AFTER SCHOOL, I LEFT straight away as usual. Well, “usual” implied that I had been doing this for a long period of time, which certainly wasn’t true. In fact, my sister and I had only moved here about five months ago. But for every day since we’d stepped foot into Colorado, there was a day when I’d gone by as a loner at my new high school.
It sucked. Badly. Being the new girl as a Senior was bad enough but it made it even worse when you also had severe social problems and a timid nature. This was the year when everyone was sad to be leaving for college, wanting to spend their last months with a tight-knit group of friends, not with some randomer.
So, as usual- I guess- I left to go to the restaurant where my sister, Mona, worked. It was a long walk, but I actually kind of liked the rural scenery that accompanied it. We’d lived in New York before but the loud city with sirens for background noise hadn’t really been my thing. Thankfully, as manager, Mona had gotten transferred to some remote branch here in Colorado that wasn’t doing so good. After just five months, it was the most popular restaurant of choice within fifteen miles of itself.
For the first ten or so minutes, many other students surrounded me, either other walkers or seniors in their cars. I was stared at like normal; as small town people, I was still “the new girl” after only five months. I wasn’t exactly sure what they hoped to see because, really, I was quite a boring person. Today I’d dress in a vest, tucked into a pair of high-waisted shorts. My hair was thrown up into a messy bun. I was skinny and I didn’t wear any makeup. Not only was my appearance ordinary, but so was I. I literally did nothing of interest to anybody.
But still they stared. They stared as though I were some kind of enigma and, depending on my mood, sometimes I liked it. Today, like most of the time, it just confused me.
“Hey, Mandy!” called Simon Windsor, a footballer that often found it amusing to call out to me when I wasn’t expecting it and make me flinch. When I jumped slightly, turning to face his slowing car in surprise, he and most of his friends laughed. I could only remember one of their names- the boy who wasn’t laughing, but frowning at Simon. Everyone called him he Jarhead, but I was pretty sure it was actually Leeroy.
“Um, yeah?” I asked, forcing a smile; however, the embarrassed squint of my eyes gave away my discomfort, no doubt. I could feel he Jarhead’s eyes on me more burningly than the others but refused to look away from Simon. He didn’t even have the buzzed haircut; he was just… big. Huge, actually. He was bulky in every way, and every single one of those ways made the other girls at school swoon, with an angular face and strong features. His lips were thick, just like his brows, his arms, his thighs… just like everything. From what I had heard, this applied to his intellect as well.
I had also heard his father had practically destined him as a Marine since birth.
“You wanna’ ride with us today? I have to drop Jarhead at your sister’s restaurant, anyways.” He waggled his eyebrows. This usually would have made my cheeks tinge pink, but I wondered how he knew my sister worked there instead. Sure, I was over there a lot, but she was usually in the back doing… I don’t know, shouting at people and stuff.
“How do you know my sister works there?” I demanded with the first bit of conviction I’d mustered since I moved here. Simon looked a little surprised.
“Jarhead’s dad owns it.”
“He owns the whole of R&R?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh.”
When I added nothing else, Simon shot me a weird look. “Well?” he prodded. “You wan’ a ride?”
