ALICE
I look at myself in the mirror, deciding if my outfit is suitable. Asher gave me his phone number and last night he told me that I need to blow the socks off of Sophie today by showing up and looking smoking, just to show her that I don't need her anymore. Graciously, I took his advice and now I'm starting to doubt if I even look good.
I wear a pair of ripped light wash jeans, a thin halter tank top that has thin straps that connect the halter to the bottom half, it has thin light blue chevron over the off white background. To match I wear a light blue cardigan and a pair of yellow sandals that match the bit of brown in the chevron. To top it all off I have a yellow and blue bangle to complete the look.
Finally I decide I don't have anymore time for this and I need to finish my hair so I'm not late for school. I quickly twist some of the curls to the side of my head to pin back my bangs. Once I put on some eyeliner wings I am ready to go.
It doesn't take me long to get to school, but even then I am pushing to get into my class on time. When I get there just as the bell is ringing I sigh with relief, moving to my seet and plopping down. Sophie taps me on the shoulder and I don't turn around, I don't even glance at her through the whole class. I even withstand her sighs of anger and her snide comments about me being deaf or something. This goes along until the class before lunch
The end of class comes a few minutes early since the teacher decided she was done teaching the lesson and told us we could have the extra ten minutes to ourselves. Dreading the conversation I have to have I grab my things, stuffing them into my bag, and going into the hallway so I'm not confined to the classroom in case I need to get away from her.
I hear some stomping from behind me and when I turn around I see a very confused Sophie standing in front of me. Before I can start talking I see that a few kids are watching us but I wave them off so they can't be nosy in our conversation.
"Why the heck aren't you answering my texts and calls?" Sophie hisses at me angrily, as she tries to keep her voice down
"No, you don't get to pull that card. You left me all alone at that party and you know how I am! I need someone to be there when there are guys around." I spit at her with so much built up hatred that the words burn my throat on their way out.
"It's not my fault you are a freak!" Her voice is shrill hurts my ears "I have done so much for you and now you are being such a witch because you met a guy."
"Shut up! Asher is my friend, only. I can't believe you would even say that you have done so much for me. You haven't done squat but force me to be someone I don't want to be. You force me into being you and that is my worst nightmare." The words spill out and the scary thing is that I don't want to apologize and tell her that I'm sorry because I am anything but sorry.
Her jaw drops and she starts to lie through her teeth "I've had your back since you moved here. You can't get rid of your best friend, can you, Alice?"
"I can't you are so right." I say sighing and I can feel the smile on her face "I guess it's a good thing you aren't my best friend. Oh, and about those heels you keep asking for, well, I guess it's good I left them at that house you forced me to go to."
"You did what?" She shrieks as I retreat away from her
"Goodbye, Sophie. You can delete my number and forget me." I call over my shoulder.
Just as I am sauntering around the corner I bump into something rock hard and fall on my butt. I silently thank the Lord that Sophie didn't see my blunder. When I look up I see Asher standing in front of me with a guilty look in his eyes at he laughs at me on the floor. Even while he is still laughing he reaches his hand out and pulls me back on to my feet.
"How has your day been with the witch?" He asks, walking precariously close to me as we go to my locker so we can talk about stuff while I put my things up
"Well, not too bad, I just actually told her to delete my number and forget me." I say suddenly stopping and looking deep into my locker.
"You okay?" Asher asks me, putting a comforting hand on my back. I carefully move away from him just enough so that he isn't touching me anymore.
"I'm terrific." I lie smoothly, earning a concerned look from Asher but he doesn't say anything.
We walk to the cafeteria together and when he goes to sit with his buddies I turn away to sit at the empty table for the loners, which I guess is what I am now.
"Woah, woah, woah." I hear Asher from behind me
"What?" I ask a little sharply as I turn around.
"I'm not letting you sit alone, you can come sit with me and my friends." He offers, I'm sure he is just being polite.
"Nah, I will be okay on my own."
"Okay well here are some reasons that you aren't sitting by yourself. First, you can't give Sophie that power. Second, you have a friend right here who wants you to sit next to him and make better friends. Third, you don't have a choice."
With his words I decide to get up and go with him. He sits at the back of the cafeteria with the part jocks. He sits with the soccer players so they are a bit more humble than the football players so that's always good. There are eleven of them total but Asher only sits with four of them because they are his closest friends.
Once we are at his table three of the guys are already there, while one of them isn't.When Asher drags me to sit in the chair next to him his friends start to chuckle and the one on the other side of him punches him playfully in the arm.
"Okay guys this is my friend Alice, you can call her Ali for short. Ali these are the guys." Asher introduces us to each other.
The one with blond hair and dark brown eyes smiles at me, revealing his dimples "Hey, I'm Chandler."
"Brady," The boy with a tight fitting v-neck that shows off his impressive muscles says. He has blond hair too.
"I'm Max!" The last one chuckles. He has a boyish face with the charm of a thirteen year old kid, he must be the pervert of the group. Self conciously I scoot a little closer to Asher causing them to burst out with laughter.
"I like her," Chandler grins
Just as he says that Asher scolds his buds by saying "Be nice! We don't want to scare her away. Where is Adam?"
"Here I am!" A deep voice cheers from behind me. "Who would this beauty be?"
"Remember, you remember that!" Brady says speaking around me
"Oh, yes," The new guy I presume is Adam says with a flick of his head to say ensure he knows. He has dark brown hair and a pair of crystal blue eyes that are tinted a little bit green or they would be identical to Asher's.
As the lunch period progresses the guys get a bit more comfortable with me and I am the same. Asher is so different when he is with his friends. RIght now he is slouched down in his chair, one hand in his pocket and the other hanging down in between him and me. What if he wants me to hold his hand? I can't do that, I can't trust a man anymore. If I were to like guys again it would be him, I think.
