DISGUYSED

It's a date!

"My lunch sucks."

"No it doesn't. I have liverwurst. Effing liverwurst-"

"Hey, guys. I think Ron's asleep."

"Oh. I thought he died."

I heard the idle back and forth between Aaron, Parker and Paxton at lunch, my head resting on the table. I was only half asleep, to be correct. But within seconds I knew I'd be out like a light.

I had gotten no sleep last night. I'd been tossing and turning in my bed the whole time. "I'm awake." I slurred with all the voice I could summon.

"Hey! He's not dead!" Parker said, grinning. He turned to Aaron, "You owe me five bucks, dude!" Aaron sighed and got out his wallet, handing him over the money reluctantly.

"Are you okay?" I heard Paxton ask me over the loud clamor of the cafeteria.

I sighed and mustered up a small, "Yeah." In fact, I was anything but. "Just tired." I said half truly. It was true that I was tired; no sleep at all would do that to you. But the fact that I said it was just that couldn't be further from the truth.

"When'd you get to bed?" Paxton asked.

"I didn't." I yawned, setting my head back on the table, giving into the temptation to close my eyelids and yawn.

"Ouch." Paxton winced, sensing my pain. I nodded consensually and yawned.

"Hey!" I suddenly heard a loud voice bark, "I can't believe you started lunch without me!"

"Oh, many apologies, great Alex." I heard Parker say, bowing.

My eyelids blinked and opened wide. Alex? I looked up from within a small space between my elbow and the table and saw the glint of his gray eyes and dirty blond hair. Oh, he was so smug. Him with his presumably perfect smile and his presumably perfect eyes and his presumably perfect face. I looked down to his presumably perfect lips and felt my own tingle. I blushed and burrowed my head deeper in the crook of my elbow.

Stupid Alex.

"Good." Alex said, satisfied, and sat down in the seat next to me. I felt his elbow touch my own. My face heated up. My heart raced. I felt my palms get sweaty, and suddenly the change of attitude had me not feeling so tired and restless.

"You okay?" Drake said to me as I raised my head, his eyes wide. "You look like death."

"Gee, thanks." I mumbled, running a sweaty hand through my already damp hair. I felt my face burn. I was hot. Like, fever hot.

Stupid Alex. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"What's wrong?" Parker asked, a mouthful of liverwurst muffling his voice.

"N-Nothing." I said, hurriedly gathering my books together and standing up. "Just I remembered...I uh, have to study for my math test."

I heard someone guffaw, "That's in 3 weeks." I heard Alex say, his voice tainted with natural smugness, like usual. The glint of his gray eyes dug sharp rays of guilt into my own.

I tried to avoid his glance, "I want to get in the time now," I explained quickly, taking one last sip of my water before shoving everything in my brown paper bag and throwing it away in the garbage can closest to our table.

Before I left, I could hear Alex ask the table, "Was it something I said?"

I felt myself swallow back a small sob and gradually forced myself to stop shaking as I proceeded out the cafeteria. Without even clearly knowing it, my brain answered the rhetorical question for me.