Love at first bite

Chapter 2:

Karla didn't stop thinking about John and how he tensed at the name Mary yesterday. Karla was worried about it. She didn't know what to do but she didn't want to talk to him about it because she might get the feeling that John wasn't telling the whole truth. Karla didn't know why she was thinking so much about a guy she just met or a guy that she didn't have that long of a conversation with. There was something about John that made Karla feel like a giddy teenage girl that loved talking about boys. That didn't seem like something Karla would do because she didn't always love being the center of attention. It was something that she always told Charlie because with Charlie it didn't mind. As well with Charlie it would be better to have one voice and one opinion than five different opinions. Karla knew that her friends were more of a gossip than her but also had her best interest at heart.
"What are you thinking about?" Mary had asked.
"Oh. Didn't know i was thinking that hard. Its just something. Ill tell you later." Karla replied.
They were getting their lunch that day at school while looking for Genevieve and Katy. Karla had been friends with Katy for years and when Katy met Mary that was the year Genevieve moved into town. Genevieve didn't need too many friends even though it seemed like everyone still wanted to be her friend.
"So. There is nothing about John huh?" Mary questioned.
"Mary. I don't even know whats going on with that. Charlie wanted to beat his butt yesterday for checking me out in the hallway. Think she finally came around that whatever his reason this is something i have to learn. Truth be told. I don't know if i want to get to know him. This might just be something that where there isn't too much to tell." Karla had stated.
Karla saw Mary rolled her eyes. Karla knew that she was lying to the both of them. Right now there isn't to much to tell. But that didn't stop the fact that Karla did want to get to know John. Karla knew not to get to close to fast with John. Charlie had taught her never to get to close to fast with a guy. It ended badly for a guy that Charlie thought that she was going to spend forever with. It was one of those times where her parents both had taken roughly a month off from work to make sure that both Charlie and Karla where fine. Karla didn't know why her parents thought she needed their attention when it was Charlie who was heartbroken. Karla learned to keep guys at an arms length. It was nothing against Charlie but Karla knew where Charlie was coming from. Karla knew that Charlie didn't want her to hurt the way Charlie had.
"Have you guys seen the new people? They are like totally beautiful." Katy stated as she met both Mary and Karla at their usual table.
"We were just talking about this one guy. He was talking to Karla yesterday in Chem. Think he might be into her." Mary stated.
Karla rolled her eyes before answering. "That was because you were being your usual self. Plus there's nothing to tell. He just asked if we were friends. You need to stop reading into things that might not even be there. He might not even be into me. You both need some Charlie."
They both laughed at the expression that we came up with freshman year. We were talking about Charlie and how level headed she was and wasn't into everyone's business. Think that is where i got it from. From watching Charlie.
"Well he has been looking at you quite intensely since yesterday in the hall." Mary stated.
"Think its cute." Katy stated.
"Or creepy. Just i know what you both are doing. You're listening to the rumors that have been going around." Karla spoke.
It wasn't hard to notice that rumors were being spread about the new students. Yes, there was really nothing to go on. But that doesn't mean that they deserved to be talked about like this. But with small towns like Hannah, Texas it was hard not to talk about any and everything. Karla knew that this might be going on for awhile and that was something that she didn't like. She knew what it felt like to be talked about. She hated it and quite frankly part of the reason why she didn't like being the center of attention.
"Not our fault this is news for the first time in a while." Katy spoke.
"And it will probably be over next week anyways when Jonah does something embarrassing again. That boy is embarrassing himself every other week it seems like." Genevieve stated.
It was true. As much as Karla hated being the center of attention it was nice to have someone who liked being the center of attention and was always coming up with new ways to get people talking. Karla knew that it wouldn't last forever and that we would probably be talking about that time Jonah was caught trying to smuggle food from the grocery store that he could have easily bought. But it didn't think that just because these people where new that they deserved to have rumors being spread about them.
It didn't help knowing that those feelings were back. The ones that made her know that something was off. Karla remembered that Charlie said that she felt it too. Karla always brushed off the feelings because she didn't know what they meant. She was thinking way to hard that she didn't hear the bell ring stating that it was time to go to the next class.
"You are thinking way to hard about something. What is it?" Genevieve asked.
"I don't know exactly what it is. I just have this feeling that something is off somehow. I think that it might have something to do with the new people. You know me. Will probably do research." Karla replied.
Genevieve was the only one out of her friends that Karla felt like she could trust. Yea, Genevieve was into the gossip as they all were because it was a small town. But Genevieve didn't go around telling people other peoples business. What Karla and Genevieve talked about said between them. Genevieve was the only one who knew about the missing ancestor that no one knows what happened to.
"Ok. This might be weird. But what if it has something to do with that ancestor of yours that went missing in the 1400s. Didn't we find that weird things happened around his disappearance as well?" Genevieve asked.
"Well yea but that doesn't mean someone is going to go missing." Karla answer.
"Doesn't it? Just think about it." Genevieve stated.
Karla knew that Genevieve was on to something. There was something fishy when they both dug into her ancestor's case. Was it true that what was happening then could be happening again? That someone might be ready to disappear again? Karla couldn't think about someone going missing. Especially someone that she cared about. Karla didn't notice but someone was listening in on that conversation with Genevieve. Of course, Karla and Genevieve were nowhere near the right answer of what really happened to him. It was like trying to solve a cold case that hasn't been solved in almost a 1000 years. Karla decided to put it on the back burner till she knew that she could get around it.
John was waiting in his usual seat when Karla showed up for Chem. Mary was smiling at the chance that Karla could be talking to John again. Karla honestly thought that Mary was crazy when it came to some things and this was one of those times. Karla smiled at John as she took her set. When she sat down she instantly felt that pull towards John that wasn't there yesterday. Karla didn't know if it was because of all the time that she thought about him or what. But there was no hiding that it was there. John smiled back like there was nothing wrong.
"I'm so sorry about yesterday. I'm Karla." Karla stated.
"John. I think your sister was looking alittle intense yesterday." John spoke.
"Well shes alittle protective. She just doesn't want to see me hurt. I just don't know what to think since you're the first guy to ever show interest in me. Most think I'm weird." Karla stated.
"Weird can be a good thing. I hope to get to know the real you. Weird and all." John told her.
It was weird to know that someone wanted to get to know her for who she was. Not for what he thought she could do for him. Karla didn't know how much she was going to tell John if she was going to let him in at all. If her sister was already thinking that something was going on and smelling fishy then something probably was. Especially if they were both on the same page with this. It was very rare that both Charlie and Karla both felt something was up at the exact same time. But they were this time and Karla didn't know how to make of it.
John was nice enough to walk Karla to her locker when class was over. He saw the artwork that she had within her locker and Karla was embarrassed. She usually never let anyone see her artwork because she always thought that her work wasn't good enough. John took one of her pictures and looked at it. He noticed it was a stretch of a field with two people in the middle.
"Who are the two people?" John asked.
"I don't know. I cant see their faces. I saw everything but the peoples faces. I didn't want to draw the faces if it didn't fit with the picture." Karla replied.
She saw Charlie at the end of the hall giving them both a look. Karla knew that Charlie was watching them to make sure that John stayed in his lane. It was hard to make new friends when it constantly felt like they weren't good enough for your sisters standards of friends. It always felt like Karla couldn't have friends that were guys because Charlie always thought they were bad news. But this one felt different. Karla didn't know why. But with John it felt comfortable. Like she could be herself around him. Like she could be the person she was around Mary, Katy and Genevieve. For some reason, this felt right.