You don't even want me

8.

[Camille]

"Yeah, it's like the first time I go to the grocery store and then he's there... I mean, he started to talk to me and my Mum and it was just really awesome. I think I'm going to do groceries every time now" Jasmine rattled on the bike, adding a little giggle.

Grace looked at her with wide eyes in surprise, listening interested to her story as I wasn't playing attention at all. I couldn't stop thinking about yesterday: James had come to stand next to me while I was looking at my sister playing soccer.

He'd almost made me jump up by suddenly standing beside me and not even saying anything. I hadn't dared to look at him, doubting if I'd even seen it right and it'd indeed been him. But then he'd said 'Hey', and my heart had started to pound faster because of his presence. We'd talked a bit about soccer and in the end, he'd stayed with me for almost 20 minutes.

I thought it was weird that he had, willingly, wasted almost half an hour of his time on me. I'd never known he was even there if he'd never come to stand next to me. The whole thing was just weird to me.

I was so lost in thoughts that I hadn't even noticed we'd biked the whole way to school; Grace and Jasmine had continued the conversation about him with enthusiasm.

We parked our bikes and locked them, not wasting any time before walking to school. "Y'all got money for the fries, right?" Grace asked Jasmine and me with concern; she was caring like that. I'd always seen her as kind of the 'mother' in our friend group.

I'd seen a poster of it last week: today, they were going to sell fries in the cafetaria for lunch and you had to bring your own money for that. Jasmine and I both nodded confirmingly to our friend's question.

I suddenly realised I was still wearing my scarf, I usually put it away in the bags on Jasmine's bike.

"Oh, I forgot to put away my scarf. You guys can go, I'll come. Jazz, I can put it in your bags, right?" I quickly asked and after she'd nodded, I turned around and rushed back to our bikes. I got there soon and took off my scarf, putting it, like I'd said, in Jasmine's bags.

Without looking back I started walking towards the playground again, my legs taking big steps at a quick pace.

"Millie!" I suddenly heard someone shout, and the second I looked around and met James's gaze, I knew I couldn't do anything but wait for him.

He rushed to get to me, leaving his friends, who were still locking their bikes and stared after him, showing no surprise at all. It was probably normal for him to walk to school with a girl.

"Hey" he said breathily when he got to me, a happy smile present on his beautiful face.

I returned a shy version of his smile and nervously grabbed the straps of my backpack, my fingers fiddling with them as it slowly got hotter. Why did he have to be so nice that he wouldn't let me walk alone? He looked around with his lips slightly parted and then looked at me, his brown eyes catching me off guard for a second.

"Everyone's talking about the fries this noon" he mumbled, chuckling even though there was nothing funny. "Are you going to get some?" I swallowed and nodded, feeling his eyes on me while I was looking straight ahead.

"Yeah... You don't get fries every day" I stated quietly, sending him short side-glances. He chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

I widened my eyes when his arm brushed mine, sending shivers down my spine. I quickly recoiled my arm and felt my cheeks turn a bit red while my whole body tingled.

We got to the playground and my eyes found my friends; Jasmine and Grace were looking in my direction. Suddenly, I was scared that Jasmine would be mad at me for walking with him since she was freaking out about him. Well, I was too, but in my head and I thought nobody knew. Or I hoped, at least.