Fall For The Fangirl

6

*JOVANI*

   Once Nalah stopped crying and we went back into the classroom, I got to know her. We talked about how long she's been supporting Julian and I and then I asked questions about her.

   I could tell that she was shy, she held the end of her sweater sleeve in her hand and looked away from me alot. When I got her to smile, her light brown eyes seemed to light up. Her dark brown hair looked almost black and gently waved its way down her back.

   "My parents are getting divorced. We moved away to be closer to my aunt and her family."

   "Oh...that has to suck." I told her, but she just shrugged.

   "No one has a perfect life."

   Knowing now all that she was going through, I felt even worse for calling her weird! She's just extremely shy...and possibly, in pain. When I glanced at the clock I noticed that we had three minutes until lunch.

   "Can I uh...have your number? So we can talk about the project?" I asked.

   "Oh, yeah."

   From my peripheral I thought I saw her smile, but maybe I just saw what I wanted to. "Here ya go." I passed her my phone and she saved herself as a contact.

   Once the bell rang I saw that Rose was waiting for her so I just kept walking to the cafeteria. By the time my friends got to the lunch table I was almost done with my pizza.

   "She's so hot." My friend Drew said as he sat down.

   Tyler, who sat beside him, agreed.

   "Who is hot?" Julian asked before I could.

   "The new girl...Nina?"

   "Nalah." I corrected him.

   "Whatever. She's hot. I didn't really pay attention to her yesterday, but she had to read in class today and I saw her face for the first time."

   I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my Gatorade.

   Drew continued his ignorance. "I wonder if she has a boyfriend."

   "Yeah, she does." I said the words without thinking. Good job Jovani.

   Drew put a french fry in his mouth and raised an eyebrow at me.

   "She does?"

   "Yeah, we were talking last period and she mentioned that."

   "What's his name?"

   I shrugged. "I didn't ask, it doesn't matter to me."

   Liar.

   When lunch was over I felt guilty, but then again...happy. Maybe now Drew will back off of Nalah. He's not her type anyway...he can't be. He's an idiot and all he cares about is basketball. Nalah doesn't deserve someone who goes around saying she's hot, she's much more than that. She's beautiful...almost perfect.