𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

Chapter Two

By the time lunch rolled around, I was like a wandering zombie. I always was. I was especially tired today, though, so tired that Noah ordered half of my food for me—to my dismay.

When we got to the tables, I hit him.

He yelped, startled.

"You got me fries and no ketchup." I glowered at him, crisscrossing my arms over my chest. Noah chuckled, sitting down.

Caleb rose from his seat, "I can get some for you–"

"No, it's fine," I said, interrupting him. I sighed, "I'll get some." I said, before turning around and walking away.

My mood was gradually plummeting, a side-effect of no sleep. Alex had always teased me, saying that I should just drink coffee. I found that coffee just made everything worse. Well, it tasted bad.

As I was gathering ketchup pots and napkins from the island in the middle of the lunch hall, someone slid beside me.

"Was the owner of your past life as hot as you?"

I huffed. Liam Colloney. High-brand flirt, and fresh from a relationship breakup too. Hailey and Alex had been making bets on when he'd next strike—but I never thought that it would be with me. I mean, I wasn't at all pretty—or super pretty. It's how I know that Noah is messing around when he pays me tons of compliments.

"The owner of my past life was a squirrel," I told Liam, moving past him to collect straws.

He laughed. "Thought you said she was a girl who died in a museum,"

I halted. Did I say that? I attempted to play it off, pulling a face at him. "No, I said that she loved museums." It was an arduous effort to keep up with my own lies these days.

"Whatever," Liam replied, intentionally getting in my way as I reached for more napkins, second-guessing the quantity I already had.

"Wanna come over to mine tonight?" He suggested.

I scrunched up my face. "In your dreams." I usually wasn't so vocal with people I didn't know, but Liam was an exception.

I swivelled around and started to walk away, but felt as Liam ghosted his arm around my waist. He hummed into my ear, "I will see you in my dreams; I have a pretty good imagination."

I elbowed him, breaking free. "Bye, Liam," I said before walking away and not glancing back.

Returning to my friends, I dumped all of my condiments onto the table, watching as everyone began to take from the pile.

"Liam seems to like you," Alex announced, trying to maintain her laughter.

I rolled my eyes, gesturing for Noah, who sat on his own on one side, to move over. "Liam likes everyone," I responded, sighing as I opened a ketchup pot.

"Perhaps he'll ask you to that dance thing," Hailey said, shrugging.

I pulled a face. "And I'll definitely be saying no," I replied, biting into a chip.

"Why?" Alex complained, leaning over her tray. "It'd be good for you to finally get out there with a boy." She said, sipping her coke.

"Yes," I said, placing a hand to my throbbing forehead. "But not Liam," I added, sighing down at my food as it slowly became less appetising.

"Why?" Noah questioned suddenly, setting his phone down. He nudged me, "You got a crush?" I shifted to scowl at him, noticing him wink at me.

I sank back in my seat, not saying anything.