Once Upon a Cliché

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 ~

          Lunch! Finally! After the first three periods of high school, I’d already decided I liked summer vacation a lot better. Honestly, high school wasn’t much different from our junior high besides the different teachers, smaller lockers, more activities, and more homework. Blech.

          That’s just life for you, I guess.

          I was still at my locker, trying to figure out how to open the darn thing, when I heard Nolan again.

          “Hey!” He was running in my direction, waving a hand with his usual million-watt grin.

          I was smiling slightly, but that smile went away just a bit when I noticed that the look he was giving was different—not the usual easygoing grin, but something else.

          Then he passed by me, and I nearly blushed when I realized he wasn’t saying hi to me at all.

          “Audrey Burns, are you trying to ignore me?”

          I couldn’t help but glance over to them. There, just a few lockers down, was a girl I swear would’ve caught the eye of anyone.

          Partly, it was because she was stunning, but in that modest, natural way like she honestly wasn’t trying at all. Mostly, though, that was masked by the easily seen fact that she just stood out. Her black hair was streaked with red and blonde, short and layered, bangs just barely sweeping above stand-out amber eyes. She was probably of mixed race, maybe part Asian, part white, and she had a sort of edgy sense of style, with maybe a little vintage thrown in there.

          But what surprised me most was Nolan. He seemed…I don’t know, different than usual. As if he was a bit nervous. And when she finally turned to look at him, he smiled again. “What do you want, Nolan?”

          He pouted. “What? I can’t even say hi anymore?”

          “Haven’t you already?”

          Nolan leaned against one of the lockers next to her, smirking. And I couldn’t help but gape slightly. Was he trying to act cool? “In typical social interactions, most people would say hi back.”

          “Fine.” She sighed, waving with a mock-cheerful expression. “Hello, Nolan. Anything else?”

          “Don’t I get a hug, too?”

          Audrey groaned, half-heartedly patting him on the back as she let him envelop her in one of his signature bear hugs. But from where I was standing, I could still see the slight blush in her cheeks.

          Oooh. This was good. I could totally use this on Nolan the next time he bothered me about my (nearly nonexistent) social life.

          I swear, I was this close to taking a picture for evidence when Charlotte walked up to me. Well, not really walked. Pranced is more like it. She’d been working on her “sexy walk,” or so she’d called it, over the summer. I kept telling her she looked like my drunken aunt with the hip joint problem, but she never believed me. As usual.

          “Emmy!” she greeted, a little too loudly. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

          Didn’t I tell her to meet me by my locker? It was just this morning. Then again, she always did have problems remembering. “Well,” I said, my laugh a bit forced, “I’ve been here.”