Nothing's Fine

• 2: Smarmy •

Charlie

By the time the lunch bell rang, I was starving – not to mention grateful from the break from the bombardment of science information coming at me. I hastily bought a BLT sandwich from the cafeteria and headed over to my usual table. Emery and two of our other friends were already seated with their lunches spread out and we awaited the third. I use the term 'our' a little loosely, as they were closer to Emery than to me, but I made it that way.

Brenna and Phoebe were easily excited and always talking, so they got along easy with Emery. They all had history together, which they walked over here from together. Then there was Talia, who sat down a couple moments after me. She was perceptive, kind, and a little quieter than Brenna and Phoebe, which made it easier for me to be around the group.

I tuned out the chatter about Brenna and Phoebe's annoying history assignment and opened the wrapping on my BLT. Though I was excited for my first bite, I barely enjoyed it, nudged by Emery as I swallowed.

"What?" I asked, looking at her.

"Dallas Mitchell is coming this way," she responded. I followed her gaze to see the large hockey player walking towards us. He was one of the most popular guys in school, but he was also known as the classic bad boy. He was doing a "victory lap" otherwise known as repeating the twelfth grade, because he flunked a couple courses last year.

"He's probably going to the lunch line," I brushed it off.

"No, he's looking right at you," Emery insisted. Sure enough, he was. His piercing blue eyes were focused on me as he stalked over here.

Dallas placed a thick hand on the table and ran the other through his shaggy blonde hair, as if it was supposed to be charming or something.

"Hey Charlie," he said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Hi." It came out a little more flatly than I had anticipated.

"How are you?" he asked, leaning towards me. I knew he was bad news and felt very immune to his charm.

"What's it to you?" I answered. He blinked a few times, surprised my response.

"I – uh... I was just... See you." And just like that, Dallas Mitchell walked away just as quickly as he came here. Emery and shared a glance.

"What the hell was that?" Brenna asked, her nose wrinkled up in confusion.

"Yeah, that was really weird," Emery agreed, her eyebrows furrowed as she watched him walk away.

"I have no idea!" I exclaimed.

"He didn't even finish his thought," Talia mused with the same level of confusion as I felt. Phoebe on the hand, was suspiciously quiet as she dug into her rice bowl.

"Maybe he's into you?" Brenna suggested, taking a bite of her salad.

"Doubtful," I scoffed. "He's never spoken to me before..."

"Yeah, but you're pretty, maybe he noticed," Emery said. Her brown eyes danced with amusement. I laughed at that.

"As if. I think lack of nutrition is making you delusional. You should finish your lunch," I teased. Emery stuck her tongue out at me and picked up her pizza. As I took a bite of my sandwich, I glanced over at the rigid and silent Phoebe questioningly. I didn't know what her problem was... I couldn't think of a single reason why Dallas would want to talk to me.

***

After school, I found myself perched up on my window ledge as I did my English poetry readings. It had stopped raining and was just the right temperature for me to enjoy the fresh air.