collarbones

12 ~ speculation

Despite pushing him away, Anna’s relationship with Trent seemed to strengthen over the past few days. Anna sighed to herself as she sat in the library with Katie, wondering why Trent was so interested in her.

He could have just left her alone after that chemistry lesson and Anna would be happy to obsess, but instead he followed her and had been pestering her ever since.

“I haven’t seen much of you lately Anna,” Katie casually commented as she flipped a page of her notebook, which she was using to study for their upcoming biology exam. “You seem to be… occupied.”

Anna glared at Katie’s unsubtle manner of approaching the Trent situation, fully aware that Katie found it amusing.

“Stop smirking!” she hissed, lightly punching Katie in the arm. “It’s not funny.”

Katie sniggered to herself before straightening up suddenly as the librarian strolled past, watching them both intently. Anna grumbled underneath her breath.

It was true, though. Anna hadn’t seen Katie lately because at her lunchtimes she was busy showing Trent around the vast expense of facilities that her school offered. It was frustrating, as he would look for the littlest excuse to prolong Anna’s lunchtime with him, asking stupid questions.

“Spill,” Katie commanded when the librarian was at the other side of the library.

Anna sighed again. “I don’t even know, Katie,” she began. “You saw how we were introduced – he sat next to me in chemistry – and ever since then the idiot won’t leave me alone!” The librarian shushed Anna, placing her index finger on her lips as her eyes widened comically. Anna simply rolled her eyes before continuing.

“He kept wasting my time at lunch yesterday when he told me that he needed me to show him where the toilets were, even though they’re literally right outside the cafeteria! He knew that they were there and I when I pointed that out he threatened to tell the receptionists that I wasn’t being a helpful buddy,” she confided, spitting out the word ‘buddy’ in disgust.

Katie laughed, covering her mouth with her hand as she watched Anna get flustered. “You have a little crush, don’t you Anna?” she jeered.

Anna remained silent.

Katie gasped. “You do! Oh my go-”

“It’s not a crush!” Anna interjected, punching Katie harder this time. “It’s more of an infatuation,” she mumbled quickly.

Katie scoffed. “Infatuation my arse, Anna. You could easily have avoided talking to him but you don’t because you like arguing with him.”

Anna opened her mouth, ready to defend herself, but Katie simply hushed her. “You can’t deny it, Anna,” she told her, smiling wistfully. “It’s exactly how I felt with Jeremy.”

Annabelle kept quiet, aware that Katie was wrong. It really was just an infatuation for Anna, whereas Katie’s feelings for Jeremy bordered between extreme like and love. Trent was a mystery, and it intrigued Anna greatly because no one had ever really paid so much attention to her before. It was odd and despite enjoying the attention Anna was not naïve enough to be completely taken with Trent.

The truth was, she knew nothing about him. All she knew was that he was seventeen like Katie and that he had moved from London to humble Birmingham. It would take a long time for Anna to trust him enough to begin liking him. For now, she was happy with their position as friends.

“We’ll see,” she replied simply, not in the mood for arguing. She was conscience of the studying time that they were losing. She was determined not to let anybody – or anything – interfere with her studies.

Katie hummed in response, her head already immersed in her books, and Anna picked up her own notes as she scrutinised them carefully.

Her stomach rumbled but she tried to ignore it, conscious of the loud silence in the library.  That was really loud, she thought as she pressed her hands against her stomach lightly.

Katie raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing. Anna was grateful, because she didn’t want to admit that she’d lied to her. When they’d gone to the library Anna had told Katie she’d eaten beforehand, but the truth was that she had no food to eat.

She’d taken a sandwich to school, and she ended up throwing it away as memories of Sunday night flashed before her.

It was for the best, she thought as her stomach demanded food.

Eating was a mistake.