It All Started With An Apple

Chapter 2

I would have turned to glare at Kyla for her “brilliant” plan, but I was paralyzed.  All I could do was watch with wide, and frankly scared eyes, as Dannon stood up, rubbing his head.  His crew stared up at him.  I saw their mouths move, forming words on their lips, but they were so far away that I couldn’t hear what they were saying.  But it didn’t matter.  I knew what they were talking about.  “What’s wrong, Dannon?” they were probably asking.  “Are you okay?”

Dannon suddenly disappeared as he bent down.  A moment he reappeared, the apple I’d thrown in his hand.  He rubbed his head again, looking around the cafeteria.  I wanted to shrink back, to hide myself inside the booth.  But, sadly, my body wasn’t listening to me.

His eyes landed on me.

I cursed mentally as his eyes widened and he looked back down at the apple.  He knew it was me that threw it.  And now I was going to die.

Kyla tapped her fingernails on the booth’s tabletop (something she did when she was nervous), cutting off my imagery of my imminent death.  I concentrated on each tap! struggling to forget about the fact that I’d just thrown an apple across the cafeteria because my friend told me to, and that I’d managed to hit the one guy I hated more than anything on the head.  But I couldn’t forget.  Not when Dannon was maneuvering through the various tables in the cafeteria, making his way toward us.

I found the strength to turn around, facing Kyla.  With pretty much all the strength I had, I pushed my way as far as I could inside the booth, trying to sink into the wall.  Too bad I wasn’t in one of those movies where teens had crazy superpowers. 

Kyla’s eyes met mine, and we shared a terrified look.  Then we both turned, trying to discreetly watch as Dannon drew closer.  He had a smile on his face—that was a good sign, right?—and he was tossing the apple between his hands like I’d been doing before I did the stupidest thing of my life.

Thinking it would be the smarter thing to do, I picked up my plastic fork and shoved a bunch of noodles into my mouth.  Yum.  Noodles mixed with the sour taste of anxiety.  Tasty.

“Hey,” Dannon said, reaching us.  I watched him from the corner of my eye as he slid beside me, onto the booth’s seat.  He set my apple onto my tray.  “I think this is yours.”

I picked it up, eyeing it carefully.  It was dented.  Whether it was by his head or the floor, I didn’t know.  I glanced at him.  I could deny it.  I could say that I had no idea what he was talking about, that he was crazy.  I mean, he had no proof that I’d thrown it, did he?

Too bad my expression had given it away.

“Thanks,” I muttered softly, setting it back on the tray.  I stole a nervous glance in Kyla’s direction.  She was much too busy playing with her salad to notice me.

Dannon grinned, tilting his head to the side.  “Is there a reason you threw it at me?”

He was amused.  Another good sign, right?

I bit my lip before answering.  I was ashamed of myself for how tiny my voice sounded.  “I wasn’t aiming for you.”

Dannon chuckled, leaning back in the booth and stretching out his arms.  I eyed him, curious.  How could he be so cheerful?  He’d just got an apple chucked at his head.  I narrowed my eyes.  He was probably faking it so that everyone thought he could handle anything lightly.  That sounded like something a popular person trying to save their reputation would do.  Though, on the other hand, his reputation didn’t need saving.  I mean, the hundreds of gazes locked onto our booth right now proved it.

“Well, I feel bad for the guy you were aiming for,” he said finally, shooting me a smile.  “Who was it?”

I rubbed my arm.  I wished I was back in the awkward situation with Brent this morning.  That was a million times better than this.  “No one in particular.”