Romance Monsters

Two

It took me almost two weeks to get settled into Theo's home. We drove from my home in Mesa, Arizona, to a small town in Wisconsin. The house was comfy, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, settled on a few acres that backed up to the woods. There was at least a mile between his house and the closest neighbors. You couldn't even see them because of the woods and winding roads. My jeep fit perfectly in his garage, and he let me have the entire basement as my room. He took me shopping endlessly to get anything I needed to feel at home. He was really something and went above what he needed. I was thankful.

The basement held a main living area, a bedroom, and a bathroom. It was homey and if i ever made any friends i'm sure it would've been a great place to hang out.

Theo left me alone for a few days and made sure I was okay before pushing the issue of school. I started the following Monday and I immediately regretted everything.

It was still the beginning of the year but i was a senior. I was starting over in a place where everyone knew everyone. I was going to be an outsider. I wasn't going to have any friends.

I pulled up to the small high school and immediately felt out of place. Everyone's cars were rusted and the parking lot consisted of mostly trucks. My jeep looked so out of place compared to everyone else's cars.

I went to the office and got my schedule and immediately an overly cheery blonde was by my side.

"Hi!" She chirped, "I'm Lizzy, I'm student council president and we are gonna be best friends!"

"Hi, I'm Mia," I sheepishly responded. Lizzy took my schedule and peered over my classes.

"We have four classes together!" She exclaimed. "I'll walk you to homeroom,"

I excused myself to the bathroom to escape first and I made sure I looked okay.

My dull brown eyes and wavy brown hair looked decent. I wore just a tshirt and jeans but I still felt out of place. This wasn't my home school. Plus, this place was freezing.

I met back up with Lizzy and she babbled the entire way through the maze of a high school to our homeroom. As soon as we hit the door I heard the idle chatter stop. I tried my hardest to keep my focus on the ground in front of me as I knew that I was being looked at.
"Ah, Amelia Jones!" The teacher, Mrs. Johnson greeted, "Welcome to physics. Your seat is the second to last table with Lizzy, go ahead." I glanced up and tried to make my way to the table without falling. I kept avoiding eye contact with everything and Lizzy excitedly made room for me. As soon as I sat down Mrs. Johnson launched into her lecture. I took this opportunity to look at the room when I thought everyone was bored of me.

Immediately my eyes locked with another pair of deep brown ones and I almost audibly gasped. The boy looking at me was, to say the least, gorgeous. His dark complexion and long brown hair complimented his features. He was sitting, but I could tell he was tall, taller than me for sure.

He was looking at me like i had three heads and when i realized i snapped my attention to the front of the classroom. I could feel his gaze the entire class and it took everything in me to ignore it.

As soon as the bell rang I followed Lizzy from the class. She said she would walk me to my next and began asking me about my life. All I could think about was the boy from Physics.

My next few classes went by quickly. English, Art, Algebra, and I was finally back with Lizzy at lunch. She dragged me to her table and introduced me to her friends Emma, Ava, Olivia, Sofia, and Charlotte. They all started asking me about Arizona and how I dealt with it being so hot.

"It's not bad if you're used to it," I laughed, "I miss it actually, it's really cold here."

"Okay but on a serious note," Ava interjected "Leo Williams is so staring at you"

I followed her nod and indeed, the same boy from physics was still looking at me like I had three heads. Actually, his whole table of friends were looking at me and whispering.

"Maybe they've never seen a girl before." I shrugged.

"No," Olivia cut in, "They don't look at any of the girls here. They exclusively keep to themselves. No sports, events, dances, and especially no girls. They all only ever talk to one if they have to in class. What I wouldn't give for any of them to even look at me."

The rest of the girls agreed and gossiped about the group of six guys like they were celebrities.

I tried to ignore their comments but they stayed in the back of my mind through the rest of my day. I had the rest of my classes with Lizzy and a few of them with the same boy, Leo. I purposefully ignored his stare that I felt on me. I paid attention to Lizzy and my lectures but he was on my mind the entire time.

The rest of my week went the same. My classes were easy, I became closer friends with Lizzy. I actually felt like I was getting into a routine.

The first Friday Lizzy invited me out to a football game with all of her friends. I was actually grateful she had been by my side since the literal beginning.

I drove and we wore matching bright red from head to toe. I almost laughed when she finished with my eyeshadow and war paint. I guess they went all out here.

She pulled me into the senior section with her and we were surrounded by her friends. I don't think anyone actually really paid too close attention to the game. We all stood on the benches of the bleachers and it seemed like they were actively trying to break the benches. The screaming and roaring of everyone actually made going twice as fun.

"Come on," LIzzy said as she clung to my arm as we left, "Lets go to Mae's diner. Everyone goes after the games."

So I drove with Lizzy's directions across town to a small diner that had the parking lot filled. We piled in and it seemed literally everyone was there from the game. I piled into a booth with the group of girls.

"I think he has a crush on you," Ava said, nodding once again to Leo who was with his friends across the room, eyes on me. I rolled my eyes and sipped on the milkshake that sat on the table in front of me.

"I thought they didn't go out to sports or games or do anything?" I asked, nodding my head toward the boys.

"They weren't at the game," Lizzy said, "But they do come here enough."

We all chattered and a moment later a slim , blonde haired boy appeared at the end of our table.

"Hey Ben," Olivia said as she scooted over the seat she was in to share with the boy.

"So listen," Ben said, as he sat down, "You're Mia right?"

"Uh yeah?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Go on a date with me." Ben said, his grin widening.

"I uh-"

Across the room I heard a chair fall and the diner fell silent. One of the boys at Leo's table literally stood up so fast his chair fell over. He picked up his chair and waited for the attention to go away from him when he crossed the room.

"So what do you say," Ben said, grabbing my attention again.

"Well i-"

"Benny boy," The boy from Leo's table interrupted. His voice was deep and caused Ben to visibly jump in the chair, "I heard you wanted to come and join the guys and I."

"Actually I was um," Ben stopped as his eyes met the boys. "Ya know. You're right, give me one second."

Ben turned back to me, a bigger smile on his face.

"Sure," I said, switching my gaze between the two teenagers. Ben winked and gave me his number before he slid from the chair and followed the other boy back to the table. "That was weird."

"I wouldn't go out with Ben," Emma said, trying not to look at me.

"That's just because he's your ex," Lizzy said, rolling her eyes.

"Aw jeez, I wouldn't have said yes if i knew. Actually, i'll go tell him I can't right now." I said

"No no, it's okay," Emma said sadly, still not looking at me.

"I insist." I was up from the table before she could say anything else and I crossed the room. Ben sat with the group of boys and as soon as he saw me he got up and met me halfway.

"Uh," He said, his hand rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "I actually had something come up."

"Yeah, I didn't know you and Emma had history, that's a deal breaker for me." I said, an understanding smile.

Ben literally looked relieved and glanced back to the table of boys who looked like they were listening to our conversation.

"Thanks for understanding," He smiled.

I turned and walked back to the table of girls and glanced back at Leo who was still staring at me. His friends were talking but he seemed to be only looking at me.

Things were getting weird here.