The Last of the Pure

Three

And then, I lied like a dog.

“We’re still settling in, so I’m going to be unpacking and finishing up my bedroom,” I told him.

Truth was, my mother’s favorite thing to do is organize. The day after we arrived, my room was painted minty green, my mother found black curtains, frames, and a nice new dresser for me at one of the stores on Main Street, and we spent the day unpacking and redecorating.

And who was this kid? I’d known him for all of three seconds and he was already asking about my plans for the evening? Why would I want to hang out with such an overly eager beaver?

“Well let me know when you’re free,” he said. “Maybe I could show you around town sometime.”

I shrugged, “I’ve been around. Not too much to see.”

My dad was giving a speech about how we’re seniors and he’s not going to hassle us too much as long as we show enough responsibility to actually show up to homeroom, so I pretended to be focusing on him. I just couldn’t believe this kid. Usually it was just, “Hey, want to sit with us at lunch?” or the typical persistent girl that won’t stop talking to me until I give her a shoulder cold enough that she takes the hint.

But this guy just hopped right into it. That annoyed me.

“I’d bet you haven’t seen everything,” he said, looking at my dad now, too.

I didn’t respond and when the bell finally rang, my dad caught me by the elbow on my way out of the classroom.

“Who was the boy you were sitting with?”

“I don’t know, Nathaniel something,” I said. He raised an eyebrow at me like I should know more. “What? I talked to the guy for two seconds.”

“He was staring at you like you’re some kind of celebrity. He acted like he was smitten.”

I rolled my eyes and he laughed.

“I can see things,” he said.

“Never doubted that,” I said, stepping into the hallway.

“Be good today! Make friends or something!” he shouted after me.

I gave him a thumbs up behind my back and continued to my Calc class.

I had four more classes before lunch and when I made my way to the cafeteria, I found a nice empty booth toward the outside door and situated myself with me sandwich and Mountain Dew. I was alone with my notebook for a good ten minutes before I caught a glimpse of someone scooting themselves into the seat across from me. I looked up and recognized a thin, blonde girl from my German class. She looked back at me then, like she was just noticing me.

“You’re in our spot,” she informed me. It wasn’t rude, kind of a ‘just-so-you-know’ sort of thing.

I started to gather my things muttering “Sorry,” when her thin hand wound around my wrist.

“No, stay,” she said.

Her voice was authoritative almost and I found myself slouching back into the spot. Another boy was walking over to the booth then and he slid next to her, placing his tray in front of him and knocking his elbow into hers, smirking.

“Who’s this?” he said, glancing at me and back to her.

“No clue, we hadn’t exactly gotten around to introductions.”

“Well,” he said, fully turning to me and then extending his hand. “I’m Paul. This lovely creature is my sister, Serena.”

I looked at the two of them, confused. Serena was average height, with one of those bombshell bodies that curves in all the right places. Her hair was long and almost a white color of blonde, she had it cut into a bob that curled around her face. Her eyes were wide and almost navy.