Bet On Me

6. Dodging Bullets

Lunch included a lot of painful silences in the beginning. Dylan was assigned a three hour detention because this was his fifth offense to Mr. Stine. He wouldn't be at lunch until the very end. This wasn't unusual, and normally I would text him to see if the proctor was sleeping or out of the room so I could bring him a lunch. Today, however, that was not the case. I was still mad at him (and still partially in a daze over direct contact with Tyler) and the boys spent their time trying to get it out of me.

"So anybody get her to talk yet?" Jayce asked about halfway through lunch in his sleeveless iron maiden t shirt as he sat back down across from me with a tray of food. Aaron was still in line.

I plucked a tater tot off of his tray and popped it into my mouth. "Seriously guys, don't worry about it. I'll resolve it, always do." I chewed the little potato with a smirk on my face.

"Yeah, she's obviously fine if she's mooching food off of me," Jayce scolded and I laughed. Trevor, seated next to me, passed me a bag of chips.

"Feel better," he mumbled and I smiled gratefully.

I guess being upset is kind of a rarity for me. And even when I am upset, I usually talk to them about it. I didn't really feel like talking about Dylan when he wasn't around, though. So I was keeping quiet, and of course the boys were assuming the worst. Whenever I was especially upset they did really nice things for me, like buying me chips or coming to my house randomly with a movie they had before told me they wouldn't watch. Once they found out it was just Dylan being an idiot, they would probably feel really stupid.

I popped open the bag of chips as Aaron walked back over with Anna and his tray. He kissed her cheek before giving her the regular, "I'll see you later."

Anna smiled at him. She looked really pretty today. She had a braid going on the side of her short hair, and she was wearing a simple t-shirt that had LAX embroidered on the breast pocket with jeans. It was a simple outfit, but she made it look so cute. She turned to me. "Hey Kayden!"

I ate a chip. "Hi!" I managed to choke out between bites.

"So..." she fiddled with her hands. "Not trying to tear you away from your friends but..." she gestured to the boys as I waited for her to continue.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to sit with my table?" She grinned sweetly. "I know we only just started hanging out but... I don't know. I figured we could both use it." She played with the end of her navy blue t shirt, awaiting my answer. Aaron tightened his grip on her waist.

I was ready to politely decline. No thanks Anna, maybe another time. I could say I really need the guys right now or something along those lines so she wouldn't feel bad. But as she stood there, I realized how badly I wanted to tell her about Tyler and the highlighter and Dylan being a dick. I realized how badly I wanted to be her friend, just like I had when she was at my house yesterday.

"Um," I looked around at the guys. "You don't mind, right? It's just for today." I grabbed another chip.

"Babe, why don't you sit here?" Aaron asked sweetly. She glanced back at her lunch table, filled with bottle blondes and stuffed bras, as if she would get in trouble for even considering it. She put her hands in her jean pockets, looking back at us.

"I mean, I guess I could," she looked back at the table again. "My friends might get mad, but Kayden's right. It's just for the day."

Aaron put his hands up in defense. "Hey, do what you guys want. I'm just saying Kayden might get uncomfortable. You know the guys better than she knows your friends."

I shrugged. "It's up to you Anna, I don't mind." I lifted the chip bag to my lips to get the final crumbs.

Anna pressed her lips together. "Yeah, Aaron's right. It's probably better if we sit here for today." She took her bag off her shoulder and set it down on the seat next to Jayce. Aaron grabbed her tray and put it down for her. She looked at all of us. "I'm just going to tell my friends, I'll be right back!" She shuffled off quickly.