Spring's Unexpected Love

Chapter 5 (Asher)

I could feel Ximena staring at me as I watched Luka walk off with her friends. From the minute he had asked her friends for help in figuring out what to get her as a present for being a "good friend" I knew Luka was up to something. His intentions couldn't be more obvious, but perhaps that was because I had overheard the conversation between him and Ximena less than half an hour ago.

I turned to look at Ximena; our eyes met and she flinched as if she'd been caught doing something bad- in this case, staring at me.

She pulled some of her straight, dark hair around her face, probably to hide the fact that it was slightly red from embarrassment. "So... what are you listening to?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Nothing. If I was listening to something, I wouldn't be able to hear your question in the first place, so it was kinda stupid to ask."

"S-sorry!" She stammered. I instantly felt bad; why did that come out sounding meaner than I wanted?

"It's fine!" I sighed, making it seem like I was annoyed and believed the exact opposite. But it was fine, so why had I said it like that?

"Sorry!" Ximena apologized again, staring at the ground like it was the most fascinating thing in the entire world.

I groaned, pulling on my bangs in frustration. I cursed under my breath, wishing Luka would hurry up and come back already. I didn't know what he had expected, leaving me alone with Ximena, when I had the worst social skills ever. Heck, a tree probably had better social skills than me. I wasn't even sure why I wanted to try socializing with Ximena; if it were anyone else, I'd just ignore them and play my music loudly, pretending they didn't exist.

"It must be awkward for you with just us two here- I mean it is for me," Ximena said, kicking at the overgrown grass creeping along the sides of the path. "We usually cross paths because we're both friends with Luka, so I'm pretty used to seeing you around. But it's barely ever been just the two of us."

"Yeah?" I said, not exactly sure what else to say.

"Yeah, maybe the last time was like a couple of months ago when Luka invited me to come to the movie theater with you guys. Everyone else went to get some snacks but Luka promised to share some with me so I waited on the side and you said you weren't hungry so you were there too and it was just the two of us. You probably don't remember and you were listening to music anyways and..." she stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening. "Oh gosh, I'm rambling, sorry."

"You sure talk a lot," I muttered before quickly adding, "Not that it's a bad thing or anything..." I was on a roll with my harsh comments.

She started to crack her knuckles, her hands moving in fast, rapid movements, "I usually don't talk so much it's just that it's kinda awkward with just the two of us and... I think I said that already..."

"Yeah, you did," I sighed, digging in my pockets for my phone. I opened up my playlist and selected the song on the top. As the music filled my ears, I closed my eyes hoping to make it obvious that I wasn't planning on talking to her any second longer. I knew it was rude but I couldn't stand how awkward it was and didn't want to say anything I'd regret. I guess my people skills still needed a little bit of work.

Thankfully Luka came after around five minutes, halfway through my third song. I paused it and slid off my headphones. "Finally," I said, making sure not to look anywhere in Ximena's general direction. "Class is starting soon, so let's go." I began walking back toward the school building; Luka caught up after saying goodbye to Ximena and her friends.

"You seem to be in a rush," he observed as we walked side by side.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and shrugged, "I just don't want to get to class late."

It was obvious Luka knew I was lying, but he didn't press any further. I liked that about him; he wasn't overly nosy and never forced me to talk when I didn't want to. He understood I liked to keep things to myself. I wished there were more people like that in the world.

"So, what do you think of her?" Luka suddenly asked as we made it back inside the school.

"Who? Ximena?" I said, although I already knew he who he was referring to.

He nodded, "Yeah."

I shrugged, "I don't know. She seems nice, but I didn't really talk to her," I answered honestly. "You guys have been friends for a while, right?"

"Yeah, since middle school," he replied with a chuckle. "Ximena and I used to be inseparable back then."

"And now?" I asked, suddenly curious about their current relationship.

Luka shrugged, "We're still best friends. But I get the feeling our other friends don't really like each other. So now it's a bit harder to hang out."

"I don't like Noah and Hunter either," I told him.

"Yeah, I know they're a bit... rough," Luka admitted with a sigh, "But they were really cool people when I first met them in ninth grade."

"Popularity got to them," I said, "And I get the feeling they don't like me very much."

Luka grinned, "When have you ever let something like that bother you?"

"True," I agreed.

"I swear, if you talked with everyone else as much as you talk with me, then more people would like you," he said, elbowing me hard in the ribs.

I elbowed him back, "Nah, too much of a hassle." I didn't like socializing any more than I had to. It didn't help that others already had a certain opinion about me anyway.

"If only I had your nonchalant attitude," he sighed, "You don't give a damn about what other people say about you, but me? I'm a people pleaser, always caring about what others think of me."

That's what Luka misunderstood about me- what everyone did. I did care; sometimes I cared too much. I just wasn't good at expressing myself and had been hurt way too many times to want to open up. Hiding my emotions was easier, and pretending like I didn't care protected me from getting hurt again.

But I couldn't say any of this to Luka. He sort of knew about my situation, and I would forever be grateful for his friendship but I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him more about myself- I didn't want him to see me differently. If only he knew that what he was mistaking for nonchalance was just me hiding the fact that I was as awkward as hell.

If Ximena actually liked me, I wondered what she saw in me.