Little Spark

8 - King Casey

In an attempt to avoid another tardiness fiasco, I get ready twenty minutes early the next morning. Despite taking a scenic route, I arrive with half an hour to kill before the bell, so I decide to go to the library.

I'm so lost in la-la land when I walk in, I almost fail to recognize the blonde boy sitting at the table directly across from the entrance. I slip into the Fantasy section a split second before he looks up. Once my heart rate comes down and my fingers stop sparking, I notice that if I move just a few feet to the right, I'll have a clear view of him.

I look around to make sure there's no one watching me before I take a peek. My near-failure at identification was partially due to the glasses situated high up on the bridge of his nose—which, unfortunately, serve only to kick his physical appeal up a notch.

His brow is furrowed in concentration as his writing hand flies across the page of a composition notebook with surprising speed. Contrary to every conclusion I jumped to yesterday, it seems Reign Patos actually uses his brain for something other than mentally violating members of the female species. He pauses to read over something he's written and bites the end of his pen, and for a moment, I forget my name, where I am, what I'm doing....

"Do you need some assistance, young lady?" The librarian's stern voice brings me back to earth.

Unfortunately, it also catches Reign's attention. He sees me and grins.

Busted.

"Oh, no. I was just leaving, thanks." Before my mortification can be made manifest in a power outage, I make a beeline for the exit.

I can feel his eyes on me as I go.

********************

When I arrive to the English classroom, there's no one else inside. I pick a seat near the front (it is my favorite subject, after all) and pull out the course summary I received with my schedule. As I look over the 'required reading' list, a high-pitched squeal ambushes my eardrums from the back of the room.

"Oh. My. God!"

I swivel to find a short, pudgy-waisted girl with frizzy brown hair standing just inside the classroom doorway. When she sees my face, her bug eyes practically burst from her skull. "The new girl is in my English class! Wait 'til everyone hears about this." She whips out a cell phone and gets to tapping away on the screen.

"You must be Lylah."

"Ohmygodhowdidyouevenknowthat??? Are you psychic or something?" tap tap tap tap tap tap tap

I roll my eyes and face forward again. "I'm in your chemistry class."

"Oh, thaaat's right..." she says. "You were late yesterday. Speaking of which, you should watch out for Reign. Everybody knows you totally have a huge crush on him. Somebody saw you totally flirting with him yesterday morning when you were supposed to be in chem."

I take a deep breath and turn back to her. "I wasn't flirting with him," I kindly explain. "We collided in the hallway."

"That's not what I heard. And besides, everyone saw you totally staring at him in the cafeteria yesterday too. For, like, the whole lunch period."

Candis forgot to mention something else this girl excels at: exaggeration. I put my hands up. "Ok, stop. This conversation is a waste of mental and emotional energy, and I'm already running low. So it was nice talking to you (not!), but I'm going to prep for class now." I face the front and arrange my notebook and pencil on the desk in attempt to cool off. The room begins to fill with chatter as other students trickle in.