Taking Chances

Chapter 4

"Um, Lacey, why were you sitting with Tyler Mattingly at lunch?" A girl i hardly knew had the nerve to ask me. I think her name was Grace and we had talked maybe once before.

I groaned in frustration. This was like the twelfth person to ask me this question since lunch two periods ago. At first i had been understanding, and kindly answered with "I'm not really sure." Then after about the fifth person, i got annoyed. Now, i just wanted to tell them, "Mind your own dang business!"

"Well, Grace, since you and i are such good friends, i'm going to confide in you and only you. Truth is, Tyler and I are actually long lost cousins that were separated at birth because of a war in our homeland of Romania. Luckily, us, being skilled fighters at the age of two, we were able to fight our way through the craziness to an airport where we proceeded to board a plane to the United States. Unfortunately, that plane crashed into the ocean. We were separated. After treading water for almost a day, i was pulled onto a fishing boat. I thought that Tyler was a goner. Then, what do you know, fifteen years later, on the first day of senior year, we found each other. Oh happy day! So, we had lunch to catch up, obviously." I responded, voice full of sarcasm. I'm not sure why i went off on her like that, but i was glad i did because the look on her face was priceless. Her jaw was practically unhinged, her eyebrows had disappeared into her hairline, and her eyes were unnaturally wide.

I couldn't hold in my laughter anymore, so it burst out. The funniest part was, she seemed to believe me! She obviously didn't speak the language if sarcasm. Still laughing, i glanced up at her face to see a really confused expression. Bad idea! I laughed even harder, so no sound was actually coming from me, just me convulsing from laughter. I probably looked like i was having a seizure of something. Banging my hand on the desk, i took a huge gulp of air, and tried to calm myself down. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth Lacey. In, out, in, out

When I finally regained composure, i looked at her apologetically. Of course the one time I decide to use sarcasm with a stranger, they don't understand my sense of humor. Oh, how i love gullible people.

"Grace, i was kidding. We just wanted to eat lunch together." I admitted. I hoped she wouldn't get mad and offended. Luckily, she just sighed in relief, then giggled a little. Good, at least she thought it was funny.

"Okay, good! You got me on that one." She laughed, shaking her head. "Anyway, i just wanted to say that you and Tyler are really cute together." She smiled.

I smiled back at her. Well, that was nice! I thought she was gonna go all Godzilla on me and claim Tyler as her man. It wouldn't surprise me, especially with all of the death glares i had been getting from girls. I was considering taking up some form of self-defense because i felt scared for my life.

"Well, thanks. That's really nice of you to say." I said to the petite blond. Suddenly, she took the seat next to me,startling me. I wasn't used to girls like her sitting by me. I mean, i had friends that sat by me, just not like girls like Grace. She was one of the ones that sat at Tyler's lunch table. A lot of guys liked her too. I guess you could call her popular.

"Sure! So, how was your summer?" She asked. 

The two of us made small talk until the bell rang, and when we chose partners to write an essay comparing summer events, Grace asked me if i wanted to be with her. I was actually kind of excited because Grace seemed like a really cool girl, and i could see us becoming friends. Like total BFF status. Kidding,but she does seem like a good person.

When class ended, i grabbed my books and walked with Grace out of the classroom.

"So Lacey, maybe we can hang out sometime?" She suggested hopefully. "I'm thinking of having a party this Saturday, you know, so people can loosen up about the fact that school started again. You should come!" She said excitedly. Oh yay, a party. That must be the one that people have been talking about all day. Well, i guess i actually did get invited.