Notice Me

2

"Nice to meet you, my man." Cain said. "Where you from?"

"I'm from here. I used to go to Hawkings, but... I don't anymore." I chose my words carefully, not knowing how much to spill to this stranger.

Cain furrowed his eyebrows as he took in my words, before letting out a chuckle. "Yeah... I figured that. I'd like to tell you this school is great or whatever we're supposed to tell the new kids, but honestly... it sucks here. Hawkings though, I heard that place sucks even more."

"It was alright." I muttered. I didn't really want to talk about Hawkings. I didn't want to remember Hawkings, because if I remembered Hawkings, then I remembered Henry. And then, I start to fucking hurt again.

Luckily, I didn't have to expand any further, because the teacher began talking. And then my luck changed back, because the entire class we were supposed to work with a partner on an assignment, and our partners were the people sitting next to us, which was the kid who had questions.

But as it turns out, Cain wasn't that bad. He didn't seem to act like the guys I had expected from this school. You know, the football players who have never been told no a single day in their lives. The guy who reeks of entitlement and believes the world is owed to him just simply because that's what they've been taught their whole lives. I hate those guys. I fucking hate them.

"Come on." Cain said as the bell rang. "I'll introduce you to my group."

I debated turning him down, and telling him that I wasn't interested, but I didn't think Cain would take no for an answer. So I climbed out of my chair and walked with him out of the classroom.

"So, my friends are pretty great. The eight of us have been pretty much best friends since we were in middle school." Cain started telling me as we entered into the hallway. "Once Noah and Olivia got together, it was pretty much a done deal."

I nodded my head at his words, keeping my eyes straight ahead as we walked down the hall. I kept my eyes straight ahead so I could look in the eyes of any motherfucker who felt like trying me.

"They've been dating for fucking ever, man. I bet they'll get married those two. It's actually quite sickening, they way they're all over each other if you're not used to it." Cain continued.

"Nah. I know what you mean. I have two friends like that, my best friend O and his girl Cassidy." I told him. They were just the same, but I couldn't blame them. O was head over heels in love with that girl. I was happy for him. She really helped after... well, you know.

"Then we have Tyler, Benji and Jax. They play on the football team together. They're, well I don't want to say they're typical jocks, but they're typical jocks. They're decent guys though." Cain said.

"Great." No, not great. They sound exactly like the type of guys that I was thinking about earlier. Entitled assholes.

"Then there's Trinity, who is Olivia's best friend. Her and Tyler have been off and on again for years. So, don't be surprised if they are either flirting or totally ignoring each other. That's just them." Cain shared as we pushed through the cafeteria doors.

I figured I should be keeping some mental notes about it his friends, but I didn't really care. I didn't need anymore real friends, because I already had three best friends.

Shit. Two best friends, now.

"And then there's Seren." I turned my head and looked towards Cain when I heard his words, because he almost sounded like a different person. His voice had softened when he said her name. His eyes had softened too. "She's... well, you'll see. Everyone see's her. I swear sometimes a room can be jam packed with people, and the moment she walks in, all eyes are on her. She's fun too, bit of a drinker. One time we hid in a bush together after the cops busted this party we were at, she was so wasted she forgot what we were doing."

Cain seemed a million miles away in thought, as he talked about her. It was pretty clear to see he had a crush on her. She sounded like one of the many popular girls that were at Hawkings. They're all the same. The loud party girls who steal the attention of everyone.

Another type of person that I hated. They were just so annoying.

"Hey guys." Cain said as we reached the large group of teenagers, all sat around two tables that were pushed together. It was easy to tell who each group of people was, from Cain's descriptions. "This is Zane. He's new, but he's cool as fuck."

There was a blonde girl who was sitting on one of the guys, her pale arms wrapped around his neck.

"Hi!" The girl squealed out. "I'm Olivia."

"Noah." The guy said, nodding his head.

The three guys were huddled together, and all of them turned their heads to look at us after hearing Cain's words. They all had on those ridiculous letterman jackets, and they all looked like douchebags.

"Tyler. Nice to meet you, man." The one with blonde hair raised his hand up to fist bump mine.

"Benji." The dark haired one flicked his hand in a short wave.

"Jax. How you liking it so far, bro?" The other one said, bringing his hand towards mine.

"It's alright." I shook it, noticing the way he was looking at me. He was looking at me like he was trying to figure out how hard I was about to make his life.

Only two girls were left. One of them had short red hair, and she was talking animatedly to a girl who long brown hair, who had her back towards me. The way the redhead was talking, so loudly and unaware of anyone else in the group, made me think she was Seren. The way the other girl was listening attentively to the redhead, not interrupting or diverting her attention to anything else, well it didn't fit with what Cain was describing at all.

"Girls. This is Zane." Cain said to the two, when they had failed to introduce themselves.

The redhead stopped mid sentence. She seemed to be annoyed at the interruption, but her expression changed when she saw me. She pushed her hair behind her ear, biting down on her lip as she ran her eyes over me.

"Hey. Where the hell did you come from? I would have noticed you around school before." The redhead purred. She was obviously attempting to make her voice sound sultry.

I glanced over at Cain, wondering how awkward he was going to be now that the girl who he had a crush on was clearly flirting with me. To my surprise, he didn't seemed phased in the slightest.

"He's new." Cain simply said.

"Oh. Well I'm Trinity." The girl said, propping her elbow on the table and resting her head on her hand.

Huh. I didn't see that coming.

"And this is Seren." Cain said, noticing that the dark haired girl still hadn't turned towards us. It was odd that she hadn't. Almost everyone else's attention was focused on me, yet she was still staring in the other direction. Nothing that Cain had told me about her made sense. I didn't see her like he said I would. I wouldn't even notice her.

But then... she turned to look at me. So fleetingly, she glanced in my direction before turning back to face Trinity. A smile on her lips, but a smile that wasn't real in the slightest. A smile that barely showed on her lips. Her perfect lips. I don't think I've ever seen a pair of lips that look like hers. Her eyes were as green as the trees in the middle of July. Her hair fell down her body, hugging to the curves that I could see even though she was sitting down.

I understood instantly what Cain had was saying. I had gotten it wrong, not him. His description was perfect. I would see her even in a crowd of thousands of people.

She didn't steal my attention,  she owned my attention. I gave it to her willingly.