The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance(2)
I knew I would never tell Samantha anything ever again. I’d never give her the chance to hurt me a second time.
There was only one person I could trust, and that was Rachel, hands down.
Rachel knew just about everyone in school, and she wasn’t the kind of person to make up dishonest stories about them. As a member of the student council, she was in charge of greeting and helping new students make the transition to our small, quaint high school. I darted my gaze back to the new boy, admiring the way he seemed to laugh so easily with the crowd of guys around him.
“Who?” Rachel asked softly, leaning in.
“That guy, at the Bro-Table.” I made a quick gesture as I pretended to pick up my napkin and move it. Rachel’s eyes followed the direction of my hand and made contact with the boy throwing a tater tot at a laughing classmate.
“Oh, him? That’s Micah Jacobs. He used to live here when he was younger. I remember him from my old elementary school. He moved away just as the East and West side Elementary schools began to merge for middle school. I guess he’s back in the area now.” Rachel bumped my arm. It was an all-knowing bump and I could feel my cheeks begin to warm just as his eyes caught mine from across the room. The corners of his mouth turn into a smile, and I dashed my gaze away.
“Who are we talking about?” Jennifer piped in as she closed the distance between Rachel and me. Her gaze scattered over the faces at the Bro-Table with intrigue.
“Don’t look now!” I hissed. I tugged on her hand, hoping he wouldn’t see. But he did. Micah Jacobs saw the three of us gawking at him like a bunch of silly school girls, and he started to laugh. I was mortified as I lifted my hand to my forehead, focusing on the apple on my tray. His eyes were definitely dark brown, darker than my own.
“Are we talking about Micah?” Jennifer asked Rachel and me.
“Obviously,” I mumbled. I picked up a French fry but decided not to cram it into my mouth. I mean…he might still be watching.
“He was in one of my morning classes today. He’s just like the rest of them over there,” Jennifer reported, and took a sip from her milk carton. “I mean, he is sitting at the Bro-Table, Charlie.” She almost sounded apologetic.
I looked to Rachel, wondering if she had anything else to add. “He’s not that bad,” she said with a shrug. “I knew him years ago. He might have hung out with the wrong kids those days, but he was always nice to me. I’m sure he’s probably changed since then, but… He moved to Georgia or something, and that was the last my family ever heard from his. I was pretty surprised when I saw him on the roster this morning. He didn’t seem to recognize me, so I didn’t say anything other than my usual ‘Welcome to Grand Lakes High School’ and, you know…that stuff.”
“It doesn’t really matter,” I said. “I was just wondering who he was. I haven’t seen him around and I don’t remember him from before.” I was trying my best to seem indifferent. While it had been two years, I was still a little traumatized by my experience with Samantha Walters. I didn’t want anyone to jump to conclusions about my peaked curiosity in the new guy. Speak of the devil.
“Oooooo! I think Charlie has a crush,” Samantha called loudly over our crowd of friends. Daan kept his gaze to his plate while Samantha grinned at me. I could see the discomfort growing on Daan’s face. But instead of stopping her, he turned his focus to his phone. Samantha brushed her long, silken black hair over her shoulder and giggled. “It’s so cute! Charlie has a crush on the new old ‘bad boy’ in town.”
“No, I don’t,” I muttered. I picked up another French fry. This time, I shoved it into my mouth without hesitation.
“Look at her!” Samantha squawked. “It’s so obvious.”
“It doesn’t really matter, Sam, does it?” Daan glanced up from his phone. There was a silent, tense moment between them. It was the first time Daan had ever confronted her.
Sam’s eyes widened as he picked up his lunch tray and walked over to the return carousel. She slid her hazel-eyed glare to me and wrinkled her nose.
As I turned my eyes away from the disaster at the other end of the table, my eyes caught Micah’s from across the cafeteria. He was watching me, and I thought I saw him wink.
“Everybody Talks”
Neon Trees
SAM MUST HAVE WORKED HER magic quickly, because within the timeframe of two class periods, almost everyone in the eleventh grade knew about my alleged crush on Micah Jacobs... I wasn’t sure why it was such a big deal. But it was a small town, and everyone lived for gossip. Walking into science class, I began to hear Micah’s name whispered around me. Awkward doesn’t even begin to cover how I felt. I tried my best to ignore it as I pulled my textbook and spiral out of my backpack and waited not-so-patiently for our teacher to begin her lecture, but I couldn’t help feeling everyone’s stares on me. It was even more embarrassing when I walked into my last class of the day and everyone just stopped talking.
As I grabbed a few books from my locker to go home, Jennifer came up beside me. “I’m really sorry about all the stupid rumors today.” She shifted the books in her arms. Jennifer was one of the few people who knew what Samantha had done to me with Dane Wesley.
“Why?” I nudged my locker door shut. “You didn’t do anything.”