Chapter 4
Liam wasn’t there the following Monday morning. In fact, I hadn’t seen him the entire week end. Ben told me that he was taking the day off to sleep. Apparently we had caught a very bad virus and had been stuck in bed ever since the concert.
Amber smiled at me when we saw each other at lunch, but not Lisa. She was wearing her angry expression and didn’t even look my way. I knew why she was pissed. I had heard Ben talking on the phone with Liam. From what I’ve heard, Lisa didn’t trust even one word of my drunken story. She even believes that Liam wanted to kiss me and we were seeing each other in secret. Ah, that’s a good one. Liam didn’t love me, well not like a girlfriend, more like a little sister.
Maybe not even that.
The day was super slow, but it did have some excitement. There was a new guy. We spotted him at lunch, sitting alone. When we passed, he starred out rightly at us. Rose said that he was checking us out; I would probably say that he was only trying to search for potential friends. Later that day, I found out that he was in my chemistry class and my French class.
*******
A woke up this morning with a strange feeling. My gut was telling me something. Something I couldn’t figure out. I finally let it go and dressed up. When I got downstairs, Liam and Ben were talking in the living room.
“I don’t know if it’s him. I only saw…” Ben was saying but he interrupts himself when he saw me at the end of the stairs.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” He continued rearranging his expression to make a big smile. “I’m okay. But you guys don’t look so good,” I said, searching their faces.
“No, we’re all good. Right Liam?” He said, turning to face him and I saw a look pass between them. A hidden message. Something was definitely wrong. But I kept my mouth shut and smiled at them.
“Yeah, I’m feeling much better. It must’ve been just a 48 hours virus kinda thing…” Liam said, his white teeth showing beneath is stretched lips. I knew they didn’t want to worry me, even though by doing this, they were making me worry even more. Besides, last time I tried to know what was going on, I did some things I regretted, a lot.
When we got to school, the new guy was waiting just beside my locker. For a second I thought he was waiting for me, but then he opened the locker next to mine and pulled out a binder. This locker had been empty since the first day of school… Looks like I was getting a new neighbor. I was ignoring him, not even saying hello, and I wish he wouldn’t bother talking to me either. But when he closed the locker, he didn’t go away to go his class. No, he stayed there, and I think he was watching me.
“Hi, I’m Cole. I’m new here…” He said, leaving his sentence in suspense. His hand was extended. I turned around and took his hand, shook it once and released it.
“Yeah, I…” I didn’t finish my sentence, choosing to answer the proper way.
“Hi, I’m Alicia. Looks like you’re my new neighbor,” I said trying to be funny. Cole smiled back, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Wow, I must look like a really stupid person. But hey, that’s what happened when I was nervous.
That’s when Liam arrived. Another person to embarrass myself in front of; just what I needed. He was suddenly at my side, putting his bag in his locker.
“I saw you yesterday. You’re in my chemistry class, right?” He asked. I nodded, “and in French”. As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I put my hand on my mouth. Cole would probably think I’m some kind of stalker. Which I am not, I just have a really good memory…
He squinted at me, probably trying to remember. An instant later, his face lightened up. He nodded slowly and smiled.
“Yeah, I guess you are,” he said. Liam had stopped what he was doing, starring at us. I felt my face go all hot. Aw, that wasn’t a good sign… I tried to concentrate on what Cole was saying, but I was too aware of Liam just beside me.
His fists were at his sides and he was blinking several times. He finally moves, only to bump in Cole’s shoulder, hard. This one didn’t seem to have realized it. He just went on talking about his old school.
Well… That was weird. Why would Liam do that? I hadn’t seen him that violent in years. And bumping somebody in the shoulder may seem like nothing to others, but for Liam… It wasn’t his usual behavior.
By the time I arrived in class, somebody had already taken my usual spot. Therefore, I sat at one of the only desks available, ones at the very front. Cole followed me but he stopped dead in his tracks, seeing that I was aiming for the front desks. He turned around and starred at two guys that were leaning into each other to whisper something. All at once, they stopped laughing and stood up. They went up front, leaving two abandoned desks at the back of the class. Cole walked casually to one and sat there, looking at me with a lazy smile across his lips.
“What are you waiting for Alicia?” He said, patting the surface of the desk besides him. I shook my head, trying to figure out what had just happened.
Cole had simply looked at them… Had he scared them? It wasn’t possible even though he definitely had some muscles of his own. I shook my head once again and finally advanced to where Cole was sitting. At the same moment, the bell ringed, indicating that the class was about to begin and therefore, we couldn’t talk anymore. Oh, well… I would have to wait for the next class to ask for details...
******
Finally, an hour later, the bell ringed. The students jumped from their seats and aimed for the door. I wasn’t quite back to reality yet. Cole was standing beside me, calling my name.
“We better go, Alicia. Don’t want to be late to your next class,” he said. I just nodded, and finally got out of the classroom. Cole followed me to our lockers and left me, after what seemed like an eternity, for his own course.
Now that I was alone in the class, I could think without interruption. But the thing was that now I that I thought about it, nothing had really been going on. There was nothing wrong, right? The guys had simply wanted to have seats at the front... leaving theirs at the back empty and available for me and Cole to talk without interruption. That was normal. Now, that I was relieved that I had, once again, made a big deal out of nothing, I could concentrate on what the teacher was saying and when the lunch came, I got to the cafeteria with Cole.
“Hey, Alicia!” Rose screamed from across the room. I walked to where all my friends were sitting, Cole following me shyly.
“You made a new friend...?” Rose asked me in my ear when I gave her a hug.
“Everybody, this is Cole. He’s new here,” I said to them, letting each present himself.
The girls were all over him, giggling at everything he said and touching his arm and shoulders. It was getting on my nerves, but I couldn’t blame them. He was pretty attractive with his blond hair, deep brown eyes and strong shoulders. The guys, well I think they were just happy to get another guy in the gang. Plus tons of girls passed by our table and talked to us, only to see Cole closer, which they didn’t complain much about.
In the end, everybody was very fond of him. They all asked questions about his life and friends. It became pretty clear that he was going to hang with us from now on.
---> 
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