Lions, Tigers, and Bears

Sleep to Dream

Day 1 was over.  I'm not sure if I made any friends but I did talk to people and I did meet Ryan, the boy with the thoughtful eyes and a smile that makes you weak at the knees.  Things had been fairly simple the next few days, I had spent my free time at school talking to Brendon who was a little weird but I liked him overall.  

After school I had to wait for my brother to pick me up so I waited in the library this time because it was getting to be very hot out.  There were plenty of kids in the library after school, all the tables had been occupied by groups except for one near the back that had one girl seated by herself.  Her hair was black with purple streaks and straight as an arrow.  She was wearing all black but because of her focus on the paper she was looking down upon, I couldn't see her face.  I wandered over to her table.

"Can I sit here?" I asked her.

"Yeah!" She said in a soft voice looking up at me.  Her eyes were surrounded by thick lines of eyeliner, but other than that her face was very clean and pretty.  I took a seat and looked through my backpack for something to keep me entertained for the next half hour.  I finished my homework in class, I didn't have a fun phone, and there were no snacks in my bag.  I guess I could grab a book to glance at, I am in the library.  I looked at the girl in front of me and she was drawing in a notebook.

"That's really good." I said looking at her sketch of flowers.

"Oh haha it's nothing but thanks." She said with red creeping up on her cheeks.

"You must take a lot of art classes."

"Only when I have time to spare. I'm Eleanor, but I go by Nora." She said tucking some of her hair behind her ears.

"I'm June, i'm kinda new here."

"Kind of? Everyone knows you're new here.  You stick out about the same as I do." She said laughing.

"Really? I feel invisible here."

"You're the 'simple farm girl' everyone is talking about.  It's not a bad thing, people are just curious and most people here are from here so we're all used to living in the city.  But you have that lost innocent vibe to you, be careful of the sharks here."

"I will watch out for that!" I said laughing.  Nora and I talked about where I was from and what things there are to do in Vegas.  She made me a list of bands I have to listen to, most of them I had never heard of before, but a few of them I did in fact know.

"Yes I have heard of Blink 182 and Fall Out Boy, I didn't live under a rock hahaha!  Didn't spend too much time listening to them because my father didn't like their music." I said putting the list in my back pack.

"Your parents would despise me then!" Nora said.  I laughed again and saw my brother had just texted me.

"My ride is here, but i'll see you around!" I told her before grabbing my back pack and heading home.  The next day at school I was at my locker grabbing my books for the next couple classes when I felt a tap on my shoulder.  I turned around to see Nora standing there.

"Hey!" I said putting the books in the back pack and closing my locker.

"Hey I was just walking by and saw you and thought i'd say hi!" 

"What class are you headed to next?"

"Chemistry," she rolled her eyes, "What about you?"

"I'm heading to American Government and then lunch.  You should try to find me at lunch!" I told her.  She looked a little surprised.

"Really? Yeah okay I will. See you later!" She said and buzzed off to her next class.  At lunch I sat outside in the same spot I had been sitting in.  Brendon and Ryan soon came over, blondie trailing behind them.

"Hey Kansas!" Brendon said to me as he sat down.

"Hey June." Ryan said rolling his eyes at Brendon's comment.

"Hey haha, wow it's a nice day outside." I said admiring the gentle breeze.  The boys grunted in agreement.

"Were you talking to that emo girl today?" Angie said taking her seat and resting her head on Ryan's shoulder.  She didn't deserve him, but I had to stay calm.

"What's emo?" I asked.  Angie scoffed.

"That freak who has bad taste in fashion and wears way too much eyeliner."

"Oh, Nora? She's nice." I said smiling.

"She's weird.  If you want to get anywhere in this school, stop talking to her.  She has no friends for a reason, and I honestly think she likes it that way.  Right, guys?" She said turning to Brendon and Ryan.  Brendon shrugged while Ryan mumbled "don't really know her" quietly.

"She's really nice and she's very talented with a pencil." I said to Angie.  I already hated Angie and already liked Nora, but what Angie said about Nora just made me want to be friends with Nora ten times more.

"Listen to my advice, or don't. Whatever.  I have to go find Claire, come on baby." She said to Ryan.

"I'm eating my lunch." He said.

"Ryan." She said giving him a look.  He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"See you guys later..." Ryan said picking up his lunch and following Angie.

"I don't want to sound rude, and i'm probably way out of line, but why are they even together?" I asked Brendon.

"Honestly I have no idea anymore.  I mean in the beginning they were okay, but she just gets more and more controlling.  Ryan's not the smartest guy when it comes to chicks too, he tries to find the best in people, even when it's a controlling blonde bimbo who won't let him breathe his own air. Don't tell him I said that." Brendon said to me.  I pretended to lock my lips with a key.

"So you're hanging out with Nora now?" He asked, avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah, I like her.  She's nice and funny and just a good person to be around, so i'm not going to stop hanging out with her." I said to him.

"Oh no! It's not like that.  I actually have a confession." He said.

"What is it?"

"I've totally had a crush on Nora since freshman year."

"Brendon!!!!" I said smiling huge, "Ask her out!"

"She would not say yes to someone like me.  I mean I've seen the guys she's into.  My pants aren't tight enough, my hair isn't styled all cool, and I'm not covered in tattoos."

"I'll talk to her for you." I told him.

"You would do that?! You're amazing, thank you.  I owe you one."  He said in relief.

"No problem.  I have a confession too." I said.

"You like Ryan?" He said with a smirk.  I turned red.

"How'd you know?"

"You guys have been giving each other the flirty eyes, i'm not blind.  He talks about you a lot too, he always says that we should invite you to do something outside of class."

"Well maybe you guys should invite me somewhere." I said blushing.

"Okay we'll hang out this weekend.  Problem is, Angie will be there." 

"I really don't like that girl." I said rolling my eyes.  The bell rang to signal that lunch was over, and I was sad that Nora didn't find me.  Brendon and I both stood up and collected our things.

"We'll get rid of her," Brendon said heading off, "Maybe we'll drop a house on her!"