Persisting Anyway

13) Tryouts Cookie Dough and Disasters

"Just take my hand already, Sydney." Carter sighed as we walked into Frederick High.

Needless to say I was nervous, I was freaking out.

"What if people stare at me?" I gasped as the thought occurred to me.

"Then they are..." He paused, looking for a word, "stupid."

"Is that supposed to comfort me?" I raised my eyebrows at Carter.

"Yes." Carter's response came out as a question. I threw my hands in the air, defeated.

"I am worried because Amanda and her clique don't know that we are dating." I mumbled in confession. When we were with Carter's friends I was okay because they knew.

Amanda was not there before so I was fine; now I was freaking out because she was going to find out one way or another.

"You shouldn't be, she told me she wasted her time on me and she said, and I quote: 'just go and date Sydney already, get out of my face.'" He shrugged his shoulders, "So I did." Carter's lips pulled into a smirk then transformed into a genuine smile. His contagious smile traveled to my lips.

"Good," I responded, I looked up at him, "I am glad." I smiled wider (if that was even possible) and I laced my fingers into his, finally okay with Amanda and her clique seeing us. We traveled down the hallway a little more until we reached the now familiar locker, circled by the boys I enjoyed talking to. They were chatting and laughing, Max threw his head back

We joined to circle as soon as Max had finished his fit of laughter. "Hey you two," he winked at us both.

"Hey, Tiger." I waved shortly to Max with my free hand. He punched the air in success; he did that every time I called him that. I quieted after that, not comfortable enough to contribute to the conversation. As Carter and his friends were chatting, my eyes wandered around the hallway. I caught eye contact with Rory and Claire. Rory was playing with her colored hair strand. I could see her natural hair on the top and then a bold line of blue started up. They looked at me with excited eyes, but I could see they were apprehensive about joining the circle. I waved them over. As they were walking over I leaned into Carter. "Is it okay if Claire and Rory join us?" I spoke softly.

"Of course!" He smiled enthusiastically as Rory and Claire timidly squeezed into a small available space. Carter introduced them to everybody before I could start speaking. "Guys, this is Rory," he signaled to her, "And this is Claire."

Gauging everyone's reactions, I saw Max look at Claire with a small smile. Claire was looking down at her fingers, after she had smiled around the circle, no doubt completely embarrassed. "Nice to meet you two," Max said to both of them, but his eyes stayed trained on Claire. She looked up and caught Max staring at her, her cheeks tinted pink, but only enough so that I could see it since I knew her so well. Max never took his eyes off of her. Josh had a look of almost panic when he saw Rory. She was staring right back at Josh boldly.

"Hey, so um, we are having a party this weekend," Josh shrugged casually. He was still looking at Rory; it was a little amusing as I imagined a silent staring contest between the two.

"That sounds like fun!" Carter responded brightly, he was watching Josh too. Confused, he looked to me for an answer. Later, my eyes told him.

"Y'all are invited," he signaled to Claire and Rory.

Claire's eyes shot up, "n-no, we wouldn't want to intrude." She shook her head furiously in protest.

"Claire, it's all good, we wouldn't want to so rudely deny an invitation." Rory was sending a message of accept-this-invitation-or-die with her eyes. Translation: We-have-to-go-to-this-party-because-Josh-just-FREAKING-invited-us-and-he-is-staring-at-me-right-now-with-those-gorgeous-eyes. I laughed internally as I read Rory's eyes. "We would love to." Rory responded and smiled flirtatiously. At her response, Josh smiled and nodded.