Paranoid Peak

1.0

Bree

Bree walked with a slow pace towards the cafeteria. Mid-approach she was greeted with a waft of air that smelled like vomit and tator tots. A strong feeling of dread rained over her, knowing that it was tator tot Thursday and she had forgotten to pack her lunch. Bree quickly came to the conclusion that her two options at that moment were; eat stale tater tots that were probably expired, or starve. In that moment she decided that she would much rather wait to eat until after school. This disappointed her, but she quickly whisked all the thoughts of getting sustenance away and staggered inside.

While walking in, her heart sank to her stomach as she realized who was sitting at the far end of one of the tables. Her crush, Thomas Blue. All she felt was dread, dread and cold. She hadn't seen him in weeks due to their break being extended because of a few minor snow storms that decided not to blow over. Her pace started to quicken and her breaths became faster and more shallow with each second she tried to hide her face from him. Not that he knew her, no one really did. After finding herself a seat next to her closest friend Mary Anne, she found herself almost contemplating wether to look again, not wanting to raise any suspicion. She knew she was good at hiding her affections.

One quick look, she thought. He won't see, she thought.

Her eyes found themselves wandering around the room, subsequently returning to Thomas' table. Looking at all of his unflawed arm candy as Mary called them. Although they weren't his girlfriends it certainly appeared as if they were. The way they laughed at his less-than-comical jokes, they way they flaunted their perfectly shaped bodies with the skin-tight clothing they wore. But most of all, the way they called him Tommy. Oh, that bothered her the most. Some of them might have been childhood friends of his but it certainly was a nickname that got on her nerves.

Luckily he was utterly oblivious. But those girls didn't know that. Bree did notice, in fact she noticed the way they chose to wear see-trough shirts with black lace bras that were at least a size too small. She noticed the way they popped out their hips and licked their lips every time he looked their way. There was a word for that, wasn't there? Bree thought back to a lesson that her English teacher had given about a certain historical romance book and remembered the words: sex appeal. That sounded about right to her, they had that seductiveness and allure and they certainly knew it. but he paid little to no mind to it. At least that's the way it seemed.

After staring blankly at him for a while, Bree was surprised by Thomas putting down his apple and glancing her way. His eyes, normally a light hazel looked like black holes looking at her from a far. She felt sick, sick to the idea of her feeling the way she did about him, why did she think she could have the luxury? He would never feel the same, she was younger and far less attractive than his other female friends. I wish I had sex appeal, she thought to herself. She knew better than to doubt herself. Her bad habit to do so had been a long term side effect of her desire to fit in.

But oh! Did he look innocent. Innocent but so dastardly nefarious at the same time. Innocent in a way that made you wonder if he was actually as regal, academically and socially capable of almost, and entirely everything-as the whole school thought. This wasn't a corny and cheesy teen movie that had you gagging every time the "popular kids" decided to grace the hallways with their presence. There were no ' popular ' kids. Only the ones who exceeded academically and physically. He was one of those people. Thomas was considered a saint. He was a member of almost every council or club, but sadly lacked the skill of actually attending the meetings. He was class president and was a bombshell with a guitar. He was elusive and perspicuous, abstruse but paramount. Overall with his charm, intellectual superiority and good looks he was sure to make it far in life. That was if Paranoid peak didn't turn him into a criminal or a full-blown serial killer. The town did have that affect on some
people.