Mate

One

Picture of Toni at the top/side. Played by Jay Baruchel.

~~~

I kept my head down as I walked into school. Today was Tuesday, my beginning of the school week because I was sick all weekend and through yesterday. I hoped I hadn't missed anything major - sometimes my teachers liked to 'spice things up a bit' and throw a pop quiz in our faces to wake us up on Mondays.

Going to my locker, I put my books away and hung my bag up before grabbing what I needed for my first class. It sucked having math first thing in the morning.

"Hiya!" I jumped, slamming my locker shut behind me and clutching my heart.

"Toni! Don't do that!" I hissed. I may not have many friends, but Toni is more like a brother than anything. I've known him since I was six and I trust him. Of course, everyone has their secrets. He doesn't know everything about me, but he respects when I don't want to tell him something. That's one of the things I like about him.

He laughed. "Sorry! I'm just glad you're back! Yesterday we got a bunch of new students - they're all so beautiful nobody can shut up!"

"Wow, I'm gone for one day and everything seems to happen," I shake my head as I head to class, Toni following behind me.

"Which is exactly why you don't get sick in the middle of the school year, Aspen!" I rolled my eyes.

"I know," I turned to him as we came up in front of my classroom. "Think of it this way, though: if I'd come to school yesterday, they might not have shown up."

Toni opened his mouth to speak, but I shook my head with a smile. "Go to class. You're gonna be late. Again."

Just then, the warning bell rang and his eyes widened before he ran off to class, no doubt getting stopped by multiple teachers telling him to slow down. I walked into class with a small, amused smile.

By lunch, I was flooded with catch-up work and two days worth of homework. At least my last three teachers didn't give out homework. I munched on an apple while turning the page of my literature textbook. I was assigned to read pages 124-135 and write a summary over the drama on those pages to make up for yesterday - they did a graded activity.

"Hey," Toni was poking me with his index repeatedly. "Hey."

I sighed. He wasn't going to give up until I stopped what I was doing and payed attention to him. "What, Toni?"

He grinned. "Hottie; 3 o'clock."

I gave him a confused look. I didn't understand his romance slang. He rolled his eyes, evidently disappointed at me, and turned, secretly pointing behind me. I turned and saw a very attractive boy strutting up to me.

I quickly turned back to what I was doing and concentrated. Toni shook his head.

"Hi," a low, crispy, honey voice made itself known. My heart rate sped like it wanted to win a race that didn't exist.

I glanced up and saw he was staring at me. I looked to Toni for help.

"Hello!" Toni responded with a large smile. My gaze drifted back to the boy standing before me, leaning on the table, and I examined him.

He had feathery brunette hair swept upwards in a quiff, beautiful chocolatey brown eyes, and flawless tan skin. He was tall and I could see his muscles through his tight black t-shirt. My heart melted.

The handsome boy before me, who was definitely more manly than any boy I'd ever seen, shifted his gaze to Toni.

"Who are you?" His eyes narrowed and I swallowed. Oh, no. Has he only come over here to bully us?

Toni's gorgeous smile never faltered. "The name's Toni. This is my friend, Aspen," he introduced.

The boy nodded in acknowledgement at Toni before turning back to me. "Aspen," he stated, an unreadable expression overtaking his features. "That's a beautiful name."

I blushed furiously. I wasn't one for talking to people and making new friends and I didn't plan on starting now, because of one little compliment.

"I'm Julian," He held his hand out to me. I looked down and picked up my fork, continuing to eat.

"She's just shy," Toni covered.

"Is she, now..." Julian sounded disappointed, but I can't imagine why he would be.

The bell rang. Julian pushed himself from the table and left without a goodbye. I sighed and stayed seated, knowing that, if I tried to stand, my knees would buckle and I'd probably fall on my face. Talk about embarrassing.

Toni stood. "You're weird," he stated. I stared at him like he'd grown four extra arms.

"You didn't talk to the super hot guy that obviously found you interesting enough to talk to," he shrugged and picked up he trash before going to walk off.

My jaw dropped. "You say that like I'm uninteresting." He said nothing and kept walking. By now we were some of the only people left in the cafeteria. "I'm interesting enough to talk to!" I shouted after him.

Toni threw his trash away, laughing, and exited the large room. The other students were looking at me. I blushed furiously and quickly gathered my things, threw my trash away, and rushed out of the cafeteria.

~~~

If you find any mistakes, feel free to correct me in the comments. Just please don't be rude or judgmental about it. Thanks!