Honey

5. The Intricate Art Of Stalking.

It felt like the weekend was over before it even began, which was usually always the case. I had quite a strange feeling in my stomach as I entered through the doors of the hell hole that is known as high school. It felt almost like I was nervous about something but I'm stupid so I may have forgotten what it was.

I trudged to my locker, dodging hormonal teenagers left right and centre. The jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds, and the normal people. All of them had their own respected groups, well, mostly respected. The nerds, not so much. The popular kids ruled this school. Stereotypical, don't you think?

My school was so stereotypical that it actually made me cringe. Ok, so just picture a high school like out of some 2,000's movie. That there is literally an exact replica of my school. You're cringing aren't you?

I tried not to make eye contact with anyone as I walked. You never know. Make eye contact with one of the cheerleaders on a bad day and she'd gouge your eyes out.

When I finally arrived at my locker I put in my combination like I did on a daily basis. I opened it, pulling out the books that I needed for my first two classes. A hand gripped my shoulder, making me jump slightly.

I turned my head slowly to see Sarah's big green eyes staring right back at me. Her usually neatly tied back ginger hair was instead tied up into a messy bun. I noticed the bags under her eyes as I closed my locker, taking in her full appearance. She literally looked like she'd rolled out of bed a few seconds ago.

I grew even more intrigued when a cheeky smile spread across her lips. I knew that smile. And, I had a feeling I knew the cause. She must've looked crazy to anyone who didn't know her, considering her looking ecstatic despite her more than distressing appearance.

"Let me guess," I said, reflecting her addictive smile, "you stayed up all night, again." She nodded immediately, like she new what I was going to say before I even said it.

"Not just that. I stayed up all night talking to Ariana on the phone. 4 hours Bill, we talked for 4 hours. I mean, she must really like me, right?"

"Don't ask me. You should ask her. You need to know if she's as head over heals for you as you are for her," I stated, linking arms with her and leading her away from my locker and towards our first class. One of the football players launched a football across the hallway to one of his teammates as we passed, the football merely inches from hitting me.

I was about to go full on demon mode on whoever threw it as I was in no mood, nor was I ever in the mood for this bullshit. We have a fucking football field for a reason. I knew the suspect would probably be twice my size but I had a reputation. If you messed with me, you messed with Sarah. And damn can that girl throw a punch.

I followed the football as it was launched back through the air. It landed in someone's hands. Although I couldn't see who. They were standing in a group which only made me even more reluctant to confront them. Suddenly, the wall of burly football players parted and I caught a glimpse of the one holding the football under their arm.

There he is. That motherfu-

Thomas?

Thomas Baker, the bastard, was indeed the person who was holding the football. My heart fluttered when I saw him laugh hysterically at something one of his friends had said. He really was nice to look at.

"Oh fuck oooooffff!" Sarah exclaimed as she grasped my shoulders, forcing me to look at her instead of Thomas. Fuck. She noticed me practically drooling over him.

"Thomas Baker. No. I won't allow it. I thought you hated him anyway?"

"I do.......it's just, I don't know. It's like now I see something in him that I never saw before. It's like I'm seeing him in a whole new light. And that light is doing wonders for his muscles."

She stayed silent for a while, clearly not knowing how to respond to such an absurd statement. I broke eye contact as I noticed the group of footballers on the opposite side of the hallway slowly dispersing, revealing Thomas once more. This time I could see his full figure though. His varsity jacket that framed his muscles perfectly. I dared to let my eyes travel further down but was snapped out of it as Sarah started pulling me down the hallway, towards our class.

I realised quickly what I had been doing and immediately started walking beside her, trying my best to get the image of Thomas laughing to leave my mind.

"I know I'm going to regret this but.....are you up for some good old fashioned stalking?" Sarah asked as we walked, I could hear the reluctance in her tone but chose to ignore it.

"Are you serious?"

"Do you wanna look at him for hours on end or not?"

"Good point."

******

Instead of going to Sarah's house after school like we usually did, we opted to stay behind in the library to 'study.' Obviously, that's not what we were doing. Football practice was being held after school and Sarah and I were going to watch. Yes. That's extremely fucking weird.

But, alas there we were, in the bleachers, watching. It didn't look as suspicious as you'd think as my brother was on the team, so I just pretended to be interested in whatever shit he was doing. In reality, my eyes followed lucky number 7, Thomas.

"So," Sarah muttered, "tell me everything."

I should've known she'd ask that at some point. I turned to her, reluctantly peeling my eyes from number 7.

"Ok, so you know how he's like best friends with Asher?" Sarah nodded. "Well, he slept over Friday night and, ok, I'm just gonna say everything that happened and then you can talk, ok?" She nodded once again. "Ok, he needed the bathroom so he used mine and when he was finished-"

"You fucked"

"No!" I shouted, "what did I say. Don't speak until I'm finished." She nodded, again.

"Anyway, no, we did not have...sex. He just talked to me and he asked me why I hated him so much, and then I realised that maybe I didn't actually hate him so much. So I avoided the question and asked him if he hated me, and he said no. I said I didn't believe him and then he was like, how could I hate such a cute face. Then he just got up and left."

"You motherfucker," Sarah screeched, "You didn't tell me that the feeling was mutual. I just thought this was some stupid crush."

I'm not going to lie, her words did hurt but she had a point, I didn't exactly mention that he called me cute at 2.00 a.m. on a Friday night, in my bedroom.

"Oh my god. We have to get out of here. Like, right now," she said, getting up and reaching out her hand to pull me up.

"What? Why?" I whined.

"Because stalking is for crushes. If he sees you he'll think that you're following him or some shit and then that you're crazy and before you know it, he'll be avoiding you, ignoring you and I just don't want you to mess this up." She had a point.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but, you're so smart. I mean seriously, I'd probably lose my own head if I didn't have you," I said, watching as Sarah's face contorted.

"We don't have time for this mushy shit. Come on," she yelled, pulling me up and away from the bleachers and eventually the football field.

We stopped after running for a minute or two, both of us simultaneously bending over to catch our breath.

Suddenly, she started laughing uncontrollably. I was confused and desperately wanted to know what was so funny.

She stopped laughing for a few seconds. "You like Thomas fucking Baker," she then immediately toppled over laughing.

"Why is that funny?"

I answered my own question in my head. I'd hated him for as long as I'd known him. Now all of a sudden, I was swooning over him. I practically melted every time he smiled.

I burst out laughing.

I'm fucking weird.