Leap of Faith

Day Thirteen

“You’re still ignoring me?” I say to Georgie over lunch. All the guys around the table- and there are more here today than yesterday- shift awkwardly as the tension between me and my best friend intensifies. “What am I supposed to do, Georgie? Tell me what I can do to make this better, and I’ll do it.”

“Disinvite Nat,” Georgie tells me pointedly.

Ever since TJ opened his big mouth yesterday, Georgie has been giving me the cold shoulder. As soon as she found out Nathaniel was coming to the engagement party, she’s been trying to act like I don’t exist. Every message I had sent, every call I had made, every attempt to speak to her… she shut me out completely.

“Georgie-”

“It’s simple, Cate,” Georgie cuts me off sharply. “Either I’ll be there, or Nat will be there, but don’t expect to see us both there.”

For the second consecutive lunch time, Georgie stormed out. Unlike yesterday, instead of chasing after her, I stayed in my seat and hoped Georgie would come back once she was in a more rational mood. I wouldn’t hold my breath though because that girl could hold a grudge for ever. Just look at the lingering resentment aimed at Nathaniel.

Ok, so what he did was inexcusable and I’m not going to defend his whorish ways, but Nathaniel had slept with hundreds of girls before he left Capshaw and none of them held any obvious resentment towards him.

I groan audibly from frustration and feel my skin prickling as the boys all turn to stare at me. I noticed that Greyson had gone- probably to chase after Georgie- but all of TJ’s other friends were still here, and they all shot me amused stares.

“Everything ok, Cate?” Colton Spiller asked as the group’s spokesperson.

I nod and lie. “Everything’s fine.”

The boys took my reply at face value and quickly started up a conversation about soccer. I’d never given much thought about having boys as friends before, but as they gave me space to silently re-gather myself, I realized there were advantages to having them around. The only indication I had that any of them cared was the soft nudges TJ kept giving me. Granted, coming from him the nudges weren’t all that ‘soft’ but they were reassuring nonetheless.

When lunch ended, I headed for the art studio during my free period. I’d taken some more photographs over the weekend that I hadn’t developed yet, and as I prepped my quiet workspace, I heard the door creak open. Because of the conditions needed for my dark room, I waited until the person had closed the door before I peeked out of the heavy curtain.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Colton Spiller as he tangled himself in the drapery. He accidentally knocked into the table that held the stereo and we both moved to stop it from clattering to the ground. Colton got there before me but we still managed to knock heads as we stood up. I pulled back and held my palm to my forehead. “Are your bones bonded with adamantium or something?”

“Great comic book reference, Cate,” Colton laughed as he carefully placed the stereo back on the table. He popped open the CD compartment and laughed when he saw what I liked to listen to. “You are not a stereotypical girl, I’ll grant you that. We’ve never talked, have we?”