Callie cornered me at lunch. “Okay. Spill it.” She set her tray down and plopped into the seat next to me. She leaned her elbows onto the table eagerly, and waited for the juicy details. She wasn’t going to get them. She should know by now that, when it came to boys, I wasn’t as exciting as she expected me to be.
“Apparently you already know,” I said coyly as I bit into a cracker.
“I had to hear it from Kathy.” Her voice dripped of disapproval. Kathy was the self-appointed school gossip. Of course she would be all over Alec and me talking in the hallway. She also had a way of exaggerating the facts.
“Heard what exactly?” I asked.
“You and the new kid were skipping together and getting chummy this morning. I can’t believe you stood me up and didn’t at least tell me it was for a boy, let alone a hot one.”
Our friends, Josh and Danny, sat down across from us. Josh had a thing for Callie, though neither of them knew it yet. In eighth grade, I endured seven minutes in heaven with Danny. Really, only thirty seconds. We spent the other six and a half minutes comparing playlists. That was the closest I have ever come to having a boyfriend.
“I heard you two are going out tomorrow night,” Josh volunteered.
“I heard the quarry tonight,” Danny countered.
“The quarry?” I squeaked. Where the entire school goes to park and make out? Me?
My three friends laughed. They knew me and knew how ridiculous the rumors were. The rest of the school unfortunately...
I turned to Callie in desperation. “We just talked.” Not only was it embarrassing, but I felt a little guilty about it. She had been the one admiring him from afar for days. “It was nothing. He probably doesn’t even remember my name.”
“Uh-huh,” Callie said with a goofy look on her face. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Then why is he on his way over here right now?”
“What?”
I turned in a panic as Alec strolled up behind me, holding out a purple and yellow folder with a lily on the front that I recognized as mine. He looked like he thought he should be embarrassed to have it in his possession, but didn’t care. Not really. He was the type of guy that could take a small hit to his ego. It wasn’t going to go anywhere.
“I found this mixed in with my math homework. Imagine how humiliated I was pulling it out in front of the whole class.” The smile in his eyes made the jade sparkle, and I had a hard time looking directly at them.
“Oh, sorry about that.” I took the folder from him with a grimace. “That can’t be easy to overcome. That’s probably going to be how everyone will remember you now.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m ruined for the rest of my high school career. The whole four months.” He stared at me a beat, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “You owe me.”
How did he make that sound so...hot? I smiled awkwardly as my cheeks warmed. A quick glance confirmed that at least half of the ever-observant eyes in the cafeteria were watching us. Alec noticed at the same time I did, and he took a step back, raising his hand as if to wave goodbye.
And Callie kicked my shin. Hard.
The words tumbled out of my mouth before I had time to second guess myself. “Hey, Alec, do you want to sit here? With us?” I shot a frantic look at Callie, who grinned from ear to ear. “Or do you already have a table?”
He drew in a breath, and squinted his eyes thoughtfully as he surveyed the room. “I’ve experimented a bit. I’m definitely not welcome at the jock table. Or the smart kids table. The outcast table had some promise…”
Our table had been uncomfortably empty all week, with only the four of us. I knew Callie was happy for Alec to join us. Josh looked up from his lunch with an indifferent shrug. Danny was on his phone, and not paying attention.
“You can join the nomad table,” I suggested with a nod towards the chair next to mine.
He glanced at Callie and Josh, and must have seen something reassuring because he sat down and threw me a look that made my head spin. “This might be my favorite one,” he said.
I pretended not to notice the way I blushed under his gaze. “Good. Glad to have you.”
Josh grunted something, and I wasn’t sure if he was agreeing or disagreeing with me. Callie, I swear, squealed in delight. She was certainly happy to have adopted Alec into our lunch circle. That close knit group was practically family. Well, it used to be. Maybe it could be again. Alec was nice, funny, and easy on the eyes. With him here now, lunch might not be as miserable as it had been.