Loser Lessons

Look What the Cat Dragged In

I arrived at school and immediately noticed Jesse standing with a group of friends. I recognized him by his blonde hair and strong, muscled back… and arms… and AH! Stop it!

                Ever since school yesterday, I couldn’t get Jesse out of my mind. It was the weirdest thing. I would get distracted by something like my parents talking to me, but then as soon as the distraction was gone, my brain went straight back to Jesse. He was like my minds default setting. I hardly even knew the guy, but he was all I could think of.

                Walking up to the main doors, I watched him talking with his friends, as he let out a loud laugh. I smiled to myself, how had I never seen him before now? I guess I was too caught up with hanging out with Carson, look at all the stuff I was missing. The people at this school I didn’t get to know because I was only hanging out with one person.

                If Carson had never been sick, I never would have got to meet Jesse whose blue eyes were looking into mine right now.

                Wait, what?

                “Hey Annie!” Jesse called out, attracting a lot of people’s attention. I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights as I forced a smile on my face and waved awkwardly; trying not to blush because of the stares I was receiving. He motioned with his hand for me to come over to him… I really didn’t want to, he was with his friends. But everyone was watching so I had no choice.

                “H-hey…” I stuttered tugging on the hem of my Star Wars t-shirt that Carson had bought me. I tried not to make eye contact with any of the popular kids.

                “Guys, this is my friend Annie.” I shot my head up as he said friend, and then blushed profusely. Why was I acting so weird? I knew how to act around these people; I used to be one of them…

                And Jesse was one of them.

                I bit my lip as thought about what I was doing. I didn’t want to have anything to do with being popular, but it was so tempting since it was right here… and Jesse was right here. It wouldn’t be so bad to hang out with them today, right? Carson would straighten me out when he felt better. That was the only reason I was hanging out with them… because Carson was sick.

                “You okay, blondie?” some guy asked, waving his hand in front of my face.

                “Sorry,” I snapped out of my trance and sent him a smile. Jesse laughed from beside me and threw an arm over my shoulder, sending tingling sensations throughout my body. I was grinning to myself but I made eye contact with a pair of deep brown eyes, and the grin immediately slid off of my face. “Taryn?” I gaped.

                “Annalise,” she replied, one eyebrow quirked up as she looked me up and down with a dissatisfied look on her face. She had her dark hair flowing behind her in the breeze while she wore an off the shoulder black cardigan, denim short shorts, and heels. Why was she looking at me like that? She was the one dressed for summer when it wasn’t even very warm outside.

                “You two know each other?” Jesse asked, looking a little concerned. Probably at Taryn’s hostility towards me.

                “No,” Taryn glared at me angrily, before turning on her heel and stomping off in the opposite direction.

                “What’s up her hot behind?” a dark haired boy asked as he flipped his hair out of his eyes. The group of them laughed but they all seemed to look at me, probably knowing I was the reason for her freak out. It was pretty obvious.