Broken

| 4 | War Paint

I walk into school wearing a long sleeved t-shirt and some adidas pants. Wearing a tight fit t-shirt took a lot out of me today. I feel like everyone is going to be looking at me and judging me. That's how it normally goes when I step out of my comfort zone.

At my locker I am greeted by the one and only Tyler. He stands there with a small grin on his face as he sees what I'm wearing.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask him
as I cross my arms to get a sense of security. My feelings have been off since bowling with him. At one point, I find him to be incredibly weird for trying to be friends with me, but now it's different. It's all so different, that I don't feel I have the right to judge him anymore, and I know that makes no sense, but somehow, it makes perfect sense to me.

"You simply look adorable today." he says, and my face burns from his compliment. I don't think I'll ever get used to compliments like that. I don't think I'll ever get used to compliments at all.

"Aren't you worried what people will think when you're hanging out with the loser of the school?" I ask him, and he looks at me as his face falls. It's a legitimate question. He has to know its a risk for his image to be seen with me. He has to know that.

"No, I don't care. You are not a loser, Grace. I wish you saw that." he says as he shakes his head. I return my attention back to my locker.

"Last night was fun." he comments, and I turn my head to nod and smile at him. Being around Tyler makes me nervous. For whatever reason, he makes me feel all jittery, like I'm constantly on my toes. Then at the same time he makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and that right there scares me half to death.

"I want to do something like that again."

"What, like go bowling, so I can beat you again?" I ask him. He laughs a little before taking a step towards me. Funny how a single step can make my heart feel like it's going to explode.

"Very funny. No, somewhere different for sure. When are you free?" he asks. I feel so happy knowing that someone actually wants to spend time with me, but I mentally curse at myself for letting another person have such an affect on me.

"Anytime except tonight. My friend Aaron has a football game. I'm going to support him." A grin consumes his features, and I give him a weird look as he does.

"Grace, I play football with Aaron."

"Are you serious? I've never even seen you."

"Maybe because you were too busy pretending to watch." My face flushes red as I realize he is 100% correct. I don't ever watch the games. I pretend to for sure, and I stand up and yell when everyone else does, but I never watch. Football just isn't my thing.

"Ok, I see your point. Still, are you playing tonight?"
He nods with a playful grin on his face. I actually do wonder if he can get anymore good looking than he already is.

"Then I'll be there supporting you and Aaron." I say, and he smiles at me with flashing eyes. Those eyes can draw girls in like a light draws in the flies. I'm still wondering if he's going to burn me or not.

"I'll be looking for you." he says, and just like that he's off to class. Doing that player walk that I just can't seem to keep my eyes off of.

I head to my classroom, and everyone is staring at me just like yesterday, only today, their eyes are more curious than judgmental.

I take a seat at my desk and pretend to write stuff down in my notebook. Hopefully they will go back to minding their own business.