Falling For You | Stydia in Reverse

Chapter Three

I take the long way to my locker, which just so happened to include walking in the opposite direction to Stiles and Malia, who are now holding hands as they walk towards the cafeteria. How foolish am I to believe that a boy who sat with me for one lesson could be attracted to me? I think as I grab the books I need from my locker. As I shut the locker door, Allison, the girl I had run into before is standing next to me, startling me slightly. "Hi Lydia, again," she waves and flashes me a smile.
"Hey Allison," I reply, a little shocked she had even remembered my name. There were people at this school who had known me most of my life who forgot my name on a regular basis.

"I love your sweater, where'd you get it?" Allison reaches an arm out to feel the soft cloth of my sleeve.
"My mother used to own this little boutique, so she gets discounts on designer clothing."
"And you are my new best friend," Allison laughs as I notice Jackson walk over to us.
"Hey, you coming to watch my practice this afternoon?" Jackson asks as he taps me on the shoulder, ignoring Allison. As close as I am with Jackson, I have to admit that he does tend to come across as rude more often than not. I nod in response to his question.
"Practice? Do you guys play basketball?" Allison asks, rearranging her posture as if to show her inclusion in the conversation.
Jackson scoffs. "Basketball? No. In this town, the sport is lacrosse."

I can see that Allison is slightly taken aback by Jackson's attitude, and I wish I could tell her that you just need to warm up to him, but he was standing right there. Instead I choose to go with a light-hearted joke. "Yeah, not that you would know. You spend most of your time on the bench." I can see Jackson begin to get embarrassed as he mutters in response.

"You don't mind if I sit with you two at lunch, do you?" She asks, fumbling to close her locker, suddenly nervous.
"Of course not, if you don't mind hanging out with a couple of dorks," Jackson smiles. I was happy that Jackson was warming up to Allison already, I wasn't sure what it was about her, but I really wanted to form a friendship with her. We walk into the busy cafeteria, lining up for food and grabbing our trays of unappetising lunch as we look around for a spare table. Allison's face suddenly lights up as she waves to someone. "Let's sit with them, I talked to Scott in history class, he seems really nice." She begins to walk over to the table, with Jackson close behind before I have time to protest, noticing Stiles and Malia also at that table. Allison takes a seat next to Scott, Jackson sits at the head of the table, which gives me no choice but to sit next to Stiles.

I awkwardly sit down on the uncomfortable green plastic chair, struggling to fit my tray on the table that already has twelve people surrounding it. "Hey, long time no see," Stiles says to me with a wink. I feel my self smiling, no verbal response, just smiling for a little too long like the dork Jackson has already labelled me to be. I eat in silence for a while, taking small bites of my apple as I struggle to digest the four continuous conversations simultaneously occurring around me. Suddenly Allison's voice stands out to me.

"We should hang out this weekend," she says to Scott confidently.
"Sure."
"Cool, what are we doing?" Malia's voice suddenly interjects. Scott shoots a look of annoyance over to Malia, who shrugs and replies "I'm so bored, if you guys are doing something I want to be involved." She wraps an arm around Stiles shoulder.
"Well, I was thinking we could go bowling?" Allison suggests, as if not sure how to take Malia's bossy approach. I begin to listen in closer, I'd always enjoyed bowling.
"I love bowling!" Stiles smiles with excitement.
"Are you serious?" Malia gives Stiles a look of disgust. "I can't think of anything worse. Do you know how many people stick their disgusting little fingers into those bowling balls, and their disgusting little feet into those clown shoes?"
"Well I'm not going to watch another chick flick!" Stiles whines in protest.
"Fine, go bowling without me then." I awkwardly shift in my seat, as the couple's bickering continues beside me.
"If you don't go I'm just going to be the awkward third wheel." Stiles takes a sip from his water bottle with an agitated look spread across his face.

"Lydia, why don't you come?" Allison's question comes as a surprise to me, and it seems to come as a shock to everyone else as well. They are all suddenly staring at me, awaiting my response. "Can you bowl?" She continues after I don't reply for a couple of seconds.
"Umm, yeah I guess." I look down, as if I am all of a sudden completely interested in my food. I can feel Malia's glare on me, glaring into the side of my head like a burning hot ray of sun.
"Awesome, you and me against Allison and Scott then," Stiles says, smiling. I look up at him and our eyes interlock for a couple of seconds, making it feel as if there is nobody else in the universe but us. "How good of a bowler are you?"
"I'm a great bowler," I respond, trying to stay confident. The bell rings as Stiles points to Allison and Scott. "We are totally going to kick your asses!"

I walk down the stairs towards my next class, with Jackson a step behind me. "You're a terrible bowler!" He exclaims, his eyebrows raised as if awaiting my explanation.
"I know, I don't know why I said that." I bite my lip slightly.
"I know why," he catches up and turns to face me. "Because you've been in love with Stiles for about ten years now." I've always guessed that Jackson knew how I felt about Stiles, but I wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction of knowing I was desperately in love with someone I never had a chance of being with.
"That hypothesis is completely and utterly absurd and incorrect," I reply, knowing how much it annoyed and confused Jackson when I used words that made it sound as though I had just swallowed a dictionary. Jackson scrunches up his face in annoyance, before saying "see you at practice," in a mocking tone.