I Knew You Before You Noticed Me

Chapter 9

I was in a much better mood that afternoon, and Linh teased me mercilessly about it. "Is that a smile? I haven't seen one of those since kindergarten," was one of her favorites. Then she would feel my forehead and ask if I needed some medicine.

I told her no.

Realizing that I hadn't scared Biana away that day was a huge weight off my chest. The constant worry that I'd done something wrong had kept me awake almost all night, and to hear her apologize--it was such a relief.

Of course, other people seemed to notice my uplifted spirits too. Dex seemed even more talkative than usual during science, going on about ratios and science stuff that no freshman should have any business knowing. A couple of my friends commented on it as well, much to Linh's amusement.

But the main change was a girl coming up to me at lunch--of her own free will--to say hi.

"Hi," she said, sliding into the seat beside me. I blinked in surprise and glanced at Linh, who was sitting across from me. "Uh, hi."

"You're Tam, right?" she asked, playing with one of the tiny braids woven into her hair. "I'm Marella."

"Right." I gave her a confused look. "How do you know my name?"

She smiled. "Biana told me."

I squinted at her, and finally recognized her. I'd seen her hanging around one of Biana's friends before, usually outside the group. I'd always felt kinda bad for her.

"Anyway, I came over to ask you something," Marella told me, watching me with her icy blue eyes. I glanced at Linh again, who shrugged.

"Uh, okay," I said, becoming uncomfortable.

Marella hesitated for a second, her fingers tangled in her hair, before asking, "You wanna hang out some time?"

It took a second to process her words. Hang out? 

"Um..." I wasn't quite sure how to respond. "I mean....sure I guess, but--"

"Great!" She perked up, beaming at me. "See you later?"

I forced myself to stop staring and speak. "Yeah, okay. But, uh, where are we going?"

Marella shrugged. "We'll figure that out later. See ya then!"

"See you..." I said, but she was already gone.

I turned to face Linh and put my face in my hands. "What just happened?"

Linh smiled. "It's called having friends, Tam."

I glared at her. "I have friends."

"Good." She popped a grape in her mouth, her eyes glittering. "Now you have more."