To Be Her First

Chapter 7 - Brain Damage

By Tuesday, Kara's stomach cramps had progressed into the stomach flu. She wasn't at school again. Journey assumed their normal spot sitting by the wall in the cafeteria that morning by herself. But she wasn't alone for long. David Britton waved to her as he came through the door.

Journey watched a lot of movies in her spare time, and she began to wonder if she had inadvertently fallen prey to some sick high school bet between members of the popular crowd. Why else was he being so nice to her?

He ignored the football table completely and walked straight toward her, his perfect smile cemented in place. "Hey. How 'ya feeling today?"

She smiled up at him. "Better. It only hurts when I touch it now."

He nudged her leg with the toe of his tennis shoe. "Don't touch it then."

She rolled her eyes.

"Still no car?" he asked.

"Nope."

He looked around. "And no Kara, I assume?"

She shook her head. "She was puking this morning."

He scrunched up his nose. "That sucks." He rocked back and forth on his feet. "Well, do you want a ride again this afternoon?"

She laughed and squinted up at him. "You really don't have to, Dave—"

He cut her off. "It's not a big deal. I want to."

Her mouth fell open a little. "Why?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Is it really so hard to believe I'm a nice guy? Do I have some douchebag reputation I'm not aware of?"

Whoops, she thought. It was time to back peddle. Fast.

"No, not at all." She looked around. "You wanna sit?"

He glanced back at the football table. Her eyes followed his. Marcus Garrett, Justin Kruse, and several others were watching him expectantly. Journey sensed this was some sort of pivotal social moment, but she wasn't sure what role she played in it.

Finally, David's eyes settled on her again. "Yeah." He slipped his arms out of his backpack and dropped it on the floor. He sat down across from her and leaned back on his arms, crossing his feet at the ankles.

Behind him, Marcus's head drop quizzically to the side.

She looked back at David and tapped her fingertips together. "So..."

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "So..." he echoed. "What do you and Kara usually talk about?"

Boys. You. Your friends. Steven Drake...

As if on cue, Steven Drake walked through the door. His presence was a magnet for her attention, and Journey couldn't help but let her eyes linger on him for a moment. Then he locked gazes with her.

Her eyes widened as her heart pounded in her chest. She looked back at David, who turned to look in time for Steven to stop just behind him.

"Hey," Steven said.

Journey looked at Steven, then at David, then back up at Steven again. Steven Drake. This can't be happening right now.

"Hi." Her voice cracked.

Steven stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I was just wondering if you were all right."

Journey looked to see if someone was behind her that she was unaware of. Nope. He was really talking to her. Her stomach fluttered as she remembered the pressure of his hand around her wrist. "Yeah. I'm OK. Um... thanks for asking."

He looked as awkward as she felt. "I also wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

She shook her head to stop him. "No, don't worry about it. I should've been paying more attention."

He took a half-step backward. "OK. Well, see ya."

And then he was gone.

David raised his eyebrows. "What was that about?"

She nodded toward where Steven was walking away and pointed to her forehead. "He was on the other side of the door yesterday."

David jerked his thumb in Steven's direction. "And he just apologized to you." He laughed with surprise. "He doesn't strike me as the apologetic type."

Journey was surprised as well, but she was too shocked to agree with him. She pinched her arm to make sure she wasn't dreaming. When she decided she was awake, she rubbed the knot on her skull again, looked across the room at Steven one more time, and then looked back at the quarterback. What a weird morning. Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought.

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