should have studied on the weekend. Thankfully, my brain cooperated with me and I was able to answer all the test questions. The rest of the day was kind of slow. I was so relieved when my favorite time came around. Lunch! Theia waited for me outside of my physics class. Usually Jay would be there too.

"Where's Jay?" I asked. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe he's at our lunch table already."

We walked to the lunch room and sat at our usual table. Jay wasn't there. I scanned the lunch room for him and saw him enter with Layla. Her arm was linked around his arm. Theia waved them over but I guess they didn't notice because they went to a different table that was all the way across the lunch room.

"Who's she?" Theia asked me.

"When we were at the park, this girl came up to us to ask Jay for his number for her friend, Layla." I explained.

"Why didn't she just do it herself?"

"I guess she was shy or scared."

"Or she's just a chicken." Theia said crossing her arms, exasperated.

"That's rude, I wouldn't call her that. Layla seems pretty nice."

She rolled her eyes. "He's only known her for a day and he's already sitting with her friends at lunch?"

"He's actually known her for almost two days. After he got home, he called Layla and they talked."

"Whatever. You know what I mean."