Wicked

Chapter Three

"Don't look now, but I think Daniel Belasco is coming over here," Addison gushed. There were butterflies stirring about in my stomach, but I needed to play cool. I tried to focus on my tray of lunch in front of me. I stabbed a fork full of salad and took a bite.

Daniel was walking over here, I could see him in the corner of my eye. I tried to act cool.

"Corn, can I join you?" I noticed he didn't have his tray of food, but I nodded anyway.

"Yeah, you guys don't mind right?" I asked Addison and her boyfriend, Mike. They both were silent but quickly shook their head no.

"I just wanted to ask you how your first day was going so far?" He slid next to me on the bench. Like yesterday, the gravitating pull was there, tugging me closer to Daniel. I fought it hard. I didn't want to look like a freak, especially around Addison. I tugged on my earlobe, trying to focus.

"It's been good," I paused. "Nothing as eventful as this morning." That got a laugh out of him. His laughter was like gold, desirable. He leaned in and I tried not to mimic him. It was the oddest thing when Daniel was around the rest of the world washed away.

"I'm glad. No one giving you trouble?" I knew he meant Erik, especially since he was at the same table, but further down on the opposite side. When he said this he was looking at my lips. Subconsciously, I bit them, causing him to loom forward. My breathing ragged on, speeding up by his action. He was so close I could see the handful of freckles on his nose and the golden ring in his eyes.

Someone at the table cleared their throat and broke the spell.

"No, no everyone's been really friendly." I finally responded. He ran his fingers through his hair.

"That's good, I uh have to go back: the guys want to talk about the game this weekend." Reluctantly, he stood up. There was something on his face that looked like he was going to say something else, but he waved goodbye instead.

I watched him walk away, propped up on my elbow.

"Wow," Addison breathed out. "Talk about hot. You guys really have it bad for each other." She seemed surprised. I didn't know how to take that. I rubbed my neck with my left hand, thinking about this. There was definitely something between Daniel and I, but how could there be? I had only known him for a day!

"No, he's just being friendly," I assured her.

"Pssh, sure, bet he wants to be friendly," Mike commented, speaking for the first time. Then, he took a huge bite out of his burger. Addison smacked him gently. "What? It's true. You know as well as I do that Daniel is--

"Mike, stop." Addison interrupted him.

"What? What is he talking about?" I asked. Addison sighed.

"Mike is being dramatic. Daniel is a great guy, Hell he's the poster boy for all that's good. It's just that he doesn't date." I faded. Maybe I was misinterpreting everything Daniel had done. Maybe he was just being nice and living up to his reputation. "But we've never seen him act that way with another girl." Addison was giving me her best smile, but it just seemed like a pity smile to me.

"He's just being nice." My head hung low as I moved around the rest of my salad on my plate. I knew I was being ridiculous, getting sad about a boy I had just met. It was just hard to explain everything that had happened -- the way Daniel and I acted around each other. None of it made sense. I was glad Addison noticed it too because it meant that was one less thing I was hallucinating about.

The rest of lunch was uneventful. Addison talked about the next period and how much fun it was going to be. I was looking forward to painting class. Addison assured me I was going to love the teacher: David. He preferred the students call him by his first name. I could tell by the way Addison talked about him that she had a tiny crush on him. Mike was oblivious or just didn't care.