Swim Away (Mermaid)

Chapter Ten

"Ugh! You wouldn't believe who just talked to me!"

I stopped myself from eating my pasta to let her finish, but I guess she actually wanted me to guess, "uh, judging by your anger, Selena."

"No, Holly, she just came up to me and tapped my shoulder." Ariel said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, and?" I waited for her to finish, so I could continue eating.

"She said sorry and then walked away. I don't know what her point or purpose was, so I was just like um, okay? Then I walked away." Ariel said, rolling her eyes. "Go figure. If she's apologizing for what she's done to me, she is not forgiven 'cause that apology totally sucked."

"I don't know what to say." I stared at my food, hoping to devour it already.

"It's okay, you listening is enough," she answered.

"Hey," I heard someone say behind me.

Ariel let out a low squeal. I closed my eyes, hoping he would disappear.

"Lara, I'm not going anywhere," he whispered, reading my mind.

I admit, I did like him, but I didn't want to accept it. I didn't know. I just couldn't. Plus, Slutena wanted him, and this was going to be a bigger problem than usual.

He sat down next to me, and I turned my head away.

I could feel someone's eyes on me. I could feel a wave of negative energy. Which caused me to drop my food. I glanced over at Selena, who was staring at me.

"Ignore her," Noah whispered. I shook my head, it was kind of creepy how he knew what was on my mind.

"Mind reader?" I whispered, without even looking at him. He chuckled and shook his head.

"Just guesses, you're a little predictable," he whispered back.

I turned to him, "I am not!" People actually turned to look at our table and I covered my face. "All this unwanted attention," I pressed my lips together.

I looked over at Ariel who was watching us like we were a movie.

"Why do you care?" Noah asked.

"Because I do." I said, running my hands through my hair. Okay, maybe that wasn't a good reason. I started to think that high school wasn't as bad as middle school, but I felt like any second Selena, or someone else was going to ruin something.

"Whatever I'm fine, okay. I'm totally fine. Uh, I'm gonna go," I got up and threw away my pasta in the trash. My backpack was in my hands as I walked away.

I was afraid I was going to lose Noah before anything even started. Selena had her eyes on him from the beginning.

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

"Lara, wait," Noah said, coming in front of me. "Everything's fine, everything will be okay. What's in the past is in the past." He said as if he knew everything.

"You clearly don't know anything she did," I said, clenching my fists. "Noah, please, leave me alone." I walked away again, and this time Noah stayed in place.

I lied down on the grass near the field. It was a place for people to come and relax. Usually, guys played basketball, so no one really came to the field to play.

I tried to relax until the bell rang. Once the bell rang, I stood up and came face-to-face with Selena.

"What?" I said, running my hands through my hair while sighing.