Mari's pov:
Her heart beat grew faster with with every word he said to her. She could feel her palms getting sweaty.
he's so sweet and funny and god damn adorable how can he be this perfect? she thought to herself.
They continued talking until they approached the cafeteria. Josh led her to a circular table in the corner of the large room. Some other people that Josh had told her about were already there. When they got to the table, Josh started introducing everyone. Closest to the wall were Anthony and Kalel. They had been dating for 3 years but you could hardly tell. You'd think they just got together yesterday, they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. Then, next to them, were Wes and Matt. They had just gotten together about a month ago, so they were in the awkward blushing and hand holding stage. Lastly, across from them was David and Ian. They weren't officially together, but you could tell they had some feelings towards each other the way they constantly flirted. Everyone greeted Mari warmly, getting a shy smile in return.
"Finally, another girl at the table! I was starting to feel lonely." Kalel said, prying herself off of Anthony for a second.
Mari smiled again, blushing slightly. Josh sat down at the table and gestured for Mari to take the seat beside him. She sat down her bag and obliged. She then pulled out her lunch and started eating as the others did.
"So, Mari, what school did you transfer here from?" Ian asked with a mouth full of sandwich.
She swallowed a bit of food. "…Shippensburg High." she murmured.
"Ah, what made you want to move with only a month left in the school year?"
She tensed up and felt a familiar knot build up in her stomach. She dreaded this question since she got here.
She was hoping no one would ask this question, and she had no response ready.
"Umm… well, It was really crowded there and I wasn't learning much with all of the other kids there, so my mom transferred me here," she lied, It was the easiest response she could think of.
"Oh, well there's like, no one here, so you shouldn't have a problem with that," Ian replied, shoving another bite of sandwich in his mouth.
Mari sighed internally, relieved that they didn't question her terrible excuse.
"So, how do you like it so far?" Wes said, shifting awkwardly in his seat.
"It's not bad, but I've only been to one class so far, so that could change, I don't know."
Wes opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut of by the shrill ringing of the bell. Everyone gathered their things and made their way to their next class.
"What do you have next?" Josh asked as they made their way to the stairs.
"Uhh, lets see…" she murmured as she pulled out her schedule. "Honors English with Mrs. Mills, then Theater arts with Mrs. McIntyre."
Josh nodded. "Oh, I guess we have theater arts together too. Meet me by the water fountain by Mills' room and I can walk you there… I mean, only if you want me to." He looked away, blushing slightly.
"Yeah, I'd like that." Mari replied. She was hit with an overwhelming tingling in her stomach, almost like butterflies.
Josh and Mari stood outside of Mrs. Mills' room for a good 2 minutes before realizing where they were. Mari waved goodbye and entered the classroom. Josh stood there a few seconds, just watching her, then left for his class.