There was a break in the mob and she caught a glimpse of counter space.
After ordering our food we sat down to eat. Krissa picked at her Frito Pie, which looked like a pile of you-know-what, and I tackled my usual order.
“You should have gone with the pretzel, I’m tellin’ you. It’s good with the hot sauce,” I said as I dipped my last bit of pretzel in the cheese.
“That’s the last time I listen to Nikki,” Krissa said as she pushed the Frito Pie away from her. “She said this is the best thing they sold.”
Just then, Aria arrived at our table not looking happy. I was surprised to see her and looked up, catching the mystery guy she went to talk to leaning against someone’s truck outside in the parking lot with a couple other people wearing similar dress. They looked like they just stepped out of a garage.
Aria brought the attention back onto her when she sat down in a huff. “So fucking stupid! I shouldn’t have wasted my time.”
I raised my eyebrow and she pointed to me as she said, “Don’t give me that look—you know he was my type.”
“Maybe not.” I took a drink of my Diet Coke. “So what happened? What did he say?”
“I don’t really want to share other than to say don’t waste your time. He’s not into freshman.” She spat the last word out, which bothered me a tad since she was one of us; a frosh.
“Like we don’t have enough on our minds … harder classes, initiations, rivals from the other school and …”
“Hey, we’re all in the same school,” Krissa cut her off. “Just remember what they said when we were touring this place last May; there’s no more Drake vs. Dryden. We’re all the same people in high school.”
I showed my agreement by smiling, but Aria only pursed her lips and wouldn’t hear it. I hated that she shut down so easily.
Aria got up and looked at me, ignoring Krissa. “You coming?” she wanted to know. “I want to meet those guys Nikki was saying she knew.”
I didn’t really have an excuse to stay in the lunchroom since I had finished eating my pretzel, but I didn’t want to leave Krissa, either. She knew Aria was upset with her and quickly shot a look my way before getting up.
“Well, I need to go find my locker partner,” Krissa said as she gathered up what was left of her Frito Pie. She added that she was letting one of her friends move in temporarily since he didn’t like his new locker partner. Trailing off, Krissa walked away.
I got up and followed Aria to meet the elusive seniors our friend Nikki Thompson had said she knew. She also bragged about not having to worry about initiation because of her newfound friendships over the summer. As we walked along the hallway where all of the seniors had their lockers, we were met with a few stares here and there, but nothing more as people went back to their conversations.
Looking ahead, I saw Nikki leaning against a locker with Joe and Tye next to her; they seemed to be laughing about something. As we joined them, Tye raised his eyebrow.
“Hey, Nikki,” Aria started, looking at Tye and Joe.
“Hi, Aria … Mia. This is Tye and Joe. And,” she said as she pointed to a tall, dark-haired senior walking up, “that’s Collin.”
“So, do we get to initiate these frosh?” Collin wanted to know. Nikki punched him in the arm.
“Of course not, they’re my friends.” She smiled at us and winked.
I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until she confirmed we’d be safe. I let it out slowly and Aria gave me a strange look. She thought I was a bit too tense for my own good.
Just as I was about to ask what classes Joe, Tye, and Collin were taking, the first bell rang.
“Oh, shit, it figures,” Aria said. “Well, see you guys later.” Aria pulled me along beside her as I smiled and waved goodbye. Tye and Collin smiled back; Joe only nodded.
Just as we were walking away, I caught a glimpse of the senior Aria tried to pick up at lunch coming our way. He was a good looking guy with short, blonde hair on the top and sides. The back was a bit longer and curly, and his height was probably around six foot. He wore a faded Carhartt jacket, which made his blonde hair stand out even more.
The handsome senior scanned the hallway as he walked by us and stopped for a millisecond when he caught my eye. I smiled, then looked down at my feet and walked forward. When I looked back up a second later, he turned away and gave a slight, quick raise of his chin to Joe, Tye, and Collin. I couldn’t help but think to myself that this must be his cool, bad-boy way of saying hello. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was attracted to him.
The final week of August was spent finding ways to walk by my new crush whose name I learned was Kyle Meade. On Friday, I felt helpless getting to know him since I had only really seen him two more times. Walking into the choir room, I slumped in the second soprano section where a sophomore I barely knew named Jen was plugged into her CD player two chairs away. A few moments later, Aria came in and sat next to Jen.
“What are you listening to?” Aria mouthed to Jen as she mimed pulling an earphone away from one of her ears so Jen could understand. Jen lifted up the CD case and showed it to Aria. The case had a little baby swimming in a pool toward a dollar on a fishhook.
I reached over Aria to get a good look at the case; it was by a group I’d never heard of called Nirvana. Flipping the case over I read a title, Come as You Are, and immediately thought of an eighties song I considered to be old. Shrugging, I gave it back to her when the teacher walked in and dropped his sheet music on his desk.
Aria poked me in the arm just as we were getting ready to do our warm-up vocals. “Mia, I saw that guy again, um, Kyle Meade I think his name was?”
I perked up at the mention of my crush. “You’re kidding?” I whispered. “I haven’t seen him all week. What was he doing?”
“Talking to some blonde girl with short hair. I think she’s a junior who drives a little green, Ford truck. You may have seen her.”
I had seen her, but didn’t realize he had seen her in that light. I could feel the pit of my stomach turn because at that moment I knew he wasn’t interested in me. Aria knew it too, which is why she felt the need to let me down easy.
“Well, whatever,” I flippantly answered. Then facing the front of the room I added, “Mr. Stanley will have a fit if we keep talking.”
I was glad to be in choir because it meant I didn’t have to talk more to Aria about my big let-down. We walked out of choir together with Aria buzzing about what she had planned for the weekend, but I hardly heard what she said. My mind kept replaying what I thought happened between Kyle and the blonde junior. I was so absorbed that I barely heard Aria tell me she’d see me later before she jetted off to her next class.
I walked on, cutting through the commons area, not really paying attention to where I was going. All of the tables and chairs had been put away since lunch already passed, and just as I reached the outskirt I dropped my pen. Great. Reaching down to pick it up, I stumbled forward and came
