Flightless Bird

Chapter 7 - part 1

Gaining another evil stare from a girl that came over to get a book from a nearby shelf, I tried to stifle my laughter.

"Jacob! Shhh," I cried, burying my head in my hands. I could still hear his laughter even when I clamped my hands over my ears. I lifted my head again when Jacob refused to stop poking me with his pencil.

"What?" I asked, sitting up sharply.

"There's a girl behind me, glaring at you," he told me in a whisper. I groaned,

"That's like, the fifth one! What have I done to all od them?" He laughed again.

"Sorry," he said, "I think it's because you're all alone with me. It's why Lexi doesn't have many girl friends; she hangs out with us guys all the time. They're all jealous of her. And you."

"Jealous? Why would they be jealous?"

"Not to brag, but I guess a lot of girls would like to be you right now. You have my undivided attention," Jacob told me, his voice softening on the last sentence.

"Oh really? So if I told you that she was coming over here with a really scary look on her face, you wouldn't turn around?" I asked. Jacob shook his head, just as the girl reached the table. She was tall and slim, with a model figure and long brown hair that had a slight wave.

"Hey Jacob," she said, greeting Jacob cheerily.

"Hi Anna," he replied, without taking his eyes off me. She cleared her throat, but he still didn't blink.

"Can I help you?" he asked her after a minute.

"I was just wondering if you could help me with some of those notes from Miss Sylvester's class? I really didn't understand it in class," she said, flipping her hair and shooting me a smug look before returning her wistful gaze to Jacob.

"Sorry, I'm busy right now helping Kerri. She's new. Sorry Anna," he told her, a small half smile lifting half his mouth, "you can borrow my spare copy, though," he said, handing her a small pile of papers, still without looking at her. She took the papers slowly, trying to touch his hand as she did so, but he just let go before she did. I don't know how he knew!

"Thanks Jacob. See you later I guess," she said quietly before leaving.

"Wow," was all I could say. Jacob grinned at me.

"Too harsh?" he asked me, laughing a little at himself.

"I would say so, but considering she's still glaring at me I'm kind of inclined to say she deserved that," I answered. Jacob laughed even harder, and turned to see Anna shooting me an evil stare. She tried to smile when he was looking, but he still saw her.

"You weren't kidding!" Jacob cried, bursting into a fit to rival Lexi.

"It's not funny! No one's gonna like me now," I whined.

"Hey, would you rather have them or me?" Jacob asked me, winking in a ridiculously seductive way.

"Well..." I said, pretending to contemplate my answer. Jacob gasped in mock horror.

"I'm offended Kerri!" he said, turning away dramatically. I laughed, and he fake glared at me.

"You do a good Anna," I told him, which instantly made him laugh.

"Awh man, Kerri," he said once he had recovered, "I feel like I've known you forever!"

"That's like the exact same thing Adam said to me earlier," I said. The smile fell off Jacob's face.

"Adam?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, "we walked here from Biology together. It got kinda weird," i admitted. Jacob looked less than pleased.

"What did you guys talk about?" he asked me.

"Not much. He wanted to know how I was getting along so far," I told Jacob.

"Oh, really? Anything else?" Jacob asked, sounding annoyed.

"Lexi and Jayson. You..." I said, trailing off. Jacob's face flattened into a poker face, and I had no idea what he was thinking.

"Me?"

"Yeah. You."

"What about me?" he asked.

I hesitated, but then I decided to just tell him. How badly could it turn out, really?

"Well, I told him I was spending free period with you. He was teasing me. He thinks I like you or something..." I trailed off.

"Do you?" Jacob asked quietly. I didn't answer. Instead my first reflex was to run.

"Oh, I think I heard the bell. Gotta go meet Lexi!" I cried.

"Kerri, we're only halfway through free period," Jacob said.

"I have to go," I whispered. I dropped my head to the desk, pretending to pore over the notes I had in front of me.

"Kerri..."

I looke up, and all I could see was Anna staring at me, silently laughing. They were all laughing. All of them. Oh no! Not here, please no not here. I couldn't be having a panic attack right now!