The Life I'm Running From

7\ He's Not That Hot

Friday was cold. If you want some epic description of the sky and the temperature, you'll have to look somewhere else. Maybe go to Canada. I hear they have frigid winters.

Unfortunately, I was still walking to school. Woohoo. (Just in case you can't tell, I am being sarcastic.) Danny had little sympathy for me, because she too had to walk in the cold weather. We really needed to get a car. Maybe I could get Danny to contact Chiron about that...

A family of four rushed past me on the sidewalk. The littlest, a girl no older than five, was bundled tightly in a coat. She looked like a brightly coloured marshmallow. I smiled, then hurried on my way to school.

The first buses were just arriving as I passed through the gate. I recognized Charlie's bus getting ready to pull up to the curb, so I slowed my walk. The wind bit at my face, but I decided waiting for a friend was worth it.

I leaned against one of the picnic benches on school grounds. Surprisingly, I wasn't the only one outside. A group of football players were all gathered closer to the school. And where there are football players, there are cheerleaders. Most of them were wearing outfits way too revealing for the temperature. Taylie Goldmyn was among them, but she was smartly wearing a coat. She seemed a lot less concerned about the football players, but then again she was already dating one of them.

A few football players started to yell. They were shoving one person around, for one reason or the other. One of them stepped out of the group, and waved to two jocks I hadn't noticed before. He seemed to be telling them to join the group, but the pair declined.

One half of the pair was Harley Finn. He was standing on the raised ledge that separated the grass from the plants that lined the school. Harley and one of his friends were throwing a football back and forth. Harley had the higher ground, and often his friend had to run farther to catch the ball.

Suddenly, Harley caught my eye. He smirked, and I almost blushed at being caught staring. Instead, I decided to wave. He raised a hand to wave, but then the football nailed him in the chest. Stumbling back, he crushed a few dying flowers underfoot. A teacher came along and waved for him to get down. I was contemplating going over to him when a hand tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey," Charlie said. "Why are you waiting in the cold?"

★彡 ★彡 ★彡 ★彡

Since Adriana and Charlie's feud had been dismantled, lunch had become a much more enjoyable time. Charlie and Skylar never hesitated to join me and Adriana's usual table. I was able to spend time with all of my friends at the same time. It's a blessing you don't recognize until you lose it.

I was eating my lunch beside Charlie and Adriana when Skylar dropped her tray on the table. A hot piece of pizza on a paper plate was what consisted of her lunch, and she didn't seem sad about that. I was starting to rethink my choice of never buying cafeteria food.

"I was wondering when you'd get back," Adriana said. She set down her phone. "I was starting to think you found someone cooler to hang out with."

Skylar laughed. "I'm pretty sure this is the coolest table to sit at. Do the cheerleaders give out homemade cookies?"

"Nope." Charlie smiled, and took another cookie out of the container in the centre of the table. She had baked them last night, and was willing to share with us all. "What should I bake next time?"

Skylar took a bite of her pizza. The cheese tore away from the surface when she bit it, leaving it hanging from her mouth. She put it back onto the sauce, but it fell when she picked up the slice of pizza. "I don't care what you make as long as we get a sample."