Shadow's Mark (Currently Being Edited)

Chapter 9: Freaks

Shout out to my best friend, Leah, whom I FREAKING appreciate.

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"You know you don't have to escort me everywhere."

I was walking with Wes by my side, who had been waiting outside my class after third period.

Wes came to a stop and faced me. "Are you kidding me? And miss out on getting to know the incredible Natalya Jenkins?"

I rolled my eyes and gazed into his nice, green ones. "How are you so nice to me right now? I was literally a freak for trying to jump you."

He shrugged. "Well, you did say you were sleepwalking."

"That doesn't make me less of a freak," I said trying to convince him. "I mean, who the hell sleepwalks and tries to attack someone with a bat?!"

"Whoa, relax," he put his hands on both my shoulders. "I like you, Natalya. And if that somehow makes me more of a freak than you are, so be it."

My lips broke out into a wide smile, mostly because what he just said was corny AF. "Let the freak games begin then," trying my best to hold back the biggest smile.

As soon as we entered the bustling cafeteria, almost all the noise died down once people zeroed in on me and Wes. The girls eyed me with looks of disdain, though I could almost detect a bit of envy in their eyes. The boys, on the other hand, were grinning and smacking their lips in my direction, no doubt wanting a piece of the cake that was me.

Bastards. I'd been invisible to almost all of the male population in school, but as soon as they heard Natalya Jenkins did it with the new guy in the boy's locker room, they showed some sudden interest.

Wes ignored the stares and grabbed hold of my arm, pulling me with him towards the lunch line. As soon as we got our food, we headed to a table in the corner, away from prying eyes.

"So, whatya wanna know about the incredible Natalya Jenkins?" I winked at Wes with a smile as we both sat down.

He looked up thoughtfully from his pizza and grinned at me. "Well, for starters, I wanna know if she has a boyfriend."

I cocked my brow and snorted at the absurdity of his question. "Yeah, the answer is an obvious no."

Wes pursed his lips as he placed a playful arm around my shoulder. "These idiots don't know what they're missing out on," he said using his hands to gesture to everyone else.

I nodded back at him then chomped voraciously on my pizza. By the time I was done with my first pizza, I glanced up with a stuffed mouth to find Wes gazing at me with an expression I couldn't quite read.

I swallowed down my chewed pizza and took a sip of my Apple juice. "What?"

He shook his head and smiled. "Nothing...It's just, you're different than most girls."

I took a big bite of my second pizza. "And?" I asked, my mouth still full.

Okay, I wasn't exactly a pro when it came to getting a guy to like me. But honestly, I'd rather he liked me for who I was, flaws and all. And one of my flaws just happened to be eating like a pig.

"I think it's refreshing," he replied sweetly. "I like different."

I swallowed my food and narrowed my eyes at him. "You are a much bigger freak than I am then."

He chuckled at my remark then we spent the rest of our time eating and talking about random things, like what our favorite TV shows were or what we wanted to be when we grow up.