Match

eight

I turned my phone off as I sat in the diner, a popular one modeled after the fifties diners if I wasn't mistaken. I smiled at the girl that walked up to my table, younger than me by a few years with beautiful green eyes hidden by glasses. His dark hair was braided back out of her face, and she was probably considered tall for her age.

"Hi I'm Jessica, can I get you started with something to drink?" I brushed my finger over my lip as I glanced at the menu before I glanced back up to her, something nagging me in the back of my head.

"The strawberry shakes, amazing or would I be better off with water." She grinned at me from where she stood, leaning against the booth on the other side of me.

"Personally, I think they're to die for." I chuckled as I nodded, watching her write it down before walking back to the counter.

I pulled out an old book I borrowed from the library, trying to make myself got lost in it before eventually giving up and just looking out the large window that surrounded the front of the diner. I wasn't really all that hungry, but I had no idea where to go.

Which was kind of pathetic, my home wasn't really much of a home and I was too terrified to go out into the real world. My mother always harped on about someone noticing me and noticing who I was, even if I had an alter ego that I thought hid me pretty well. It's hidden me all these years I've gone to school, so I should be fine at the mall right?

And yet, it still scared me. That I'd get there and within minutes a mob would attack me and I'd die right there in the middle of an old navy.

"Hey, you're Rose right?" I glanced up, green eyes meeting my own. They belonged to a boy I'd seen around school before, his dark hair brushed back and his eyes hidden behind glasses. He grinned as he gestured to the seat, taking my hesitant nod as a yes.

"I'm sorry, I've seen you around school but never caught your name." I said quietly, smiling to Jessica as she brought my shake and set it in front of me.

"Uh, are you alright?" She asked me quietly, my heart warming as I smiled up to her.

"Yes, I'm alright. Thank you though." She nodded, glancing over to the boy before walking back to the counter. I watched as she pulled her phone out, typing on it for a moment before returning to rolling silverware.

"Wil, my name is Wil." I looked back to him, offering him a soft smile as I nodded.

"What can I do for you Wil?" He pulled out a book, the same book for my history class I shared with Silas and Kota. I glanced back up to him, watching him pull out the syllabus we'd gotten at the beginning of the year.

"I'm in your AP World History class, we have a project due at the end of the semester. She technically hasn't brought it up yet, but I was wondering if you wanted to be my partner?" I raised an eyebrow before accepting the syllabus he slid across the table to me. It was a deep project over an ancient civilization of our choosing, problem was it was a three to four person project.

"Did you have two other people in mind for the project?" I asked him, glancing up when the bell rang for the door opening.

I shrunk down slightly at the sight of Kota and Nathan, both of their eyes hard as they looked around. I ignored the burning I felt once they saw me, staring only at Wil.

"Well, I was thinking it could be just you and me."

"You and me for what?" Nathan's voice was louder than I expected, my cheeks burning red and I groaned inwardly.

Wil jumped slightly, looking perturbed as he looked to where Nathan and Kota both were giving him a look. "Well, w shave a project and I was hoping she and I could work on it."