Indecisive Heart

Chapter 3

"Sadie, what are you looking at?! Your ice cream is right in front of you!" I barely heard Rory say that, I was still staring past my ice cream and past her face. I couldn't take my eyes away. Suddenly, Rory stuck her head in my path of sight. "Hello???"

"Sorry, I zoned out."

"There is no way you zoned out long enough to ignore your ice cream for even ten seconds. I had to get a bowl to put it in because you weren't taking it out of my hands! What are you staring at?"

Before I could even come up with a lie, she turned around, following my eyes to the mystery boy.

"Do you want a pretzel that badly?? I didn't think you liked them that much, you never get one!" It took her a minute to pinpoint my target. When she realized, she gasped and turned back around, looking directly into my eyes.

"You found one on your own?! I'm impressed, Sadie. He's not half bad either! Good choice for a first pick!" She gave me a wink.

"Not half bad?? He's an angel." I said quietly as I scooped ice cream into my mouth.

"Hey," she said, digging into her wallet. "Wanna go buy a pretzel for me?" She raised her eyebrows and waved a five dollar bill around. "NO!" I said loudly but quietly at the same time, I didn't want to cause a scene.

"Come onnn, I'm suddenly craving a pretzel, and I think you're craving something from the Pretzel Shop, too." She teased. "Uh uh. I'm not going over there. Look at me!" I said as she took a good look at my appearance.

My hair wasn't styled nice, it was just roaming free. My face was covered in chocolate ice cream, and like I said before, I was underdressed. I was totally underdressed for this situation. There was no way I was going over there like this, I'd find a way to humiliate myself if my appearance wasn't bad enough.

"Ugh, fine," Rory said. "But we're coming back and you're going to buy a pretzel."

"No promises." I said. I don't know if I could bring myself to have a conversation with a boy like that. After we finished our ice cream, we went to as many stores as possible and bought five bags worth of new clothes for me.

On the first day back from break, I wore a new outfit that was a little nicer than what I usually wear to school. It was a little uncomfortable but I think I looked nice. Not that I was dressing for anyone in the school, I just had more clothes now so why not wear them. Plus, maybe I'd go back to the mall later.

I was at my locker, on my way to math class. Math class means only one more period until lunch. I don't have any morning classes with Rory so we don't get to see each other until lunch. She usually just stops by my locker in the morning to say hi and then we see each other at lunch.

As I was walking to class, I passed Robbie and his group of friends. I heard someone say "Glad to see the girl can wear something other than sweatpants," and someone else whistled. Then I heard Robbie's stupid laugh. The laugh that means "You don't belong here. You're an outsider. No one here likes you. Now get out of my sight before I barf all over your new shoes." I hate that laugh. I'm not the only one who receives it, but I get it a lot. I never bothered to tell Rory, I didn't want her worrying. I don't care what he thinks about me. His opinions are not relevant. Nonetheless, I still walked as fast as I could away from them without breaking into a run.

When math class was over, I took the long way to the cafeteria, the way no one goes. This way less people would have to look at my outfit. When I sat down at our table, Rory was already scarfing down a hamburger. "Where were you?" she asked with a mouth full. "Took the long way. Do you have a hoodie?"

"No, why?"

"I'm cold." I lied. I just wanted to cover up this shirt to make it more bearable for people to look at me.