ready to run { james + alyssa au }

one

Alyssa

The glass cell phone slipped through the cracks of my fingertips, landing on the tile floor of the school cafeteria. Glass scattered across the area, as the phone lay shattered due to the impact. I slammed the sole of my sneaker onto it, hearing it crack once again.

At the table I'd previously been seated at, a group of girls gawked at me. Dumb bitches, I thought to myself as I snatched my bag from the table and walked away.

Although I had only been attending school here for a handful of months, it had been long enough to determine that I absolutely hated everything about it and everyone in it. There were no people that I found interesting enough to befriend, and those I did speak to, I scared away.

The filter of what comes out of my mouth, or the lack there of, has been a major setback in the friend-making department.

My sky colored eyes panned the lunch room closely, looking for a place to pass the time. When my gaze rested on a dark haired boy that I knew was called James, sitting at a table by himself, I made my way over without even thinking.

"Hey," I tried to sound nonchalant, but it only came off as aggressive.

James looked up from his tray, his dow eyes widened with surprise. He slid his headphones—they were the big, old fashioned style, I took note of that—over his ears and placed them on the table in front of him.

"Hey?" He raised an eyebrow. His voice was shaky, as if he was unsure of himself. Or confused. Maybe even intimidated.

Fuck, I mentally cursed myself. I'd come on too pushy.

"I've seen you skate," the words fumbled off of my tongue without my brain even processing them.

I lied. I hadn't seen him skate, but I had seen the skateboard resting against the leg of the table on my journey over here.

James sat up straighter, no longer slouching against the back of his chair. He looked as if he was about to speak, so I quickly cut him off.

"Yeah, you're pretty shit."

This, surprised even me. Sometimes the things I say make me appear that I am a raging bitch. Maybe I am, deep down inside, but today it was different. Today, I didn't want to be.

"Fuck off!" James spoke up, offended. He slumped over again, clearly aggravated.

Damn you, Alyssa.

A wide, genuine grin spread across my cheeks. I gripped the back of the chair in front of me, pulling it out as I shimmied my bag off of my shoulder. James watched me, his left eyebrow raised. He had to have been so confused. I took a seat across from him anyways.

"I lied," I admitted to him, in a rather cheery tone. "I've never seen you skate before."

James half-smiled, in an awkward way. The kind of smile that you gave when someone does something weird, and you don't want to be impolite so you just offer a half hearted, small smile. It only lasted a couple seconds, before his expression went completely emotionless.

"Why did you lie?" He asked, blankly.

I was taken aback by his question, although it was a completely normal one to ask under the circumstance. Why had I lied?