Dance In The Rain

~12~ Remembering

When Holden's class is over, my next class is PE. We won't even talk about how that went, cause there wouldn't be much to talk about.

I hid the entire time

I get a pit in my stomach when it's lunchtime. This school doesn't have a courtyard, and I have nowhere to go besides the cafeteria.

Somebody shoot me

I get a cheeseburger and fries and scan the room for an empty table. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see one against a wall in the back, and walk quickly so it won't get taken....How embarrassing would that be?!?

Holden is eating at a table with some adults, and he watches me as I make my way to the table and sit alone like a loser.

He's soon gonna learn how big of a loser I really am.

I have some hope that Tate will sit with me, but as soon as I see him walk down the ramp and scan the area, he looks right past me and sits next to a group of guys.

How the heck does he already have friends?

Holden looks at me, and then Tate, back and forth for several seconds with a weird look on his face. After a minute he stands up and starts walking over to me, but freezes when Kenna sets her tray of food down.

"Mind if I join you?"

I give her a polite smile. "You don't have to...Don't feel like you have to babysit me."

She grins as she takes her sub sandwich and takes a bite, chewing quickly before she takes another. "I'm starving today. How's your first day going?" She asks around a mouthful of bread as she grabs for her water.

"Not bad. Looks like Tate has a lot of friends already," I say as I watch a guy punch his shoulder lightly and laugh at something Tate says.

"Something tells me he's going to be popular. Was he pretty popular at your old school?"

"Yeah," I nod as I pick at my bun, feeling too queasy from nerves to eat.

"How about you? Were you popular?"

"Not even a little bit."

She smiles big as she takes a bite of her chip. "I'm not either.. I mean, nobody is mean to me, but I'm not interested in partying.....Most kids around here are."

"Tate will fit right in then," I sigh as I take a long drink of my soda, feeling the carbonation fizz on my tongue and savoring the moment of not having to talk. Before I realize it, I hear the last of the Pepsi gurgle up the straw and Kenna watches me with amusement.

"You musta been thirsty."

No, just uncomfortable and nervous. "Yeah."

"Can I see your schedule? I'm hoping we have more classes together."

I get in my bag and hand her the paper, already getting worn from the many times I've opened and folded it back up today.

As she glances through, a smile forms on her full lips. "We have the rest of the day together."

Just that simple revelation immediately relaxes me. Now I won't have to find anymore classes by myself or walk into them alone.

What a safe feeling.

~*~

When school is finally over, I can honestly say it wasn't terrible. Kenna is actually pretty nice, and with this small of a school I have most of the same kids in all my classes.

Tate is in several of mine too, although he never acknowledged me at all.

I don't understand why he does that to me