Alleyway BxB

VI (Ridgeway)

FRIDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER
MARCELLO LOCKHEART

I dug into my lunch and couldn't help but notice the table right in front of my own. The girls eyed me down in little second-long sessions—glanced at me before giggling to each other. At first it was okay, but it had gone on for the entire lunch now and reached the point of frustration. I hated it when people stared when I ate--at least wait for me to stop stuffing my mouth. Marcella always told me that I shovelled a lot more than I could really chew. I disagreed, but maybe I just looked gross while doing it. I nudged Zach, "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right?" just wanted to make sure I wasn't exaggerating or that I hadn't just timed my glances during the most coincidental times possible.

"Yeah, and they're making me regret sitting next to you," he mumbled, kept his head down. "You know they're filming, right?"

I looked over again and noticed the phones that were held up 'discreetly' to face me; held at too much of a vertical angle to be a practical way to hold comfortably hold a phone. One of them even mimicked texting. The look of my sandwich was comforting, beckoned me to stay seated until the final bite, but the uncomfortable looks on my friends' faces were glaring. I dealt with cameras almost every day of my life but couldn't imagine how it felt to just be thrown so suddenly into the lifestyle.

The girls sat mixed with a group of boys—the varsity football team. They must have been the cheerleaders or their flock of girlfriends or both. Nathan and Cameron were there but Nathan had his back towards me and was identical to Zach—slouched over to avoid being on camera. There was some free space next to him on the bench.

I made the decision, wrapped up the rest of my food and picked up my bag. "I'll sort it out." I stood up and immediately had the attention of just about every living soul in the room.

How interesting could that have been? I did nothing.

I slid into the spot next to Nathan and the girls fumbled with their phones, one even dropped hers onto the table. I managed to get a glimpse at the screen to see that it was, not surprisingly, recording. "Girls, if you wanted photos, you really just had to ask. My friends aren't too keen on being recorded back there."

"Do you really have to be sitting here?" Nathan asked and there was this constant sigh in his tone. He was as bright-eyed as I had ever seen him and by that, I meant the shine in his eyes were about as lustrous as sand paper. Gone was the zest and charm of the student body president that I met yesterday.

Before I had the chance to reply with anything snarky, I was interrupted by one of the girls in a Monarch jacket.

Nathan's jacket.

"No one asked you to be so rude, Nathan," she snapped. All menace dissipated as she turned to look at me though; it was replaced by an overly sweet smile that was unnerving at the very least. "We're so sorry about that. We're a little shy, it's all."

"Not really a trait I'd expect from a group of cheerleaders but that's fine, I suppose." All I had to do was glance around at the looks on the boys' faces to know that she was lying.

So far, Dallon and the boys were telling the truth.

"So, Marcello," one of the girls started, grabbing my attention. "If you don't mind us asking, tell us about your next movie and... what's the status with that super model you were dating?"

And it begun. The gateway question into most of the dates I had ever been asked out on. Not that every partner I had was a model "Can't say too much about the first one and it's over, unfortunately," I made sure my reply sounded as neutral as I could put it, but I couldn't be happier on the inside. No matter how badly we ended, I kept it out of public opinion. Well, I tried to but she had something else in mind.