The Girl With The Glowing Skin

Chapter 4

Idris and Alex had 2 classes together in the morning, including 4th period, which was right before lunch. A couple days after Alex arrived at East haven High, Idris offered a seat at their regular lunch table to Alex, who had responded cheekily, which Idris was figuring out was normal - "Sure, if my very, very blue eyes won't distract you."

    "I'm never going to live this down, am I? It's been, like, a whole week!"

    "Not a chance! And it's been 5 days, actually," Alex responded in a voice that was, in Idris' opinion, too cheery.

    "Just do me a favor. Don't tell the others. They'll hold it over my head forever," Idris said, casting a look at the figure next to her. She was trying not to sound desperate, but was realizing that she wasn't really succeeding.

    Alex just said, "We'll see," which annoyed Idris as much as it amused her.

    When they got closer to their lunch table, James waved, which caused the rest of the table to look over. This made Idris uncomfortable, though she was good at hiding it. Even when it was just her friends, she still couldn't handle it when a group of people looked at her. For the millionth time in her life, Idris wished she was normal, sending up a silent prayer to a God she didn't believe in.

    "Hey Alex!" James chirped, hand out. Alex shook his, looking slightly confused.

    Idris gave Alex a concerned look, to which Alex responded with a smile.

    "Sorry, its just weird that everyone knows my name without me, you know, introducing myself."

    Talia laughed understandingly. "Gotcha. Well, I'll play along. Idris, will you do the honors, since technically I don't know our newcomer's name?"

    Idris rolled her eyes at Talia's dramaticism, but complied. "Everyone, this is Alex. Alex, this is Talia, Danielle, Tyler, Allie, and James," she said, pointing out each person as she named them. Alex gave them all an awkward wave, and Idris laughed, looking pointedly at Talia as if to say, Well, that was a bad idea.

"Yeah, I get it. Dumb Idea. Sit down already," Talia grouched, which only made Idris smile more. She sat down opposite to Talia, and Alex sat down on her right, leaning back against the big oak near the table.

"So," Allie said, after a few minutes had gone by with no conversation, "Did Idris say anything embarrassing when she first met you?" She looked at Idris, hazel eyes playful. Idris didn't look at her, determined to ignore her and pretend like she didn't know exactly why she was asking that question.

Alex's eyes slid over to Idris, who was trying to look threatening but mostly just looked desperate. Then, Alex said, "Nah. She just said she liked my jacket."

"I said that first!" Talia exclaimed, "I just love how it looks on you. It looks like it was made for you!"

Alex laughed. "Thanks. I mean, I've had it for a while, so at this point, it's basically molded to me." Talia laughed, and then Alex directed a question at Allie. "Why'd you ask?"

"Well, the thing is, when she first met me - "

"Jesus Christ! Is thi-"

But before Idris could finish her question asking Allie if she was just going to spill every embarrassing detail about Idris like a bucket with too many holes, the entire group shouted, "OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR!", which drew more than a few weird looks from the surrounding tables and made Alex jump.

Idris had her head buried in her hands, mumbling something along the lines of "I hate you all so much and I wish I was invisible" when Alex sputtered, "Wh-what on earth?"