UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #1)(20)

“Exactly. Then I went home to find my mom had gone on the packing binge and was ready to move us to Alaska.”

“But how does that lead to this morning?” Nan asked suspiciously.

“He stalked me; he got an employee to find out where I lived and then drove up and down my streets like a stalker. Supposedly he wanted to give me a ride to school, because he felt bad for crushing my bike.

“Um Mina,” Nan spoke softly.

Mina peeled her orange with a vengeance. “Yeah, and then he had the gall to tell me he wanted to apologize to me before we got to school, because he knew he wouldn’t once we were in school. It’s because he’s embarrassed by me.”

“Mina,” Nan tried to interrupt her friend, as she attacked her helpless fruit.

“I tell you Nan, he is afraid to be seen in public with me. You think he wouldn’t after I saved his life and all.” Mina shoved an orange slice into her mouth and bit down.

“Mina, he’s coming this way,” Nan smirked.

“MFFWHA?” Mina said with a mouth stuffed with orange. She looked around the cafeteria and saw that his usual spot with the polo team was empty. He was in fact, tray in hand, moving towards their table. Mina looked at Nan eyes wide in panic.

“Relax, he may be going somewhere else.” She tried to comfort her panicked friend but knew it was a lie. She had watched as moments earlier, Brody enter the cafeteria and scan the whole student population looking for Mina.

Brody saw her; she wasn’t at her usual table so it took a few moments for him to find her. He took his tray and never once did he look away from her table while he waited in line. He had a feeling that if she saw him she would run. Josh called to him as he passed by his friend and usual spot and walked to a different table. He saw numerous heads turn in his direction and take note in the change of his routine, but he didn’t care. He needed to prove to her that she wasn’t right about him. What she said stabbed him deep and he wanted her to know he was different. He knew the instant she spotted him, because her posture stiffened and she started choking.

Brody dropped his tray on the table reached over to slap Mina on the back. Once she had stopped coughing she turned on him. “What are you doing?” She whispered between clenched teeth, trying to keep her mouth from moving. People were staring at them.

“I know you thought the conversation in the car was over but it’s not.” Brody smiled at her, his blue eyes twinkling with challenge.

“All right you’ve proved your point; you are not embarrassed to be seen with me in public. So you can go now.” Mina made shooing motions with her hands and if shooing away a fly, but Brody just grinned wider at her.

“You see, what you said in the car made me angry. Until I realized that it’s not true.” Brody leaned over to whisper in Mina’s ear. “I’m not embarrassed to be seen with you in public. You are. You don’t want to be seen with me.” His breath tickled her ear making her melt until she processed the words he spoke.

“That’s not true,” Mina argued eyes blazing.

“Then prove it, Mina.” Brody challenged. His eyes darkened with meaning. “Prove to me you are not ashamed of me.”

Mina looked at Brody fearfully and then over at Nan who had wisely kept her mouth shut and watched as a silent bystander. Nan nodded her head encouragingly at her. Mina hung her head in shame, it wasn’t Brody she was embarrassed about, it was herself. She was a walking, talking embarrassment; and why in the world would Brody want to hang out with her?

“Why Brody? Why do this?” Mina asked looking up at Brody. “I don’t understand, we have nothing in common, why do you want to be associated with me? I’ve saved your life, but that’s as far as this friendship needs to go…really.”

Brody looked hurt. Mina wished she could take back the words as soon as they left her mouth. Brody stared at his tray of food for a minute and then looked up at her. His eyes bored into hers. “Mina you did more than save my life, and I’m trying to show you. But you have to meet me half way.” He picked up his tray and walked away from their table, dumping the uneaten contents in the trash. Students turned to watch him walk out and they kept turning toward Mina’s table.

One student in particular couldn’t tear her eyes away from Mina. Her eyes flared angrily and her phone kept getting irritating texts from Pri. The girl squeezed her cell phone between clenched fingers in an attempt to silence the buzzing by shear force alone. Savannah wished that she was holding Mina’s neck in her hands instead of her cell phone. She couldn’t believe Brody sat by her, that nobody. And her phone had numerous texts from friends proving that he drove the brown-haired bore to school. What did he see in her and only days after they broke up? Savannah’s lips pursed angrily in thought. She would have to see about this girl.

~~~

The rest of the day dragged on. Mina never got to speak with Nan about the Grimm family curse, and nothing interesting appeared or followed her around school, so Mina hoped the Story had forgotten about her. Mina was so preoccupied with the Grimm curse and Brody that she was pretty sure she flunked her history test. She felt numb as she handed an almost blank test to her teacher.

When the final 3:30 bell rang, Mina breathed in relief. She could now go to the public library and try and research more about her family’s history. Walking to her locker, Mina was surprised to see the number of students surrounding it. She decided to hang back and wait until the crowd dissipated so she could grab the rest of her books and leave, but the number didn’t budge. Putting her head down, in preparation to enter the mob, Mina clumsily maneuvered to her locker, stepping on toes, saying "excuse me," bumping elbows. It wasn’t until someone grabbed her elbow to steady her that she saw the reason for the crowd of students. Brody was leaning against her locker; and he was holding her elbow.