Legends: The Folklore Trilogy Book 2

Chapter 4-Where I Make "Friends"???

I was sitting down on the small bench running around the edge of the ship. The sun had finally fallen beneath the waves, and we were out of sight of the dock. It was colder out on the water after dark. I shivered a bit, but tried to remain strong. I had already made a first impression as a sissy once this week, and I really didn't need to do it again.

I noticed Isaac, the kind boy who liked art, sitting a few feet away. He seemed fairly comfortable, but a little lonely. Most boys had already grouped up and began talking amongst themselves; all except for me and him. I stared, strongly debating whether I should start a conversation. I'm horribly awkward at the best of times: at the worst of times I'm little better than a metaphorical octopus thrown into a crowded shopping mall and told to walk.

I fought internally with myself for several more minutes, until he looked up and noticed my staring. I quickly looked away, but it was no use. He smiled, stood up, walked the few feet, and sat next to me. I shoved my hands into my pockets. "Uh, sorry for staring at you. I didn't mean it, honestly."

"Oh," Isaac said amiably, "I don't mind. And I took it as an invitation to join you, if that's ok."

"Yeah," I responded dumbly. I cleared my throat. "Yeah you're totally fine."

There was a moment of silence as we sat. Then he spoke. "It's funny, you know, how people are actually talking because we weren't allowed to bring our phones. Otherwise I doubt you'd hear a single word this entire boat trip."

"Well, we were allowed to take our phones," I said, "they just said there would be no service and no outlets at the school so there's no point." Of course you idiot, he already knew that, and you just contradicted someone you've only been talking to for three minutes. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

But he laughed good-naturedly. "Yeah, I know. It's still cool."

I nodded. Say something Ravi...anything..."I don't know, I like my phone because when I'm with a group of people, I don't know, I can sort of...hide behind it, you know? Like so I don't have to talk to people because I'm really awkward and...yeah."

I inwardly facepalmed. You IDIOT Ravi, you made it worse. You made it sound like you didn't want to talk to him. I sighed. I'm hopeless.

But Isaac nodded seriously. "That makes a lot of sense, actually. I feel like that's a more plausible reason as to why people are on their phones a lot in public, as opposed to the theory that everyone is just self absorbed."

I nodded. This was borderline too deep for me, but I didn't want to wreck a possible friendship. For a few moments we sat in silence, only listening to the lapping of the waves and the faint humming of the ship. I bit my lip. This is your cue to say something...

But luckily--or unluckily--someone saved me from the awkward moment.

"So, Ravioli," Deynan the snickering boy said, plopping down next to me, "tell me more about your name. Are you Italian?"

I turned to him, annoyance breaking me out of my usual shell. "Don't you have something better to do?"

He shrugged. "I was talking to nerdy Spencer of there but he kept telling me to get lost, so I got bored."

I narrowed my eyes. "If I tell you to get lost, will you leave?"

He shrugged again. "Probably not."

I rolled my eyes. "Wonderful," I muttered.

"So, about your name..."

I groaned inwardly. "If you're really stupid enough to think I'm Italian because you think it sounds like a pasta, why have you passed third grade? And I already told you, you're pronouncing the vowel wrong."