BETWEEN YOU TWO AND I

CHAPTER EIGHT

     I ended up eating lunch with Amal. Kendra and Jay were studying at the library. I was so proud that they took time to pull up their grades as well. I mean we all party hard but we had to study hard especially if we wanted to go to college and university.

     Sometimes we held pep talks between us to motivate each other on our goals; its actually very sweet. I know alot of friends break up after high school and I really wish we don't end up like that ourselves. I hope we stick by each other and go on road trips and support each other during our lowest.

    We had also agreed to get matching tattoos. Kendra and Jay already had them. Amal 's korean mom would knock her teeth in if she dared ink her body. My mom on the other hand spotted three tattoos and told me I could get them myself when I graduated; not before.

    'Hey did you post the pic from last night on your insta yet,' Amal asked me sipping her strawberry milk. 'You know, the one we took at Kendra 's mom 's place?'

    'No, not yet,' I answered.

    'Don't post it okay. I look terrible,' she said pulling out the pic for me to see.

    Her hair and makeup was on point. The only thing I saw wrong was her posture by which she posed. 

    'I know you think it looks terrible but I really like it,' I told Amal. Amal was a part-time commercial model so she was used to professional sets and photo retouchs.

    'Some photographer the other day told me that mixed people would soon be the forefront of all magazines because we looked so 'exotic,' she said

   'Ew, that bastard was probably fetishizing the fact that you are blasian,' I said to her as she nodded.

     'Hi,' a third person had joined our table. It was Archer. Long time, no see. Actually it was more like long time, no talk. We saw each other everyday at school but never talked much.

    'Hey guys,' he said unwrapping his sandwich.

    'Wassup,' Amal greeted back. I just looked the other way and opened my bottle of water.

   Archer kicked me under the table. 

   'I'm sorry,' he apologised a big smile on his face. I rolled my eyes at him. He kicked me again. 'I'm really sorry, for everything,' he said again.

  'There is nothing to be sorry for. But why did you lead me on?' I asked truthfully.

  'I'm I missing something here,' Amal asked me. I gave her one of those looks that said I was going to tell her everything later.

   She stood up and left the table all for the two of us.

   'BTW, I heard you were trying out to replace the former school mascot, that's really great,' Archer said to me.

   When Ben Kasey, the former blue-bird (our school mascot) had gotten into a serious injury and I volunteered on his behalf to become the school mascot. Apparently a lot of people thought that was really kind of me and I even got a shoutout during the morning announcements.

   Archer grabbed my hand into his and stroked it gently. His kind eyes met mine and with his amazing deep voice he asked, 'Are your hands always this cold?'

   'Yeah,' I said, 'but you know what the Russian say.'

   He stroked my face gently and asked without breaking contact, 'No, I don't know what the Russian say.'

   'They say that if your hands are always cold, you are going to marry a very handsome man,' I said before quickly regretting my very existance. I loved how I never ceased to embarass myself when given the chance.

      We laughed for a minute at my corny joke. All this time, Archer was still holding on to my hand. 

   He then wrapped his lean arms around me and hugged me.

   'I missed you,' he whispered.

     We spent the rest of the lunch break just catching up and taking quick glances at each other 's lips.

   'You busy tonight,' Archer asked.

   I had a little homework and my room needed cleaning. No, scratch that. My room needed renovation.

   'No, I'm not,' I said.

   'Good, cause I was about to ask you on a date.'