Finding Your Aladdin

Pasta Is The New Lipstick

At lunchtime I sit at the female version of Ju's table. Chelsea and Liv sit next to me. We are soon joined by Melissa and her best friend Naomi.

"Who's seen the new guy?" Melissa asks.

I nonchalantly take a sip from my chocolate milkshake. Looking across the lunch hall, I try to find Bambi, but he seems to have vanished.

Phew.

"Jas has seen him!"

"Chelsea!" I growl.

"Jas," says Melissa, "You've seen Peter? And you didn't tell me?!"

"Hold on, who's Peter?" I ask, confused.

"Him," she says and points to a brown haired kid.

"Wait," I say, "isn't that a the other new guy? And isn't he gay?"

As if he heard my words, Peter turns around with an annoyed look on his face to face our table and I can immediately see why Melissa is attracted to him.

His defined cheekbones, sand coloured surfer-boy hair and blue eyes along with his toned body make one hell of a combo.

"Oh crap," says Liv with a faint look of worry on her face, "I think he heard you."

"No shît, Sherlock," snaps Melissa, looking panicked.

"And for the record, Jas, he's so not gay," she snorts.

Surfer-boy starts walking towards our table and that's when I know he's heard me.

"Oh God," I wail, "The end is near, I can feel it! Quick, Chelsea! Hide me!"

I can feel my heart rate quicken and my palms go all sweaty.

"Okay!" says Chelsea with a panicked expression on her face.

The adrenaline kicks in, she reached out, grabs the back of my hair and-

Slams my face into the pasta.

Before I can even say anything I hear Melissa gasp and then,

"Erm, excuse me?"

I can tell that the voice is directed at me because I wait for a good thirty seconds but no one replies.

"Yes?" I say, trying to sound perfectly casual, but because my face is making out with my lunch, it comes out like

"Mwshhh?"

I then lift my head up and meet Peter's eyes, but, for once, I'm not lost in them.

Which is weird.

Because I usually always get lost in people's eyes.

But not today.

"Did you want anything?"

"Yeah, they've run out of napkins in the canteen and the cook said that you'd taken a whole bunch? Well she said the girl with the short brown hair and since no one else has short brown hair, I thought it must be you."

"Yeah, so?"

"I thought it would be quite obvious, but I can see it's not."

He pauses.

I wait.

"Give me a napkin."

"Oh right you could've just said, you know."

He rolls his eyes, takes the napkin and walks away and I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh and you've got pasta all over you face," he calls out.

I gasp in horror and check my face on my phone. I can't believe that I forgot about the pasta!

My face is covered in bits of white and sweet corn and, to top it off, the red sauce has gone all around my lips like Miranda Sings.

I have no comebacks.

This is bad.

And then it hits me.

"Pasta is the new lipstick," I say with as much dignity as possible before realising what an idiot I sound like.

I turn around and look at Chelsea with what's can only hope is a thunderous face.

"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You."

She better be prepared.