Can't Blame a Girl for Trying

Chapter 4

      I know it was silly and irrational that I wanted to go to school the next day. Not because the classes were wonderfully taught or anything like that. I wanted to see Lucas again. I don't exactly know why I did, I just did. Riley thought it was adorable, seeing me smiling about a guy over Skype. I thought it was horrible. It gave me hope, and hope lets you down. For whatever the reason, when Katy woke me up the next morning, I was excited and couldn't wait to start the day. Even my mom noticed my better attitude and when she commented on it, I did not know what to say.

        When I went to the mirror my eyes were bright, cheeks light pink, and skin almost glowing. I went through my usual routine but added light eye shadow, something I rarely wear, and straightened my hair. I just about skipped to my closet to pull out a white, lacy, knee length dress with long sleeves and a pair of almost knee-high combat boots. I plopped down on my bed for a few minutes to let myself calm down.

      A few minutes later, I was ready to go to school. On my way through the kitchen, I grabbed a granola bar and chugged down a glass of orange juice. I walked out of my house and studied my neighborhood. It was a pretty little area with almost identical homes, green yards, and pretty trees. I rolled my eyes, it annoyed me a bit how normal it all was. In a way, I missed my window that I could talk to people from. From that window I could see the city. From my new window, all I can see are green yards and homes. I was deep in thought when I heard someone clear their throat. I turned my head in the direction of the noise and there stood Lucas in my neighbor's yard.

     Lucas was grinning ear to ear and I could not help but smile back at him. "Hey!" Lucas came jogging up to me waving an arm. A piece of hair fell in his face as he stood in front of me. "Hey, Huckleberry." I said grinning.

      "I did not know you were my neighbor, Maya. Why didn't you say anything?" Lucas's cheeks were flushed and his eyes were jumping with excitement. His appearance reflected how I felt, but I kept my face smooth, I was not going to let him see how happy I was to see him.

      "As if I knew," I said chuckling. "It must have been your mother who stopped by a few days ago. She seems nice."

      "Yah, she is pretty great." He said staring into my eyes. I felt embarrassed by the way he was looking at me, but I couldn't look away from him either. "Hey, uh, Maya?"

        "Yes?"

        "Would you like to ride to school with me? You seem really interesting and I would like to get to know you better." His gaze dropped when he said that, as if he expected me to say no.

         "Sure, Huckleberry." I answered smiling and laughing. Lucas held out his elbow and tilted a fake cowboy  hat on his head. I smiled again as I took his elbow and he led me to his silver car. It was the same car I swore I felt someone staring at me from. He opened the passenger car door for me and waited until I was settled then he got in on his side.

       "So, Maya. Tell me about yourself." Lucas glanced at me smiling. He was a slow driver. Very cautious. I was too so I could not exactly poke fun of him for that.

         I looked down at my hands which were folded across my lap. "What do you want to know?"

       "Well for starters you can tell me why you moved here."

        "I moved here with my mother so we can both have a fresh start." I answered smiling. I really hoped he wouldn't ask anything too personal. I did not want to think about New York. It would be guaranteed to make my day worst.

       "Oh. So whats your favorite kind of flower?" The day continued like that. Every class we had together, all besides two, he would ask me questions when the teachers weren't paying attention. Between classes he would walk me to my locker asking me more questions. Evidently, on my first day I was even more unobservant then I was aware of. Lucas's locker was three down from mine. By the end of the day he had asked me everything I could imagine and some. As I was about to go out into the parking lot, a thought came to my head. I turned to Lucas, "How am I suppose to get home? You need to get to detention." The thought of him not being able to take me home kind of sucked but I could walk. I would miss the time we could have spent talking to each other more.

     Lucas smiled, which I did not really expect. "He said I need to go to detention three times this week. I am taking today off, I will go the rest of the school week." He answered shrugging. I tried damn hard to keep a smile of satisfaction from showing. I raised a brow, "Huckleberry's gonna ditch?"

       "Yup", Lucas winked, "I am just like you now." My stomach did a weird twisty thing when he winked at me.

         "Yes we are exactly the same." I smirked and rolled my eyes.