Wrong Impression

11. Just for the lols

The moment Tom had grabbed her hand and pulled her over the table towards him kept plaguing Angie's mind. Because as crazy as it sounded, in the moment, despite all her suspicions and doubts, she'd wanted him to kiss her, she'd wanted to run her hands through his hair, melt into him.

Which was beyond stupid. Because she didn't know him, didn't trust him, didn't even have an opinion about him. He was too random, too unpredictable, too... fun. Tom was a man of extremes.

But she liked that. Because he was fire, he was danger, he was a challenge. A challenge she was willing to accept.

"What's wrong with me?" She groaned.

"Nothing's wrong with you. You like hanging out with him, you find him interesting, you apparently wouldn't mind making out with him." Kay smirked as she said the last part.

"But that's so not like me," Angie groaned. She was focused and mature and goal oriented.

"Angie, you're a sixteen year old girl. There's no like you." Kay smiled bitterly. "Have fun, go with your gut. If you like him, take a shot. It's not like you're signing up for forever. And even if you are..." Her voice cracked. "No one gives guarantees that it will happen. So just live how you want, while you can. Make friends, crush on a hot guy, let loose once in a while."

Angie nodded. Kay was right. She should stop taking everything so seriously and just live in the moment. She shouldn't be looking for anything permanent. Because high school, her possible new friends, Tom... they were all fleeting. And Kay was a perfect example of that.

Childhood sweetheart? Gone. New love? Gone. Friends? Gone. Still she moved on, could smile. Because in a couple of years, both Danny and Kyle would probably be bitter sweet memories.

Why not make some of her own?

With that thought in mind, Angie approached the new day of school with more optimism than ever. Because except for the biology snag, everything was going according to plan. And biology would no longer be an issue soon, thanks to the projects she'd worked on with Tom.

She stopped by her locker to deposit her books, when the boy next door looked to her surprised.

"Hi there. Haven't seen you before. You new?" he asked, raising dark, bushy eyebrows.

More likely a little late. "Sort of," she answered with a shrug. Her first impulse was to analyze the newcomer head to toe, but she fought it, determined to have a more relaxed attitude.

The guy was taller than her, but not by much, had dark brown hair and grey eyes and was grinning at her. His front teeth were a little crooked, but it added to his overall charm. What took away from it was the heavy gold chain around his neck, visible in the plunging neckline of his t-shirt. He also wore shorts and loafers.

"I'm Ross." He reached out his hand.

Angie almost took a step back, but steeled her spine and shook his hand instead. "Angie."

"Short for Angela? That's so pretty. Though if it were me, I'd shorten it to Angel."

She snorted. This guy was so full of cheese. He grinned at her, apparently pleased with his little joke.

"If you're sort of new, maybe you could join us for lunch," he continued.

His use of us stopped her creep-o-meter from bouncing off the charts. She should chill anyway. It's not like she'd let him start hitting on her anyway, and so far he seemed nice and harmless.

"Okay, maybe." She usually retreated to the library for lunch since she didn't buy anything from the cafeteria and crammed homework in every available minute, but maybe that should change, too.