before dogs had problems

Chapter 2

Nate's "wish" came true later on that day; he didn't have to wait until the next morning to see me again, after all. 

As fate would have it, it turned out that we happened to have lunch with one another, something that I had not noticed up until this point.  And why would I have?  Prior to that morning of officially meeting Nate, he had played no purpose in my life.  Now, however, he was quickly making it very obvious that becoming a part of my life was indeed his goal.

I was standing in the lunch line with an old friend of mine from grade school, a blonde by the name of Cindy, whom I suppose had been my best friend for a lack of a better term of endearment.  She was lovely, all in all - she was more beautiful that she realized, and certainly more loveable than the company she kept, and radiated nothing other than positive energy.  Sometimes, she irked me beyond belief - but, in honesty, it was probably just because I was jealous of her.

She was chirping my ear off about some Junior year boy that she already had developed a serious crush over - despite only having attended this school for less than one full week - and I was only half-listening.  If she noticed, she didn't seem to mind; Cindy would have talked to a brick wall if there were no one else around.  She was one of those people who was utterly smitten with the sound of her own voice.

Halfway through her speech was when I heard Nate's voice floating up from behind me, and I couldn't help but be glad to have heard it; after all, he was saving me from the torture of yet another pointless boy and drama filled story that I couldn't have cared less about.

"Becca!" I turned to see Nate's smile beaming over at me.  I attempted to smile back, but I felt as though it probably looked more like a sneer.  I really wasn't sure what this boy thought he saw in me.

"Becca?"  Cindy repeated under her breath, certainly confused by the new term.  Immediately, she smirked up at me, her eyes widening.

Oh God, I thought.  Of course the first thing Cindy would deduce is that this boy was my latest love interest.  As if.  I didn't have time or energy for any relationship / emotional bullshit.  I shot a glance back at her that immediately shot down any suspicions that she may have had about me having a crush on Nate.  She pouted, slightly disappointed in me, but believed me nonetheless. 

"Hi, Nate," I replied, not wanting him to pay Cindy's pettiness any mind.  "What's up?"  Suddenly I noticed that the pencil was no longer behind his ear.  I smirked.  He had lost it already after all.

"I didn't know we have lunch together!" He beamed even brighter.  "Mind if I wait in line with you?"

I looked down at his hand, one of my eyebrows raised by suspiciously.  "But, you packed a lunch."

He looked down as well, as though he had just noticed the fact himself.  His smile never faded - I was beginning to wonder if he ever frowned. 

"Yo, Sammy," He called over his shoulder at his posse of friends that was clearly - and impatiently - waiting for him a few feet away from the lunch line.  One boy in particular - "Sammy", I assumed - looked up, just in time to see Nate toss his brown sacked lunch to him from across the cafeteria.  "Catch!" Nate hollered, snickering as his friend nearly missed the throw.  "It's all yours now, buddy.  I'm buying lunch today.  Don't wait up, guys!"  His friends didn't argue, and eagerly hurried away to fight over Nate's lunch at a nearby table.

I looked at Nate, incredulously.  "Really?" I asked him in disbelief.

He shrugged, nonchalantly.  "Now can I wait in line with you?"

Instinctively, I rolled my eyes.  Before I could respond, Cindy stepped in - and by the look in her already boy-obsessed eyes, I already knew what she was planning.