Becoming Brett

7. Lunch Debate

I lean against the locker beside Wes', partially hidden by the door as I peer down the hallway as inconspicuously as possible.

I sort of hate it when James and Darren talk.

And I also know how that sounds, my fingers clench around the brown paper bag that holds my lunch.

But I can't help it. James makes everyone laugh and smile and feel alive, it's just in his nature but there's something going on between them. Some sort of secret. And I want to know what it is.

James laughs, his head tilting backward as the laugh jolts his whole body because James never stifles his feelings. He lets them consume him. And as he brings his head back forward, for a brief second his gray eyes find their way to mine through the hall. Warmth spreads through my body, a flush trying to creep it's way to my cheeks and even though I want to smile back I force myself to look down at my shoes.

"Go get your brother!" Ellie's voice pierces through the noise.

I catch the tail end of her shoving Savannah off in the direction of James before she bounces up to Wes and I.

"I'm gonna be late for movie night this week." She informs us. "My brother's got a practice and mama has to work so mom can't give me a ride until after practice."

Wes whistles, "you could maybe catch a ride..." and then he does his normal tics. "With James and Savannah."

She shrugs her shoulders, "it's alright, I promised Freddie."

Ellie loves to complain about her younger sibling but she has a tendency to go out of her way to spend time with them. Constantly. She's not fooling any of us.

We let the conversation die as James and Savannah meet up with us. Well almost, Ellie just starts into something else about some girl in one of her classes, a junior. But I don't pay attention closely because James decided to park himself right next to me. He looks over at me and smiles, which sends my heart thundering and electricity jolting through my body to the point where I feel like when it reaches the end it might just explode each and everyone of my nerves.

Worst part is he knows. I can see it in the smirk that plays at his lips and the spark in his eye.

"I'm starving!" Ellie announces. "Come on." She links her arm with mine and yanks me off down the hallway.

I'm a little relieved when James lags behind with Wes and Savannah. But at the same time I'm a little disappointed too. I never understood before why when people started dating they seemed to become one. Always attached to each other in some form or another. I get it now.

"I'm gonna ask Laurel to sit with us again." Ellie informs me with a sly grin.

"Why?" Dumb question I know.

She nudges her shoulder into me as we walk the halls, following our peers like a herd of sheep to the cafeteria.

"Uh duh. Wes obviously likes her."

I'm not blind. I know when my best friend likes someone. Like last year when he started spending his afternoons helping Cora with music theory. Cora is for lack of a better phrase the girl next door. She's beautiful, smart, kind, basically perfect. Wes had a chance, not that he ever realized it. But his crush on Cora was apparent from the moment she asked for his help.