Footsteps

2

Name after name after name was called and I knew nobody. I was sitting next to Joey in the math room with Mrs. Mart. She was a young lady, and actually very nice. But she seemed to not know what made people really bored.

"Aaron Cab,"

"Hey!" The kid who, I guess, was Aaron, behind me, high-fived the kid behind Joey, Joey himself, and the kid behind this Aaron kid.

"Eaden Foley,"

"Here," I said quietly.

"Mac Hackett,"

"Hi!" The kid behind Aaron received two high-fives from Aaron and the kid next to Aaron.

"Joey La Coni,"

"Here," Joey said, quite calmly, but still received high-fives from the boys around her.

"Evan Naldo,"

"Here!" They guy behind us yelled. Joey turned around and high-fived him, and so did Aaron and Mac. Clearly, they had a group thing going on.

Mrs. Mart continued to call out names, and then she was finished. "Alright, so I'm gonna have you partner up, and then I'll give you further directions once I'm sure you're all partnered," she said with a wave of her hand. Everyone started chattering and trying to find a partner.

Joey was with Evan, and Aaron and Mac were together. So I went away from my desk to find a partner, and I was startled by a red-headed boy that came up next to me. "Hi," he said, "I'm Bade."

"I'm Eaden," I replied.

"Wanna be partners?" He asked.

"Sure," I smiled.

From there, I got to know Bade pretty well. We did our table project but talked the whole time. We became friends, I think. But in all honesty, I kind of liked him. And I think he liked me a little too.

When the bell rang, we stood up, in mid-conversation about our pets. "I'll turn it in," he said. We were both still laughing about his ridiculous dog.

"Alright," I grinned.

When Bade came back, he walked by me again, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Joey looking at me, so I looked up, but he diverted his eyes and sped out the door, following his friends.

"What's your next class?" Bade asked. I hadn't been paying attention, I had been watching Joey.

"Oh...uh, History," I finally said.

"Oh, me too!" He grinned.

"Sweet, well, let's get going," I said, and we hurried out the door. Once we were in the hallway, I decided to talk again. "So what was your last hour?" I asked.

"English," he said.

"Oh, that's my next one, after this,"

"Mine's PE,"

"Oh, that's my first hour,"

"That sucks,"

"Yeah, but it's the teacher who sucks," I scoffed.

"It's my aunt..." Bade said with an embarrassed tone.

"Oh, man, I'm so sorry," I shook my head.

"Oh, my mom's just like her," he laughed. "So, have you made any other friends yet?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah...Joey," I sighed.

"Hm, he hangs out with the cool guys, so I avoid him at all costs, and he has English next to," Bade seemed kind of disgusted.

"I see..." I nodded.

"Um...so, hey..." he began as we neared the door. "There's a Halloween dance coming up soon...do you wanna go with me?" He asked.

"Um...I'll have to think about it, but maybe!" I smiled. My first day was going really well. Although, I didn't really know what my plans were for the year, so I was going to have to think on it.

"Cool," he nodded. We walked in the door, and on the wall was a seating chart. I just payed attention to the names I knew. I was in the front middle section, in front of those friends of Joey, Evan and Mac. But Joey was in the front too, just on the left section. And Bade was in the front also, but on the right section.

The grumpy English teacher slammed work sheets down on our desks, taking attendance in his head. Hopefully he knew which one was me.

The worksheet took forever to do, and I didn't get it done by the time the bell rang, so the grumpy teacher snatched it from me and stormed off, his head in his hand.

Joey hurried into the hallway with his friends, and I remembered the Bade had a different class, but he had told me I had my next class with Joey as well. So I tried to catch up to him, and I watched him push away from his friends, who all were confused why he was so mad. But when he hurried away from them, I ran after him. "Joey!" I called, repeatedly, but he was ignoring me. Finally I was right next to him. "Hey Joey, you okay?" I asked.

"Oh...yeah, I'm good," he gave a wilted smile.

"You don't look good," I replied.

"Okay, listen, if you're just going to tell me how good I don't look, go hang out with Bade Wilson," he hurried away from me. I stood in silence and disbelief. There was no way Joey was...jealous?

What was I gonna do now?