Chapter2
"New school, new students, new students, same crappy lunch." Gretchen rolled her eyes behind her thick rimmed glasses as she sat down across from Vince.
He shrugged. "Some things will never change, Gretch. So how's your buddy."
Now it was Gretchen's turn to shrug. "Some boy with hair that covers his eyes so teachers can't tell he's asleep in class… I don't even know his name because he would just mumble all the time."
"Can't be worse than mine; her name is Betty, and she's all about writing documentaries on how gym classes are insignificant." He rolled his eyes. "So where is everyone?"
"I ran into Gus and Mikey in the hall. They said they had a different lunch time then us."
"There are different lunch times here? Brutal…" Vince mumbled as TJ approached their table. "Hey man, how's your buddy?"
"Her name is Bridgette," TJ responded, looking slightly dazed, "sooo pretty…"
Gretchen slumped in her seat. "Well I guess we know if TJ liked his buddy or not."
"Who's pretty?"
Suddenly Spinelli was at their table, holding a tray of disgusting cafeteria food. Vince nudged his head in TJ's direction as he smirked and said, "TJ has a crush on his buddy, Bridgette."
TJ sat up. "I do not," he stumbled quickly, "you know I was only kidding."
"So when are you planning to ask her out?" Gretchen teased as she pointed her fork at him.
"I'm not going to ask her out!" TJ cried nervously.
"Relax, would you?" Spinelli sat down next to TJ, "There's nothing wrong with having a crush on your buddy."
"But I don't!"
Spinelli shrugged. "I'm just saying…"
"Saying what?" Gretchen grinned wickedly, "Do you have a crush on your buddy, Spinelli? What's his name?"
"A crush on Chuck?" Spinelli cried in disbelief.
TJ made a face. "Chuck? What kind of name is Chuck?"
"It's the kind of name that Spinelli lo-o-o-ves." Vince pulled Spinelli's braid playfully to tease her.
"Would you guys stop being so immature?" Spinelli grumbled as she had to stop herself from punching Vince's shoulder. She wasn't sure why, but she could feel her face going hot and turning crimson.
"Relax, would you?" Gretchen repeated Spinelli's own words, "There's nothing wrong with having a crush on your buddy."
"Her buddy… crush on what buddy?" TJ looked around, waiting for an answer, obviously confused. The only answer though was from the giggles shared by Gretchen and Vince who were enjoying teasing Spinelli. They had never been able to make her feel embarrassed so quickly.
"That's it," Spinelli grumbled as she stood up from the table, "I'm out."
Gretchen stopped laughing. "Oh come on Spinelli. You know we were only kidding."
"Whatever," she mumbled as she stormed off, leaving her tray on the table, suddenly not hungry. Her braids whipped her in the face but she ignored them. The door to the cafeteria closed behind her, and suddenly everything was very quiet. She was alone in the hallways.
Not liking the eerie silence, Spinelli let her boots lead her to the back doors of the school. She wasn't really aware of where she was going; all she knew was that she had to get out before any of her 'friends' decided to follow her.
If they were going to follow her…
"Spinelli?"
She was surprised to find that she wasn't alone like she had hoped. Standing only a few feet away from her was Chuck. Once again, something inside of her fluttered at the sight of him and she forgot all about Vince and Gretchen teasing her.
With Chuck were another boy and girl. The boy had dark skin and shaved head. He was just as muscular as Chuck and Spinelli wondered what sports they played. Next to him was the girl with wavy, silver blonde hair, grey eyes and lips that seemed too big for her face. Or maybe they weren't too big for her face, maybe the rest of her was just too small. After all, her cheeks did look a little hallow.
"Hey Chuck," Spinelli said, her voice raspy, "what are you doing out here?"
He hesitated before answering. "We spend all our lunches out here." Pause. "This is Brian and Sunday. Guys, this is Spinelli, my buddy. But don't worry, she's cool."
Brian smiled nodded his head in approval. "Nice. So what's up Spin?"
"Uh… not much."
Sunday didn't seem as friendly. She squinted her grey eyes at Spinelli, eyeing her suspiciously. "So what, like, are you doing out here?"
Suddenly the feeling of Vince and Gretchen laughing at her filtered through her and Spinelli couldn't help but scowl. "My friends are being idiots," she growled before she could stop herself.
Chuck's face suddenly lit up and he glanced at Brian. "So, are you really pissed at them?"
Spinelli froze, not sure if she was or not. Sure, she and the gang had gotten into arguments, but she had never really considered herself so angry at them that she was, well, pissed at them. But the sound of the irritating laughter echoed in her ears, making her flare up again. "I guess," she finally answered.
Chuck glanced at Brian again, who nodded with a smile. Sunday's mouth dropped. "No, guys that's not fair. You don't her, she's going to tell. Don't be idiots now…"
"What am I going to tell?" Spinelli arched one of her eyebrows.
"Calm down, would you Sunday?" Chuck shook his head slightly.
"We were just about to try something," Brian explained, "it would probably make you feel better." He pulled out a crumpled bag from his pocket and emptied it onto his hands. Sitting in his palm were four, tiny pills.
Spinelli felt her whole body tense as she realized what it was.
"Just think of it as a mint." Chuck said as he popped one into his mouth. He then grinned at Spinelli, his beautiful, sexy grin that made Spinelli want to jump towards him and……
"Well are you going to take it or what?" Sunday snapped, "Because if you aren't I suggest you leave." She glared fiercely at Spinelli. At this, Spinelli smirked her famous, tough smirk.
"Sure," she said as she grabbed one of the pills and popped it into her own mouth. Within the next minute everything seemed… lighter. She couldn't help but smile, smile at Chuck. He was smiling back.
"Just think of it as a mint." She heard Brian's voice echo.
But all she could think of was Chuck and how gorgeous he looked leaning up against the brick wall.
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"Guys?" TJ snapped, "What was that all about?" He had hardly understood what was going on. All he heard was Spinelli had a crush on someone, and then she had stormed off. Did she really have a crush on someone?
"Spinelli was just overreacting like usual," Gretchen snorted.
TJ looked to see the cafeteria door slam behind her. He could feel the bones in his legs itching to get up and run after her. "We should see if she's okay," he said slowly.
"Oh forget it," Vince told him, "she'll be fine in an hour or two. This is Spinelli we're talking about; she gets angry at the littlest things."
"I don't know guys…" TJ was still unsure.
"What are you so worried about?" Gretchen arched an eyebrow at him. She then gave him a strange look, the kind of look that girls always give someone when they think they've realized something. They always do know these kinds of things first, don't they?
"Okay, you're right." TJ said quickly as he looked away from Gretchen, afraid of what was beginning to come over him.
"Besides," Vince said, completely clueless, "it's only lunch. It's not like she's going to do anything stupid."
Right…
