GAME ON

Chapter 13 - New kid

When I walked in the door I tried my best to avoid Noah.

"Wait! Julia!" He called out as I walked faster.

There was no way I was going to talk about that dreadful moment he was obsessing taking over.

"Block him." I said to Ethan, who was walking beside me.

He nodded and cut Noah off.

"Dude... Move." I heard Noah say as I escaped.

Thank god I got out of that.
"You owe me one. Noah was mad." Ethan texted me.

"I know... Sorry" I responded.
Football season was over so hopefully I wouldn't have to talk to Noah AT ALL today.

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I walked in the door 5 minutes late hoping that no one would really notice.
But of course I just had to jinx myself.
The whole class turned to me as I plastered a look that mentally read, "You better look away shitheads or I swear to God you'll be dead in the next hour."

"You're late Ms.Rhodes."

Mr.Thompson said sharpening a dull pencil.

"Yeah." I sighed.

"Aren't you gonna give her a tardy or something?" Heather tapped her fingers on her desk, like the evil stepmother in Cinderella.

"No. Just sit in your seat and don't be late again."

I nodded and sat down.

"Is she usually like that?" The boy next to me asked, talking about Heather.

I hadn't seen him before... I couldn't decide whether or not to ask if he was new, or just transferred from a different class. If he wasn't, that would be embarrassing and I'd seem like an asshole who only payed attention to herself.

"Yeah. Definitely."

He nodded, "I'm Alex. I just moved here from California."

Thank the lord, I was afraid I was turning into Heather (a self absorbed bitch).

"Nice. I'm Julia. I've lived in Florida my whole life."

"Hey! You're the girl who was on the football team right?"

"Yeah. You heard about me? You weren't even here when it was football season."

"Well it just ended right? I've been here a few weeks I just didn't enroll in the school yet, because we had a bunch of papers and stuff to deal with. Everyone knew about you though."

Really? I didn't understand why a girl playing a "guys sport" would be such a big deal.

"Cool. Are you trying out for any other sports?" I asked.

"Basketball and soccer. You?"

"Just soccer. I think I'm a little too short to play basketball."

He laughed and then smiled.
I was surprised to see that Mr.Thompson hadn't realized we were talking this whole time. Or he just didn't care.

"Hey do you think maybe you'd want to go out sometime?...  I mean not as like boyfriend and girlfriend, but as friends."

What? I just got out of the weirdest thing that happened in my whole life with a boy and now I have to deal with another? On the other hand, Alex seemed nice and maybe if I gave him a chance, Noah would see that it was a mistake and I've moved on from whatever "that" was.