All I Need

Part 3

That was...amusing. He'd been knocked into a few times before by girls who were trying to get his attention, so when a girl came barreling into him in the stairwell he thought that's what he was dealing with, but when he realized she wasn't even looking at him, flustered as she tried to apologize at the same time that she was gathering her things, he reassessed the situation.

He didn't recognize her, not that he knew every single girl that went to their school. Since it was a new year there would be a new crop of freshman he wouldn't be familiar with, but she didn't have that scared, wide-eyed innocence that was typical of a freshman, besides one of the books she'd dropped was a higher course level text, one he recognized from his last English class. She had shiny dark hair, warm, brown eyes, and what looked to be naturally tan skin. She was taller than a lot of girls, though still shorter than he was, and she was wearing a t-shirt with the name of a band he recognized only because of Seth.

Her rambling was cute, especially when she realized what she was doing and her cheeks turned pink. He wished he'd had a chance to get her name, but the moment he'd reminded her of the class she'd been complaining about being late for, she hadn't stuck around, further confirming that his initial concerns were unfounded. He had to admit he'd also enjoyed watching her as she walked away. She had a nice ass, small waist, full hips and long legs all encased in ripped skin-tight skinny jeans. When she glanced over her shoulder, he thought he'd been caught checking her out, but she must not have noticed because her cheeks darkened again before she' hurriedly looked away and then she was gone.

He made his way to his third period study hall, talked the teacher into giving him a pass to go to the library, and took a meandering path to get there, amusing himself by startling couples hiding in the backs of the stairwells, and trying to get the mystery girl off of his mind. He didn't meet a lot of girls that sparked his interest anymore. After his last attempt at finding someone who was both cute and interesting (and also not trying to hook up with him just so she could brag that she had) had failed, he'd decided to focus on other things--crossfit, hiking, wrestling,art, music, soccer, even keeping his grades up--and he'd been happy to find that he didn't miss the companionship like he thought he would. Of course after he'd thought about it some, he realized that was because he'd never found the companionship he was looking for to begin with, and you can't really miss what you never had. He'd almost forgot what it was like to really feel interested, to feel that spark, the excitement and buzz of attraction. He really wished he'd had a chance to get her name.

Despite his attempts to distract himself and even the preoccupation of his fourth period math class he was still thinking about her when he was headed towards the cafeteria. He was looking forward to seeing Sasha, glad she and Seth both had the same lunch period as he did. He'd ran into her briefly in the hall earlier, and they'd chatted long enough to compare schedules and  to agree they'd catch up at lunch. Sasha was excited to introduce him to her new friend, so he assumed her friend would be there too.

He ran into Seth on the way and they made their way through the line before trying to locate Sasha. He saw her distinctive bright purple hair through the crowd and followed it to where she was sitting before he stopped cold. The mystery girl from earlier was sitting next to his friend, animatedly telling her something and not paying attention to anything else around her. She was even prettier with her face all lit up with excitement, and he had a moment of realization. He remembered watching her walk away earlier, remembered watching her hips sway, remembered Seth's description 'the sweetest ass he'd ever seen' and he knew he had to agree. Sasha's new friend and his mystery girl were one and the same, and fuck if that didn't complicate everything.

Sasha looked up to see them and stood up to hug him and Seth. Seth had teased her about willingly showing him affection and she'd laughed. Finn was happy to see his two friends were finally willing to admit they were also friends, but that didn't distract him from the girl still sitting at the table. When she'd looked up and saw him, he'd seen the emotions play out on her face as she came to the same realization he had. She looked mortified, and he hated how her face had lost that glow that he'd seen when he first walked up. It made him want to do something, anything to bring it back. He sat down across from her and said,