I don't want to feel

Chapter 3

They were already at our usual table when we got to the lunch room. I bought a slice of pizza with chips, along with a can of Diet Coke and a chocolate chip cookie, while Danny bought chips, a yogurt and a can of Coke.

I could feel how stressed she was, as we sat down at the table.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Adam decided to break the ice. However, instead of starting a conversation involving everyone, he focused on me.

“So Sam, Coach told us you had your interview with Jade. How did it go?”

“It was awkward.” I mumbled.

He knew I wasn’t a big talker so I got really annoyed when he asked for more details.

“Well, they asked me very personal questions or stuff like “Who’s the funniest boy in school?”… and never even mentioned the class or sports…”

Josh chuckled along with him at my answer.

That’s when Danny decided to play along with Adam in the ‘Let’s torture Sam’ game.

“So who did you say was the funniest boy, then?”

I was about to snap at her when I saw her playful smile.

No way would I start an argument with her in front of Josh and she knew it!

Damn!

“Martin Conway.” I admitted.

Feeling totally embarrassed by the silence that followed, I looked down at my plate.

“Martin Conway, funny?” Danny repeated, dumbfounded.

“Well, he’s a clown, always walking strangely with his supposed “SWAG”, doing funny imitations or telling jokes… He’s funny, yeah!”

What’s up with all the questions, today?

I sighed.

 “I’ve heard many things about Martin, but the only positive things involved football. Being funny wasn’t in the list. He’s a heartbreaker, a player, a manwhore… But I’ve never heard anyone describing him as being funny…” Danny’s answer sounded like a warning so I felt the need to clarify things.

“I simply said that I thought he was funny, not that I was going to propose him or anything!"

After that, I decided to focus on my tray and to ignore them until the end of lunch.

I soon noticed, however, that something was up with Josh.

He kept blushing each time he would look at Danny, couldn’t finish his sentences. Besides, he seemed really nervous which was totally out of character for the boy who’d been nicknamed the “English Grasshopper” after scoring five goals for the under eighteen national team against Italy the summer before.

I almost choked up on my food when he suddenly blurted out, “Danny, will you go out with me?”

Fortunately, Danny had been in between mouthfuls, because she just froze. Her eyes then got wide and her mouth opened as if to answer him, but incapable of uttering a single word, she ended up gaping like a fish out of water.

I would have burst out laughing if the scene taking place in front of me hadn’t attracted the attention of the whole lunch room which had become deadly quiet.

Josh had spoken quite loudly and my guess was that people were totally dumbfounded. The faces of most of the girls and boys from the popular clique wore expressions ranging from incomprehension to disgust, and I could almost hear the question on all of their minds right then,