Nomads

Chapter 13

Luca felt like he was suffocating.

He was sitting with his friends at 'their' table, trying his best to ignore the pointed stares and poorly concealed whispers from the other students as his friends around him gossiped about the new girl.

"Is she here yet?"

"I think we should apologize for what we said about her aunt when she comes," Maggie murmured.

"I'm not going anywhere near her. What if she tries to kill us or something?" scoffed Sarah.

"I would love to see her try," chuckled Julia with a cheeky grin.

"Oh my gosh! Is that the new girl?" hissed someone from another table.

All the heads at their table but one snapped in the direction that the girl who spoke pointed.

"What is she wearing?" whispered Sarah, her face scrunched up in disgust. "Doesn't she know everyone dresses up on the first day?"

Julia rolled her eyes. "Clearly not. But she does look cool though."

"And hot," added Mason.

"No she doesn't." Sarah looked up at Luca. "Right, Luke?"

Luca sighed and muttered, "What?"

"The new girl, you idiot. Do you think she's pretty?" questioned Julia with a mischievous smirk.

Luca followed his gaze over to where the rest of the school was pointing and whispering at a girl dressed in sweats and sneakers who was sitting at an empty table.

When she turned her head to reach into her bag, Luca's breath caught in his throat.

It was her. It was Naomi.

He stood up abruptly and started making his way over to her, feeling a incredulous smile blossom on his face despite himself.

"Luke! What are you doing?" Hissed Sarah. "Don't go over there! What if she attacks you?"

He almost laughed at that, instead choosing not to respond. A new round of surprised whispers exploded around him as he came to a halt in front of the 'new girl'.

"Naomi?" He called, still having a hard time believing she was there.

Her head snapped up and his grin widened at the shocked look on her face.

She blinked several times as took him in, the shock slowly morphing into a broad smile.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

He laughed, causing several people around them to gasp. "Very funny." He sat down across from her.

"Hey, whoa, buddy. That seat's taken."

"Yeah, I figured you were saving it for someone." His smile fell. "You never called."

"Would you believe me if I told you that a ginormous biker looking dude with the coolest beard you've ever seen slammed into me when I was on my way to get my ticket and made me drop my phone, causing it to shatter like glass? And that the new phone I got is only receiving texts and calls, not sending them out?"

"Maybe." he murmured with a shrug. "On one condition."

"Shoot."

"There's this cherry tree at the bottom of Goliath Hill. Meet me there after school, and I'll hear you out."

"I just told you exactly what happened. What more do I need to say?" she asked, laughing.

"Just do it, okay? The assembly is about to start, and my friends over there are going to spontaneously combust if I don't get back over there and explain myself. And I wanna talk to you," he leaned forward and lowered his voice, glancing sideways to the students around them who were unashamedly listening to their every word. "Without an audience."