Airel: The Awakening (Airel Saga Book One)

Chapter V

SOMEHOW I SURVIVED TO the weekend without embarrassing myself any further, thank God. The school was buzzing about the new guy on set, and it made me—well, I guess I’m not sure what it made me. Things were complicated inside my head as a general rule, and since Michael Alexander had been added to that pseudo-chaos, I was beginning to think odd things indeed.

I even caught myself acting jealous of him. I had this thing: if I had a friend, and if I felt like I had a small claim on someone, then they were mine—dibs. When other people started crowding in on that, it made me uncomfortable. And it’s not like I was the only one who thought this way.

From what I heard, guys had this “code” or something, which meant they couldn’t date a girl if their buddy dated her. Well, we had our code as girls, too. If you put a claim on a guy, he was yours until you released him. Whether or not he liked you back had nothing to do with anything. I guess I was trying to justify my more volatile thoughts about Michael and how others saw him, but just because I knew that didn’t mean I felt any better about the whole thing. 

I went over to Kim’s house pretty early Saturday morning to pick her up. We were both up for a day of retail therapy—admittedly rare for me—but since I had the money, I decided I needed a new pair of jeans. Okay, maybe “need” was too strong a word, but I wanted to go shopping. And I wanted to feel awesome by looking awesome.

As I drove the Honda toward the mall, Kim chatted up a storm. We were both so over all the lame and weird events of the past week, and I had to admit that I was looking forward to a day of nothing but girl time.

It was nice out, unlike most of the previous week, and the sun shone in full force. Kim was going on about her latest crush, James Carver. He was the new star quarterback, a transfer from another school. And he was also way out of her league, but who was I to burst her bubble? I let her have her dreams; she’d most likely get bored and move on within a couple of weeks anyway.

I pulled in to the Sunrise Café and parked. I needed breakfast and a cup of coffee with lots of cream. I guessed Mom was starting to get to me. The unrelenting rants on breakfast were beginning to sink in. Maybe she was right anyway, and I should take more time in the mornings to eat. Then again, maybe she was just being a mom. Whatever the case, I had to confess to myself that somewhere deep inside I had become a little nervous about eating lately.

“Did you see him at practice yesterday?” Kim was rambling. “Like, he had his shirt off, and man oh man, was he buff. I wonder if he saw me. I think he was waving at me, but I’m not sure.” Kim smiled and tugged on her purse strap as we went into the little mom-and-pop café. 

“Kim, you do realize he’s the quarterback, right? He’s the one all the cheerleaders and every other bimbo are after. Believe me, you don’t want to make a play for that guy.” I grabbed a booth and looked at the menu, hoping she would wise up. Knowing her, it was a lost cause.

Kim shut her mouth and stuck out her lower lip. “Thanks for being a total buzz kill. You can’t help who you fall in love with.” 

“Come on, Kim. Love? You’ve talked to the guy like what—once?” I hated to be the voice of reason, especially when in actuality, I ought to have been taking a little of my own advice. I tried to stop thinking about Michael, but everything I looked at—every billboard, every sign, and every newspaper—reminded me of him.

“Look who’s talking, Miss Suddenly in Love with the New Hottest Guy in School. No, check that—in the entire town. And you have the nerve to give me grief?”

Busted. She had me. I hid a smile behind my menu.

Just in time, the waitress came by to get our orders.