Thursday
As I walked down the hall in direction of my third period class, I was so excited. I walked into my 10th grade Literature class, late, and my teacher, Mr. Dinkins, threw an annoyed look my way. I saw my two best friends sitting of on the sides of one desk-waiting for me. Layne Pressely, Courtney Brooks, and I have best been friends since the second grade. We tell each other everything.
Once I sat down, we talked animatedly about what we had been talking about for the past week-I was throwing a party!!
"Okay, so this is big. You did invite everybody, didn't you? You know, just checking?" Layne said, excitedly.
"Yeah, I mean Jessica; it isn't everyday a 10th grader in this town is allowed to throw a house party. You know everyone will want to go. So, did you invite everyone?" Courtney said.
Actually I did mostly invite all the people I want there-except for maybe one person in particular. Thinking that, I peeked in the back of the class, stifled a sigh and said, "I know you guys. Everybody has already RSVP." I frowned then sighed. They didn't miss that.
"Oh, I already know who isn't." Layne whispered, as the three of us turned to look at Xavier.
See I had been crushing on this boy named Xavier Jones since he and his family moved to Mead about five months from ago. Xavier is a really tall guy, skinny but really muscular. He -and his family- has very light skin tone, very pale. He has short black hair that he always wears down. He has a sister named Nicki who is older than us and doesn't go to school.
Anyway, Xavier sits in the back of all his classes and likes to be alone. I don't really know if he likes me too but when he first arrived I noticed that he took more interest in me than any other students, good start right? Not. Right after that he started ignoring me; he never, ever looks my way. Not in 5 months. And at lunch, he always leaves the school to be alone.
His eyes are a hypnotizing blue. Most of the time at school, he wears a frown on his face. Like our high school--W.J. Meyer-- was boring him constantly. I guess this town just wasn't as exciting as their native home of Colorado. I heard throw the grapevine--meaning Courtney and her mom, the biggest gossips in town--that they had a tragic accident that killed the rest of his family. His dad is kind of distant too. He doesn't-
I was interrupted by Layne, "Jess you should give Xavier an invitation. Maybe he'd want to go." She whispered, very loudly. At that moment, Xavier turned just slightly and met my gaze. It was then I realized that I been staring at him like a stalker. I turned around in my seat, embarrassed. I heard my friends giggle as they turned around too.
"Yeah, Jessica you should. You know you want him to come so just do it." Courtney whispered to me.
I whispered back, "Yeah, but I-I don't what he'll say. And I don't want to make a fool of myself."
"We'll you'll never know because--"Layne started to say but Mr. Dinkins shushed us. They didn't get another chance to pressure me some more, 'cause we all had to focus and paid attention to our work.
When the bell rang, I told Layne and Courtney I'll met them later rather then walking with them as usual. They both raised their eyebrows and exchanged a wide-eyed glance. They knew what I was about to do but luckily they didn't say anything to me and skipped out the door. I mean literally skipped with joy. I rolled my eyes.
When I saw Xavier Jones turn to get his books, I took a deep breath and made my move.
"Xavier?" I said hesitantly. He paused then turned. When he saw who it was, me, his usual expressionless face turned curious. He seemed amused that I was talking to him--well I wasn't actually talking to him because looking at his face so long kind of made my thoughts scatter, but I finally managed to stammer out, "Hi, um Xavier. I'm Jessica Foster. You-you probably don't know me but I am in a few of your classes. Anyway, I'm throwing a party at my house on Walberg drive, Saturday, and I-I just wanted to invite you, if you want to go." I opened my binder and handed the invitation out to him. He just kept looking at my face. He didn't seem to have heard what I said, but I guess he noticed that I noticed that he was staring too hard because a few seconds later he nodded and took it.
