Beyond my Beating Heart

Chapter eighteen: timing is everything

Play Can't Help Falling In Love by Christina Grimmie for this chapter (specifically the last part;))

***

The bell after fourth period rings, and I am more than happy to get out of calculus. It's not even the class anymore, it's the stares of classmates and whispers saying my name.

I quickly leave the room, Jett trailing behind me, rubbing his eyes thoroughly while he walks.

"You can thank me now." I say.

"What?"

"I said, you can than-" I start again, before he cuts me off.

"Okay, I get it. Thank you so much for covering for me as I slept in Truman's classroom. Happy now?"

I smile before replying, "I guess that will suffice... for now."

By the time we're done talking, we are in front of the lunch room.

"So, for seating arrangements, is it okay if we sit with some of my teammates?" Jett asks casually.

"Sure! As long as sir bitchiness and his group of side kicks aren't there."

"I can assure you that they are long gone. Chris even got kicked off the team! You should've seen his face when coach told him to leave, he was all-" Jett says, before making a face of pure shock and fury. Scrunching his nose and pouting, imitating Chris's earlier expressions.

I laugh then walk through the doors with Jett by my side, feeling a flutter in the pit of my stomach when he puts his arm around my shoulders. My confidence grows immensely as he smiles down at me.

All four of the new faces at the table put down the food they're eating and looks up at me with the same curiosity in their eyes.

"Guys, this is June. June, these are the guys." Jett says, introducing me like they don't know who I am.

I give a small, shy wave over in the direction of his other friends, waiting a few awkward seconds before a girl begins to speak.

"Hey! Um... I'm Zoe, and these bozos who can't seem to talk are Julian, Lucas, and Cooper." She says, but I already know who they are, popularity runs in this group I guess.

I sit down next to Jett and Zoe as she finishes speaking, and smile at the guys, and Jett begins to talk with them, giving me a perfect opportunity to take this all in.

I notice first the features on Zoe. I have heard of her, Zoe Chavez, captain of the cheerleading squad. Her pearly white teeth shine as she talks, smiling so brightly it lifts my mood just looking at it.

Her eyes look like drops of dark chocolate, warm and inviting. Her shoulder length locks of shiny black hair glow in the sunlight shining through the dining cafeteria.

Sitting next to Zoe, was Julian, obviously on the football team, with his letterman jacket almost identical to Jett. His arm slings around Zoe and he pulls her into his side.

Julian's skin was the color of dark coffee, and his hair was short and cropped. No doubt he was one of the most attractive people at the table.

I scan my eyes over to the left a bit and see Lucas, the schools basketball hero. And when I say he's meant for basketball, he's meant for basketball.

His overwhelming height of nearly seven feet and his slender physique make him the perfect candidate for athletics.

Cooper. Oh Cooper. Everyone is at least somehow aquatinted with Cooper. He's known as quite the class clown, never failing to get a rise out of the teachers. His bright curly hair and quirky smile know how to make people giggle.