Under The Radar

Chapter 1

There was a routine that Margot stuck to and at this point, she was no longer sure if it was due to habit or need.  Purposefully keeping things low-key, she went about the daily grind, making the effort to blend in at the small town she had moved to a couple of years ago.   Routine kept things simple, monotony leaving drama at bay.  Surprises are fairly rare and more than preferable.  She did miss the noise and excitement sometimes but she had had enough of those to last a lifetime.  She didn't think being invisible would take so much work, but it did, especially if you move into a small town in nowhere America.

She never expected it to be easy in the beginning.  It never was in a quaint town where everyone knew just about everything of everyone.  But she worked hard on it, easing herself into the forgettable town to fade into its average background.

Margot exhaled the deep breath she seemed to always take every morning before she turned off her car.   She was lucky enough to find a parking spot, miraculously dodging the steady stream of students who were making their way to the local high school.  It was a decent school with decent folk, something she had welcomed when she started mid-freshman year.

Fade, Margot, fade.

As soon as she opened her car door, her attention was jerked towards a roar of boisterous laughter about five cars away.  Two jocks were having a playful scuffle while their friends cheered them on.  For a second, she saw herself in the middle of the crowd, confident stance, and eyes lowered to anyone who made eye contact.  She folded her lips in and shook her head, not because of the cliché picture she must've seen countless times since she started in this school, but to shake off a memory that she'd been trying just as hard to forget.  At seventeen, she felt she was too young to have a 'past' to run away from.

She started walking towards the school building, the sound of privileged boys fading with every step she took.  

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Unfortunately, as much as Margot tried to practically camouflage herself in a sea of high schoolers, her distinctive chocolate skin, amber eyes, and baby face were not that easily passed over.   Even if it was hidden under a pair of generic glasses, a non-descript white tee and blue jeans.

From the group of jocks, one elbow stuck out insistently to get the attention of the quarterback while his head gestured to the retreating back of the pretty, dark-skinned girl.   The massive quarterback stopped his cheering distractedly, and looked quickly at his friend.  Taking the hint, his head turned immediately.   Anxious aquamarine eyes zeroed in on the back of the girl who was already too far.  

Andy has watched the Jacob McGibbon for the most part of their Junior year, try but fail miserably on downplaying this infatuation on the somewhat newcomer in town.   For those who noticed in their inner circle, they would tease him incessantly in the beginning.   They looked like overgrown hens in a chicken coop about to be fed with all the elbowing that goes around when Margot will pass by.   The jokes are fine when they're out of earshot from everyone else but Jacob steps out of character when she's nearby and someone blurts a passing comment.

They were all amused at how one of the usually chillest dudes they knew would suddenly lose his cool with one out-of-line Margot comment.  Not that he hasn't been in fights before, but not as often people thought.  It was just weird to see how much this one girl affected him.

There was one time that it got out of hand when the self-proclaimed man-whore of their group implied that he kind of had a thing for her too.  The rest of the group was about to agree, because let's be honest - she was a very pretty girl and a cool person once you've had a chance to talk to her.  Anybody would've easily been attracted.   Nods of agreement quickly stopped when Gio ducked under a fist that came out of nowhere.  Before they knew it, there was a full on fight with almost everyone keeping Jacob from reaching Gio.   Built like any quarterback and standing at 6'5", Jacob looked like an angry bull.  Gio was just the color red.

It took about three days before Jacob decided to suck it up and sincerely apologize to Gio. Needless to say, Jacob had laid his claim and the quiet girl was off-limits.  The good thing about it was nobody else really knew why it happened.  People made assumptions but not enough to reach the one girl who didn't need to know.

Jacob had been eyeing the girl since they saw her their sophomore year.  

He had played it cool though.  He was one of those who people automatically thought was cool because he was handsome, played sports, and rich.  The cliché privileged kid.  By Junior year, he had played the field a little, not really getting serious with anyone, had asked any girl who piqued his interest, and never really heard the word 'no' come out of their lips.

He thought that mid-Junior year, Margot would be one of those girls.  Didn't really pan out that way.  

He realized that she couldn't be any of those girls.

Andy watched the scene play out right now, from the quiet girl being swallowed by a crowd of kids trying to beat the first bell, to the surprisingly determined look on Jacob, whose eyes stayed focused on the school doors.

Uh oh.  

Andy shook his head and exchanged knowing glances between a couple of guys in the group. Something's up and it's going to happen soon. 

 This was going to be an interesting Senior year.