His Scars

4. Big Girl Panties

SAGE

Eric took his usual place next to me and I ignored him as I had taken to doing since our last conversation.

When the door opened, I looked up to see Kane walk in. His eyes met mine briefly before he looked away. They looked really tired. He must have had a long night after he dropped me home.

"I heard Frank dropped you home yesterday," Eric said, pushing my hair behind my ear. I shook my head and my hair went back to its original position. I ignored him.

 "That was nice of him. Really nice."

"Who?" I asked.

"Frank. Frankenstein."

"I don't believe I know who you're talking about." I insisted. I hated that he called Kane that.

"Kane. It was really nice of him to make sure you got home."

I turned to glare at Eric. "Does it surprise you that there are in fact decent people in this world?"

I was quite sure Kane could hear our conversation. I kept my voice low but Eric didn't.

"I don't trust his ugly mug." Eric spat and my hands clenched.

"I don't trust you but here we are, having a pleasant conversation." I turned back to my book.

"I don't like other men approaching my girl." He said through his teeth.

"You finally got yourself a girlfriend? Congratulations."

"We both know I was talking about you." He said taking my hand in his.

I yanked my hand back. "I'm not your girl. Never was. Never will be."

His lips curved into a smug smile. "We'll see about that."

I continued to ignore him after that.

When lunch rolled around, I was eager to get away from Eric.

I sat at my usual table waiting for my best friends Gina and Matt to join me.

They slid into the chairs on the opposite side and Gina leaned forward. "That's the new kid you told me about? The one Tom's talking to?"

I turned in my chair to look for Tom. Sure enough, there he was, sitting three tables away, with his back to us. He was talking to Kane, who didn't look like he was listening. He had his hood on and his focus seemed to be on his food.

I felt a stab of jealousy at the fact that Tom hadn't even stopped by. So far the day had passed with Tom doing his best to avoid me. It was worse when Eric was walking beside me. He would give me a look loaded with hatred. No matter how hard I tried to shake Eric, he seemed stuck to me.

As though sensing our gaze, Kane looked up. I could just make out his eyes. He must have seen the envy in my gaze but he didn't pay any attention to it. He quickly looked away, as though he couldn't meet my eyes. Good. He should feel guilty about stealing my friends.

I stood up with my tray.

"I'm going over," I said. My friends looked at me incredulously.

"Are you serious?" Matt asked, running his fingers through his glossy brown hair. With his chiselled features and that 'boom boom boom' thing he had going on when he took off his shirt, he could have been an Abercrombie model.

Ignoring him, I walked over and set my tray down on the table. Tom froze when I sat down.

"Hi!" I said, my voice sounding too cheerful and high-pitched. Kane just watched me suspiciously and Tom's eyes narrowed in anger.