He Was A Ten

A Friend Offers Me Some Good Advice

A/n-Just wanted to clarify, when Paige said, 'When I didn't realize I like you.' , she meant as a friend. Otherwise, happy first day of September and thanks for your support. Enjoy!

I walked into Social Studies really embarrassed by how I acted at lunch. I really needed someone to talk to about this. Too bad I didn't have any other friends...

"Hey Paige!"

Maybe I did.

"Hey Cindy," I greeted as I sat down next her.

"Damn, you look like shit," Cindy remarked. "Did you get something in your eyes?"

I chuckled nervously. "Uh, I actually, uh-"

"Alright class, go ahead and get back to work," Mrs. Szymonik said as she walked into class.

The classroom buzzed as people started talking in their groups. Cindy asked, "Okay, so what happened to your eyes?"

"S-shouldn't we work on the project?" I stammered meekly, wondering if I really wanted to talk about this right now. "We only have-"

"Two weeks," Cindy said. "And we're ahead since we've already figured out who we're doing and what the plan is. So spill."

"Alright. Just...don't laugh."

"Okay. What happened?"

"So, there's this guy."

"A guy?" Cindy asked, smirking. "Really? Is he hot?"

I blushed. "W-what? How should I know?!"

"Just curious."

"A-anyway," I continued, my cheeks still bright red. "He and I kinda hated each other for no reason, and then yesterday I actually got to know him better. But the problem is I also told him that there's this other girl that likes him and he hasn't really spoken a word to me since. He just talks to her and hangs around her. And then during lunch I kind of freaked out and ran and cried in the bathroom," I finished, hiding my face in my hands.

"So, your eyes are red cause you were crying in a bathroom," Cindy concluded. "This may sound rude, but why were you so upset that he was ignoring you?"

"Because I-" I started before sitting there quietly thinking. Why was I so upset? Could I-no. No way. I just missed having him around as a friend. I like him as my friend, nothing more. "I miss having him around."

Cindy just smiled. "Okay, fine then, I'll ask you again; Is he hot?"

My face flushed red. "N-no! I mean, y-yes, but no!"

"Yes but no?"

It felt like my whole face was on fire. "I-i guess, he's...ya know, hot, but I don't like him like that!"

"I never said you did," Cindy grinned.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, letting my forehead rest on the edge of my desk. "I like him as a friend Cindy."

"Alright," Cindy chuckled. "I'll let you go. Let's get started. I'll start finding sites to use for the slide and you can start finding websites that theorize what happened to Mr. Bones. That way we can start brainstorming ideas for our own essay."

"Okay," I agreed, opening my Chromebook.

Forty five minutes later, Cindy had found a couple of sites to read through for the slides, and I had found a grand total of one site that had a list of theories as to what happened to Johnny Bones and Lady Stitches. I didn't get to finish reading all the theories though. I guess I was going to have to look through the rest later.

"See ya later!" Cindy said as we left class. "Make sure to tell me tomorrow how your talk with Prince Charming goes."

I groaned. "We're just friends. After my scene in the cafeteria, probably not even friends."

"Sure," Cindy laughed. "See ya."

"See ya."

I walked off. Next period I had with Hattie. I was considering my options when I ran into someone. "Oh my God, I am so sorry, I-wait a minute. Hattie?"

Hattie looked at me. "So just because you hate Marcus now you're going to run me over?"

"What? No! No, that was an accident!" I rambled, waving my hands frantically.

Hattie smiled and laughed. "Oh my God, you should have seen your face!"

I frowned as Hattie continued to laugh. "Not funny Hattie. Not funny."

"Oh come on, I'm just messing with you!" Hattie said, slinging her arm around my shoulders. "Personally, I'm glad you and Marcus are back to normal. I don't really trust him."

"Oh," I said slowly. "Why?"

"Because, have you met the guy?" Hattie snorted like it was obvious. Looking me in the eye she asked, "Don't you not trust him too?"

"Oh yeah! Of course!" I lied, smiling nervously. "We should really get to our seats."

"Shoot, you're right, class is about to start," Hattie realized, grabbing my arm and dragging me to my seat.

I guess I should've realized that Hattie still wouldn't trust Marcus. She had always disliked him as far as I could tell. So how could I tell her that I liked having him as a friend?

I liked hanging out with Marcus, but Hattie was my best friend. If I had to choose, there was no question. I'd choose Hattie in a heartbeat. Besides, it'd be pretty hard to explain the whole cafeteria situation to Marcus, and he probably make a bunch of jokes the entire time. So it was probably easier just to pretend I meant it. And if he hung around Alice, then I'd still get to see him, right? So it would all work out.

Class ended and soon enough it was the end of the day. I saw Marcus at his locker talking to Alice. I seized up for a moment before shaking my head and getting my stuff out of my locker like nothing was wrong. Because nothing was wrong. I was fine ignoring Marcus like I used to. Although seeing him talking to Alice would definitely take some getting used to.

I decided to swing by Hattie's locker to see if I could walk with her to the bus loop. She wasn't there though, so I assumed she had already headed down. 

I was about to head down the stairs too when I heard someone call after me, "Hey, what are you doing here?"

I didn't recognize the voice at first, but when I turned around, I saw Logan looking back at me.

Great. Just great.