"LIV!" I looked up from The Lovely Bones to see the flaming ball of pink I call my best friend barreling toward me.
"What is it this time, Willow?" I asked, returning my gaze to the masterpiece that is Alice Sebold's words. Willow is, how do I put this nicely? A total drama queen. All the attention always has to be on her. Whether it be her neon pink hair, glittery clothes, or over-the-top stories, she must always be the center of everything. I love her for it though. You have never met anyone as fun and imaginative as Willow Sutton.
"You act like you aren't happy to see me."
"You know I always am. I am just really invested in my book." I don't look up as I talk to her. "And you are probably just going to tell me something that A. I already know, or B. don't really care about. No offense."
"Only some taken. I get it. I tell some stories that are a little over the top."
I glance at her over the top of my glasses. "A little?"
"Okay, a lot. But you're really gonna want to hear this one!"
"You say that every time."
"I know, but I'm serious this time. Everyone is already freaking out about him."
"Him? Who is him?"
"See, I told you you'd be interested." She giggled at me. "I'm not telling you until you put the book down."
"But... I'm at such a vital part of the story. I can't just stop now." I gripped my book to my chest. I really wanted to know who she was talking about, but I really didn't want to stop reading.
"You act like you haven't already read that thing like twenty times. You can practically quote the whole book. Just put it down for one minute."
"But..." She gave me the puppy dog eyes. "Ugh. Fine." I closed my book and put it back in my bag. "Now, who is him?"
"The new guy. His name is Shayne Bryant. He is totally mysterious. No one knows where he came from or why he's coming here. All we know is that he is super hot and doesn't really talk much."
"How would you know that? Has anyone actually seen him yet?"
"Well, Kind of. Lacey Bartlett saw him in the main office when she was helping Mrs. Hudson with some paperwork. She tried to talk to him, but he kept giving her a bunch of one word answers. She said he just walked away from her in the middle of one of her questions."
"Wow. Okay. Then why is everyone so interested in him?"
"Um, hello? Have you not been listening to a word I've said? He's sexy and mysterious. Why would we not be interested?"
"Well, by what you just said, he seems a little rude to me. I mean, you don't just walk away from someone in the middle of a conversation and expect no one to care. And no one knows where he's from or why he's here. He could be some fugitive who is going to murder us all."
"Oh, quit being so pessimistic. You haven't even met the guy yet. You can't judge him until you've talked to him."
"You haven't met him either, and you're already borderline obsessed with him."
"I am not!" She blushed harder than I've ever seen her.
"Okay, sure. Whatever you say, Willow."
"Oh, shut up." She lightly punched me in the arm. "Come on, we should go. I can not be late to Mr. Perry's class again. He said he would give me detention if I got another tardy."
"Alright. Just let me grab my stuff out of my locker. I'll be there in a second."
"Okay, don't be too long though. You know how Everett Young and his goons get when there are empty seats near any females. I don't want to be stuck with them." She shuddered at the thought of being stuck in the middle of all the football jerks, which made me laugh a little.
