The Art of Stealing Hearts (On Hold)

11. The one with spaghetti shirts

~|Chapter Eleven|~
•The one with Spaghetti Shirts•

"Joey?"

      As my punishment for spraying perfume on Tyler, Mary was leaving us to babysit the triplets, Wes, Milo and Hunter for the night while the rest of the family went out. It wasn't that big a torture for me as it seemed to be for Tyler. The entire day, he kept glaring at me when he passed me in the corridors.

"Joey!" Jake kicked my chair with his foot. He was seated right behind me; he was in my Calculus class.

I would have turned around to glare at him, but our teacher's eyes were burning into mine. "I'm sorry, what did you ask?"

Luckily, the bell rang and students started piling out of the class. The teacher gave me a glance, but without saying anything, turned away.

"Joey, what's up with you?" Jake asked as he walked next to me. "Did you leave your brain at home?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I was just a little lost."

"A little? Try a lot." Jake said. "Thank God it's time for lunch. I'm starving. Hey, Joey, why don't you come and sit with us for lunch?"

I pulled open my locker and put my books inside. Cat wasn't in school today, so I didn't really know if I should sit with her friends or not. I mean, even though I sat with Helen, Paul and the others, Cat was our only common link. But then, Jake sat with Tyler.

"Joey, I promise I won't let Tyler get into another fight with you." When I looked at him in disbelief, he grinned. "Come on, I'll protect you. And then, your favourite guy will be there."

"And who's that?" I asked.

"Aaron," He said simply. "I know you guys hit it off. If I didn't know better, I would have thought you guys were into each other."

"Is somebody jealous?" I pinched Jake's cheeks.

"Be real," he shook off my hands. "Oh, before I forget, thanks for lending me your book." He handed me my Calculus book.

"When did I give this to you?" I stuffed it in my bag. "I don't remember."

"Oh that's right. I stole it to copy the homework." Jake answered.

"You know you could have asked, Jake. I would have lent it to you."

"I'll try to remember that next time. Now come on, let's get something to eat." He causally threw an arm over by shoulders and led me to his table.

"What is this, Joey?" Aaron furrowed his eyebrows at me. "A new alliance? Did you forget about me already?"

I mock punched his shoulder. "What's wrong with you guys?" My eyes swept around the table, and I saw Dylan and Drew were already there, chatting to Kyle. There were two other guys I didn't know, but I was pretty sure I had seen them with Tyler. His teammates then?

"Joey, what are you doing here?" Dylan asked in surprise when he saw me. "Run away real quick before Tyler comes."

I gave him 'the look.' "Seriously, Dylan?" I was not afraid of Tyler, he was one of the people you would just like to forget existed.