When you look at me I just can't lie

Chapter 8

 Chapter 8

With Mel back at school Zander didn’t think he’d notice Lena as much but during lunch his eyes kept drifting over to her table.  She was sitting with her cheerleader friends and while her friends were laughing at something, Lena didn’t look interested.

Mel noticed off the bat her friend’s attention was divided. “Are you still mad at her because of last night?”

“Huh?” Zander blinked and realized he had been caught staring. “What? No. I was just curious.”

“About my sister?” Mel’s green eyes were inquisitive and it seemed he had been caught doing more than just staring.

He scoffed and tried to play it cool. “What does that mean?”

“I think you like her.”

“What the hell would give you that idea? All we do is fight and offend each other.” He decided to keep his eyes on the safest place, his sandwich and chips. He mentally cursed because even though he wasn’t looking at the blonde she was on his mind. She was sad and pretending for the world again and the worst part was her so called friends didn’t seem to notice. “Have you noticed something off about her lately?” Zander was curious if her sister had noticed, Mel had been sick in bed the last few days but it was worth asking.

“She’s being nice.” Mel said with a frown as she leaned in closer to minimize the risk of being overheard. “When I was sick she offered to get me stuff and today we were going back and forth teasing each other and at the end instead of storming away she offered me a ride to school.”

“You’re close with Anthony’s brother, has he mentioned anything?” Eric Marcetti was in Lena’s inner clique of friends, maybe he had a shred of common sense and picked up on something.  

“No, strangely you’re the only one to notice something. When did you become so in tuned to my sister?”

Zander smiled as he focused on her eyes. “Are you jealous I might be trading you in?”

Mel mocked outrage. “Of course!”

He reached forward and grabbed the black ball cap he had given her as kids and put it on backwards so he could see her face more clearly. “Don’t worry scout, I’m too much of a social freak for anyone else to want me.” He flashed a cheeky grin.

“That’s because every girl in this school is too stupid to see what a catch you are.”

“Really? Keep going.” He held his hands in front of his chest like a love struck school girl and looked at her with wide puppy dog eyes. “You like me? You really like me?” he put on his best Sally Field impression.

Mel laughed and threw a piece of bread at him. “I was being serious you assmunch.” 

“Hey, I draw the line at ass munching. I am a proper lady and we don’t do such things.” Zander said with all the seriousness in the world. He enjoyed these moments the best with Mel, she was laughing so hard she was the color of a tomato.  

“That’s not what I heard.”

“Who told you? Was it Anthony? I told him to keep our affair a secret.”

That was the joke that broke the camels back. Mel fell over to the floor clutching her middle. She sat up and started to cough. “I hate you right now.”

“Nah, you love me and I love you.”  He took her hand and helped her off the floor.

Lena came and cast a dark shadow over their table. “You two are nauseating.”