and looked up to apologize, only to find that the victim of my clumsiness was Kyle Meade himself.
“Oops,” I mumbled in embarrassment.
“Um, sorry about that,” Kyle said as he stepped back and straightened up. He smiled and gave me that quick, chin lifting move that I had become so fond of before turning and starting to walk away. He walked a few feet and then stopped and turned. My breath caught in my throat.
“You look familiar. Are you friends with that freshman, Erin, or whatever?”
“Aria, you mean?” I felt like I was playing a little dumb with him, but I had to be sure he was placing me right.
“Yeah, that’s her,” Kyle affirmed.
“Aria and I have been friends for quite some time,” I told him. Before I could say anything else, he asked me with a raised eyebrow why I didn’t come over with Aria to talk to him the day she had at lunch. “Isn’t it obvious?” I asked, noticing his hazel eyes for the first time. “She thought you were cute and I didn’t want to interfere.” Conversation was surprisingly coming a bit too easy for me.
“And you didn’t?” he teased.
I was taken aback by his brashness, but thought it better to ignore his question. “I don’t even know you or your name,” I lied. “My name’s Mia Adams.”
“Kyle Meade. Are you a freshman, too?” I pondered his question for a millisecond, considering a lie. I knew he’d eventually find out, so I just nodded a yes. “You’re cute … for a freshman,” he added.
With that, he turned and walked away. I felt my mouth drop a bit and couldn’t move. His comment would stay with me the rest of the day, making me more distracted than before.
2. Kyle
It was another week before I saw Kyle again, yet I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I wondered why, in a school of 1800, I had trouble seeing him even once a week. Did he skip class? How long was he in school? Did he even go to school? It was agonizing not seeing him or being able to continue our conversation. I had thought a lot, maybe too much, about what our entire conversation would have been like if he hadn’t walked away.
Not being known for my patience, I made up my mind on Friday to actively seek him out and discover what he really thought of me. I figured lunch was probably a better time than any, so I ditched Aria and Krissa and gave them the excuse that I had to talk to my math teacher.
My first stop was the auto shop parking lot where all the people who could drive hung out. Most were there smoking since it was far enough away from school that they wouldn’t get caught by the assistant principal. He patrolled religiously, but for some reason didn’t come too close to this particular parking lot. To get an overview of it, I walked to a concrete walkway known as “the overpass” that bridged the school and the parking lot. I knew I’d find him if he was there, but only saw a few people dressed in Carhartt jackets, none of them with curly blonde hair.
My next stop was a bank of senior lockers on the second floor where I caught a glimpse of Nikki hanging out with Collin, Tye, and Joe. She had been hanging out with Collin a lot, and this time when I waved a hello I noticed she had her fingers intertwined with his. They must be an item now.
I kept walking, trying the first floor. I doubted he’d be there, but sometimes you could catch a senior or two walking through. Mostly freshman and sophomores had lockers there on the first floor, but a few were also on the third where mine was located.
Searching through the sea of students there I tried to find Kyle, but no luck. I decided to chance running into Aria and Krissa and did a stealthy sweep of the commons area. I looked out beyond the large windows that lined the commons and noticed Aria walking outside with some guy dressed in black jeans and a black leather jacket. He looked like trouble, but those were the types Aria usually went for. Krissa was nearby sitting on some guy’s lap in the middle of the commons, playing with his hair.
“What is it with everyone?” I said under my breath and kept walking, glancing again at Krissa and the guy with the hair.
“What do you mean?” said a voice out of nowhere. I stopped short, almost running into the thick, round pillar that Kyle was leaning against. He had heard me above the dull roar of the lunch crowd. I guess I hadn’t commented as quietly as I’d hoped. When I didn’t answer, he pulled a half-smile and asked, “Are you looking for someone?”
“Oh, yeah. Actually, I was looking for you,” I surprisingly answered. He continued to lean against the pillar with his arms crossed over his chest.
“And here I am,” he said nonchalantly. I couldn’t tell if he was just cocky or uncaring, but I’d figure it out later.
“I need to go outside for a sec,” he said as he unfolded his arms, turned around and walked away. I started to turn and make my way to anywhere else, but he spoke again and caught me by surprise. “You coming?” I turned to see him looking at me with a questioning look on his face.
“Yeah, I’m coming,” I said as I jogged to catch up with him. I’m not a mind reader.
We stepped outside in the misty cold. It wasn’t raining, but I was sure it soon would be. As we walked through the parking lot, Kyle dug into the inside pocket of his faded brown Carhartt. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, offering me a cigarette but I shook my head no. He lit up, taking a drag every once and a while and we walked in silence.
“You’re pretty quiet,” he mentioned between drags of his cigarette. “Were you looking for me to talk, or …?”
“Talk,” I cut him off, not knowing what the ‘or’ was about. “Listen,” I began, taking in a slow breath and wondering if he could see my hands shaking. “I like you and want to get to know you. I thought we might hang out or even go out sometime.”
“What do you mean, ‘go out’?” Kyle had a smirk on his face. “Like dinner or a movie or something?”
I smiled to answer that’s what I had in mind. It was like when I was back in seventh grade, going to the movies with my boyfriend. Kyle only shook his head, took the last drag on his cigarette and stomped it out on the sidewalk.
“Hey, Kyle! Are you coming or what?” I looked up ahead and saw another senior sticking his head out of a red Toyota truck.
“Yeah, Jon, be right there.” Kyle turned toward me. “I’ll see you later. Thanks for the company.” He turned and jogged off to get into Jon’s truck.
I watched them drive away, noticing Jon glance at me and then turning toward Kyle, who I caught laughing and shrugging. Jon was sure to ask Kyle who I was, and I wondered what Kyle was telling him. Her? She’s just some frosh. My anger began to rise as I balled up my fists, trying to shake his words from my head. Why am I letting him get to me?
The first bell rang as I entered the school building after Kyle took off with Jon.
“Mia! Mia!” I turned to see Aria running toward me, yelling. She was out of breath and I could only guess why.
“What were you up to?” I asked.
“Oh, probably the same as you—I saw you walking with Kyle. What’d he have to say?” I didn’t really want to talk about it, so
