A Ray of Yellow

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Mr. Miller. Is the view outside more amusing than my lecture?" My teacher asked as I jerked in my seat. I looked around and saw everyone staring at me like they didn't even know I was here in the first place.

"Sorry, Mr. Morgan," I said as I shuffled uncomfortably in my seat. And I really was sorry. I was sorry that he was so boring that I could play an entire movie in my head just to pass the time.

I walked lazily through the swarm of people before finding my way to the cafeteria. I found my friends at our usual table and sat beside Julie before regretting it. She and her boyfriend, Cameron, were making out and it made me feel all weird and awkward. I mean, I get it, they're cute since they just started dating but, we're in school.

"Please break away. I'm eating," I complained.

Cam just smirked at me. "Don't be a prude," he said before giving me a hard pat on the back wich made me wince.

I just ate in silence before someone covered my eyes which was a bad idea cause I had glasses on. I grabbed their hand and they almost screamed loudly in surprise.

"Chill, Gray. It's just Kate," I heard Jules as I tried to find the owner of the hand.

"Sorry, Kate," I half-assed apologized. "Didn't see you there."

"That was the point of the eye-covering thing," Kate said as she sat beside me and a small laugh.

Kate's a girl. And she's really pretty. Quite smart, too. Other than the fact that she smudged my glasses, she was alright.

So why can't I seem to like her the way she wanted me to?

We talked about nonsense things like how stupid our teacher in Research was. Or how certain we were that our teacher in English wasn't really straight. Or the fact that our teacher in History has a different language unknown to men.

"So, what are we going to do for the summer?" Jules asked as she shoved a fry in her mouth.

"It would be fun if we had a road trip! I'll ask my mom if we can use her car." Kate suggested.

I scoffed. "And have them two have sex in the back while I drive? No, thanks." I said before Kate choked on her cola.

"You okay?" I asked as I rubbed circles on her back.

She nodded as the two laughed at her. I gave them the meanest glare I could muster, acting tough.

"It's true, though." Cam said.

"What the one with you two or the whole road trip fun extravaganza?" I asked with a smirk.

Julie blushed. "Shut up, Gray. It's weird coming from you. It's like a brother teasing me. God, I hate it." She said as she shivered.

I just chuckled at her. I've been friends with Jules since kindergarten. Back when I had a crush on her before she punched me in the face for calling her pretty.

I saw Nate across the cafeteria looking really sad as he stared at our table. Jules must have seen where I was looking because she turned and saw him too.

"What's wrong with Nate these days?" She asked. "I called him the other day to ask him for help on my project but he said that he was busy doing a project for someone else."

"How is that unusual? He's always helping other people like a saint." I said as I stuffed my face with the burger I brought.

She was silent for a moment. "It's just... he never really turned me down before. I was always on his top-priority list."