A Girl, A Guy and Wolfville High

Chapter 4

The conversation about the new guy at the basketball table continued. Britney was intrigued and wanted to find out some more information about him. Hailey said she overheard Sean saying that he was the new point guard. The topic of the conversation shifted when Madison mentioned she was feeling nervous.

"What's making you nervous, M?" Britney asked.

"Sean—what if he asks me to be his girlfriend later? What should I say?"

"Uh, you'd say, yes," Hailey said.

"Idk," Madison said, as she was fidgeting with her hair, "this is gonna sound weird, but I don't mean it to—and it's not like I don't like Sean—cuz I do, but I've never dated anyone before."

"Sean's nice," Britney answered, "and there's definitely a spark between you two."

"There totally is," Hailey agreed, "and he's looking over here again."

Madison smiled, "thanks, guys."

Britney reached across the table and held Madison's hands.

Hailey smiled and put her hands on Madison's as well, "OMG! Your hands are freezing!"

"Like I said, nervous."

The girls continued chatting about Madison's upcoming date. Given that DQ was the date venue, they began discussing their favourite Blizzard flavours until their conversation was interrupted by a certain Jean LeBlanc, Hailey's ex.

"Qu'est qui se passe?" Asked Jean, smiling at Hailey.

"Hello, Jean," she responded flatly. "I'm good."

He began to say something in French, but paused and then spoke in English, "I'm just going to cut to the chase. I was wondering if you were free—"

"Non," Hailey replied.

"But I just wanted to—"

"Non," she repeated.

"Would you call me at least?"

Hailey turned her head and stopped responding. Eventually, Jean took the hint and left. Hailey and Jean broke up after dating for a month last year. Unfortunately their spark had worn off, or rather it wore off for Hailey, but not for Jean. He once wrote Hailey a love letter that compared her marron (brown) hair to chocolate. It helped that he also provided a box of chocolates, you know, for a visual. Hailey said it was sweet, but Britney wasn't sure if she was talking about the chocolates or the letter.

"Thank God he's gone," Hailey said. Then she ranted about how Jean just needs to get over himself and leave her alone. Her rant was cut short when Madison asked about the note she gave to Sean.

"Hail," Madison said, "What did the note you gave to Sean say?"

"Oh, nothing too scandalous," Hailey replied, "just that you've been talking about him since Jaime's party and that I was pretty sure you wanted to go on a date with him but were too shy to say so."

"I am not shy!" Madison objected.

"Uh yeah, M, you kinda are, right Brit?"

"Sorry, M, but Hail's right. But on the bright side, you can't argue with the results, right?"

"I guess not."

"You're welcome," Hailey smiled. "It's like I always say, if something gets the desired result, nothing else really matters."

Once again Britney's eyes drifted over to the basketball table. She was somewhat captivated by the new guy from Montreal. He was handsome and his dark beard made him look older but in a good way. His olive skin made her think he was Hispanic, though she wasn't sure if he actually was. If only she knew his name. 

The bell rang signalling the end of lunch and broke the trance Britney was in. The girls put their lunch stuff away and made their way to class. Britney and Hailey went to Chemistry and Madison went to woodshop. Madison wished them good luck before they parted in the hall.

When they entered the classroom, Hailey sat in the front seat next to the window. Britney took the seat behind her. Britney's heart skipped a beat when she saw Mr. Montreal walk into the classroom. He shuffled past where they were sitting and took a seat in the column next to theirs. He dropped his backpack on the side of his chair, reached into his red hoodie and began scrolling his phone.

Out of the corner of her eye, Britney noticed Hailey was also staring at Wolfville High's new point guard. She was absentmindedly twirling her hair as she watched. His left arm was bent while his thumb dragged up and down the screen, making it look like he was flexing. The sleeve of his hoodie clung tight around his arm. Basketball had certainly done his body a whole bunch of favours. Several strands of his straight, black hair hung down by his forehead, and Britney thought it all looked perfectly messy.

Mr. Schwartz cleared his throat and began taking attendance. Britney listened intently; though not for her name, but for his. And she didn't have to wait long. "Antonio Villalobos," Mr. Schwartz called, "present," he replied in a deep tone. Antonio, that's his name, she smiled. It matches his face perfectly. 

When her name was called, she responded appropriately and saw Antonio look over, flashing her a smile. Immediately, she turned away and started writing the date on the right-hand corner of her notebook. Britney refused to look up and doodled three hearts on the left corner of the page with her pink pen, trying to look as uninterested in Antonio as possible. But she had to admit, there was something mysterious and inviting about his dark eyes.

The marker made a squeaking sound as Mr. Schwartz began writing on the whiteboard. On the outside, Britney looked like she was paying attention, but her mind was elsewhere. The name Villalobos continued ringing in her ear. She knew those two words had individual meanings in Spanish. 

But her brain had trouble summoning up their definitions from her eighth grade Spanish class. Villa had the same meaning it did in English, kinda like patio. So it meant, house—a fancy house, but a house nonetheless. Now for lobos, what did that mean again? Then she uttered an audible gasp as the definition hit her like a yellow school bus.

"Yes, Miss Kerry?" Mr. Schwartz asked as the whole class was now looking at her.

"Oh it's nothing, Mr. S," she replied, "I just find ionic bonds so fascinating."

"Excellent, I'm glad you have a passion for the subject, but please try to contain your enthusiasm."

"Yes, sir," Britney gave a firm nod.

Wolves. The word lobos means wolves in English. His name literally means house of wolves! If that isn't a sign nothing else is! At that moment, Britney also recalled that in the not too distant past, there were werewolf legends from Québec. Looking up, she glanced over to the olive-skinned Antonio and wondered if she was looking at a werewolf in the flesh. He had to be; she just needed a way to prove it.