Paper Thin

Chapter 1

Not Edited

Footsteps, hundreds maybe even thousands, thundered through the halls of Jetty High.

It was lunchtime.

The school was alive with the buzz of activity; everyone who was anyone was doing something and for me that meant calming down my practically hyperventilating best friend, Zoe Chang.

She leaned against her locker, anxiously scratching her brunette hair, but seriously, I was worried she might go into a nervous break down any second now and that I was definitely not ready for.

"Tiffany," she finally croaked. You would have thought she had been given a death sentence or something.

"Yeah?"

"Ask me a question so I can get my mind warmed up for the mathletes test."

Yes, you heard right. My gorgeous Asian friend, Zoe, was joining the school mathletes team. Contrary to what you might find in some high schools, in this one you could be a complete geek and beautiful and popular at the same time. Being smart and getting good grades was in fact one of the stepping stones to high school survival. Trust me, better to be a know-it-all than to be teased, bullied and called dumb just because you got a 1200 on your SAT.

I fumble for a second with Zoe's question; I am not a math genius or a genius in anything, in fact, but if I don't say something soon Zoe looked like she might lose it. All for a mathletes tryout test. Seriously?

"Um," I racked my mind."Two plus two?"

She sighed resignedly.

"No, Tif, I mean a hard question. I am trying out for the mathletes, not kindergarten."

She shook her head in that typical Zoe way, the one that means 'my best friend is weirdo but I still love her.'

"Either way, you still need to know two plus two, right?"

Zoe finally cracked a smile, it spread all over her face and that was it. The sign that essentially told me my mission had been accomplished.

"C'mon," she said, dragging me along with her. "Let's go for lunch; I'm starving."

We made our way through the crowded halls, careful not to bump into anyone in this fast-paced world of a flurry of teenagers heading for lunch. But it was okay because it was our world and this was yet, but another fundamental part of our lives; the hustle as everyone rushed to get lunch. We got to the cafeteria and grabbed our food, all the while our eyes skimming through the room to see if we could find Sam and Adriana, two of our closest friends. They were sitting at the usual spot, a table near the window because Zoe likes the way sunlight pours into the room on sunny days. The table lights up and looks 'enchanting' she says.

Methodically, we made our way to the table where Sam and Adriana are already stuffing their mouths with cafeteria pizza. We all exchanged hellos before sitting down and beginning our lunch. Like all girls we talk a lot, our subjects ranging from school, clothes and sometimes boys. Currently, our newest subject of debate was Max, a boy in Adriana's history class whom she was convinced was a vampire.

"Seriously, guys," she said. "All the signs are there."

"Really?" replied Sam dubiously. "Like what?"

"Well for starters, he seems to know every thing that we learn about and what better way to learn history than to have lived through it."

Zoe just took another bite of her pizza.

"Oh, please," she said rolling her eyes. "Maybe he just studies ahead."

"Well, how do you explain the fact that he never eats in the cafeteria and he always has this super mysterious aura?"

"Maybe he just likes to eat outside the school,"offered Sam. "And, seriously, a mysterious aura?"

"Okay, so the aura is a bit far fetched but-"

Adriana falls silent so I look up from my food and see him; the one person I would never have expected to really see again:

Will Dimitriou

He was blocking the sunlight, causing a shadow that cast gloomily across the table. My eyes moved to Zoe and I saw my best friend transform from her happy, bubbly self to this cold statue alter ego. She didn't do anything really and that's what worried me; she just took another bite of her pizza, staring straight ahead at the window silently.

Will just stood there, not saying anything, and seeming really uncomfortable. A funny look for someone I never thought could ever be uncomfortable Our eyes locked for a second, his piercing brown ones drilling into my green ones. I dropped his gaze and looked away sheepishly. The tension was thick and I didn't know what to do.  It seemed like we had all just lost our voices, staring at each other; totally at a loss for words.

"Yes?" Adriana finally said, saving us all from further awkwardness." What do you want?"

Her voice, strong and questioning, brought us all back into reality. Will cleared his throat a little.

"Well, Tiffany," he said."Coach Nate said to tell you that he needs to see you after lunch. Something about a swim meet."

"Thank you," I say but it's too late he's gone just as quickly as he came, and truthfully, I don't blame him.

Will Dimitriou

The name pounds in my heads. Once upon a time, we might have been friends but now I only see him as one thing.
The guy that broke my best friend.

Hello! It has been a while. My life has been super busy and this summer I thought I would have loads of time. But it turns out that my summer camp is really rigorous and extremely time consuming. Anyway, I am determined to write this book so I finally got around to posting this chapter. What do you guys of Will? Or of Tiffany? And why did Zoe act that way around him? Hope some of these questions are popping up in your head. Thanks so much for reading, you guys really are the best. Don't forget to vote if you like and comment whether you like it or not. Would love talk to you all so feel free to PM me anytime. Bye for now!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox

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