Chapter 3

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The beeping sound of my alarm clock jolted me awake at 6:00 am.  Slowly, I rose out of bed like a zombie from the grave and began getting dressed.

~~~

Soon enough I was on the bus again.  And with my hair tied into a messy bun, I slid into the space beside Ellie.  So much for small talk,  I thought while my best friend chatted with James sitting in the seat behind us.

I noticed the way their eyes light up whenever they're together. It's as if they are the only ones on the entire bus. I wonder if I'll ever have a connection that strong with someone.

"Are you going to the game tonight, Ellie?" I caught wind of their conversation.

"I don't know, James. Football isn't really my thing... Will you be there?" Ellie looked up at him with her sparkling green eyes.

"I have a friend on the team, so yeah. I'm not gonna have anyone to talk to though," James looked away, reeling her in.

"Well, I might be able to go..." She bashfully averted her eyes and glanced at me, "Will you be there, Casey?"

"Only if you need me to be," I was on the verge of laughing at how drawn-out this flirtatious game was.

Ellie shoved me playfully, eyeing my smirk, "Okay James, I'll go but only if you do too, Casey."

"It's a date," I confirmed, using the language to make them on edge.  Man, I love this.

~~~

6 hours later, I walked around the back of my school to the football field with Ellie.  I could tell she's excited to see James, and I made a mental note to not be too much of a third-wheel; just enough that James knows I'm gonna be protecting her.  I love my best friend too much to let her get hurt by some guy, but I think James might be good for her.  I guess I'll let it play out.

We walked into the seating area to find James.  Ellie waved, and we joined him on the cool, metallic bleachers that are were hard as rocks.

"Hi, Ellie.  I'm glad you could make it,"  James stated.

"Me too, James.  I like spending time with you,"  Ellie responded.  So far it's just harmless small talk, I thought to myself.

 ~~~

Forty-five minutes passed, and both Ellie and James were beginning to break out of their shells.  They were much less shy around each other, and maintaining full conversations.  It was actually kind of enjoyable to see how they could talk about anything and still be so engaged.

Anyhow, since the conversation picked up, and James was still his normal self (he just wants to make Ellie happy), I decided to leave them alone for a bit.  It's not like they've said a word to me anyway.

"Um, bye guys.  I'm gonna go get some snacks," I croaked out.

"Oh, okay... bye Casey," Ellie barely noticed my absence as I sneaked out of the student section.  Yikes, those bleachers are hard.  Even though I used the excuse of snacks to leave, I might get some after all to have something to do other than sit.

Once at the small outdoor snack bar, I ordered a bag of fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth popcorn that warmed my senses with flavor.  While becoming enveloped in the aroma of butter and salt, I crunched each piece of the heavenly treat with a slow, savoring manor.

Suddenly, the bag flew out of my hand.

The world changed to slow motion as I realized I was tripped by some unknown object that I proceed to crumple on top of.  My head spun from the impact of the asphalt, and my crazy mind-reading brain tried to latch onto the nearest person's thoughts.

It settled on the person I fell on, and the contents of their mind flooded into my head.  I read conversation, after conversation, after conversation, in a split-second blur until I came to the most recent one; My mind can barely process it...

It's L.

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