Chapter 2: Of Confusion and Boys

I watched the student body hurry towards their classes as the bell signifying the end of lunch rang. It was a perfect autumn day in New England and I wasn't planning on letting it go to waste. I quickly threw away what was left of my lunch and walked towards the gates of Spencer Academy. Looking back over my shoulder to make sure that no one was watching, I ran the last few steps to my car and got in. If there was one perk to living in the dorms of a prestigious boarding school that happened to be situated miles from any town, it was that my parents had had to procure me with a motor vehicle.

Once I was a distance away from the school, I opened the radio and cranked up the volume. I fiddled with the stations for a while looking for something other than rap or pop music but failed. I popped in a mix CD instead and let the lyrics glide over me as I got onto the highway and accelerated.

Smells on the air

See there it's crushing the final impression

The stains on the paper

Where words fell like water

Unearth all the changes that never did matter

I think it's beginning to freeze here

I rolled down the window and breathed in the fresh air; for the first time that day I was able to relax. Although Spencer Academy was a nice ornament on my academic profile, it wasn't somewhere I especially liked to be. I would have been happy staying at my previous school with its small classes and my two best friends, but my father had decided that only a prestigious boarding school, like Spencer, would do for the education of his daughter. Of course I was certain that my living at school and away from him had nothing to do with the decision.

Here please forgive me

Could we escape all the bitterness piled upon bitterness

Held in the face of the things that I don't understand

Intellectualize over and over

This helplessness suits us

Funny how quiet has slipped to our corners

Worn all our edges away

You are watching breathing and baiting

Wanting and warming and cautiously waiting

For some simple signal to creep cross your conscience

Uncover redemption and oh did I mention

I carried you down to the St. Lawrence River

The banks running dirty the water's beginning to freeze here

Solid by morning

And I'll freeze here

Winter by morning

Maybe I was being a hypocrite again because this living arrangement suited me just as well - I didn't want to intrude on his time and no longer had the patience to deal with him.

The song changed and it reminded me of Julie and the new developments in her life, or rather those that had occurred and I had only recently noticed, which also brought to mind the strange encounter in the library. I was still puzzled over the fact that they had come to sit with me in the first place. I'd gotten the feeling that they'd come to find out something, but they never got around to it. I was probably imagining things or maybe, if I was lucky, it meant that my work was already done for me and Reid was interested in Julie and only needed a nudge in the right direction.

Why was I worried? Julia hadn't asked for my help and neither had Reid. I was ready to meddle in other people's affairs without having even been asked. It was rather sad. A trip into Boston and away from the drama filled academy had long been overdue.

It took a while to find a parking spot, but the wasted hour was well worth it. I had reached my destination – Newbury Street, my favorite shopping district. Although I liked to think of myself as someone with some depth, it didn't mean that I didn't know how to enjoy some retail therapy now and again.

One of the fun parts of shopping was trying on clothes with a friend, without one it wasn't as much fun. I would have invited my roommate if I hadn't known in advance that her reaction would be something akin to – "Are you crazy? We can't skip class to shop!" After doing about as much shopping as a girl could on her own, I walked down to Tealuxe for a cup of tea. Theirs was the best and I made it a rule to go there whenever I was in Boston.

As I sat down, tea in hand, a chill raced down my spine and I looked around the small sitting area of the Café. My instincts were rarely wrong, but I felt a bit paranoid looking around as I was doing. I had the distinct impression that I was being followed but I couldn't be certain. I tried to shake off the nagging feeling and took a sip of tea before diving into my purse to find my copy of Sense and Sensibility.

I'd only been reading for a short time when someone decided to sit across from me, bumping my knees in the process. I looked up to tell whoever it was that I didn't want company but stopped short when I saw who it was.

You've got to be kidding me with the déjà vu, I though, but out loud I asked: "Are you stalking me?"

Tyler Sims said nothing but replied with a bashful smile.

I put my book away, scooted forward in my seat, and stared at the apparition before me. How in the world had this boy found me here? It explained the strange feeling I'd had, but as far as I had been able tell no one had followed me from school.

Once more he wasn't too forthcoming with any kind of explanation so I had to initiate. "So…you felt like taking a stroll in Boston during class hours, like me, and just happened to stumble into Tealuxe, again like me?"

I tried to keep my face neutral but his cryptic smiles were driving me over the edge. I was about to throw my question at him again when an almost familiar voice sounded from beside me.

"You do realize you can't really pierce him with your stare right?"

What else could I have expected? Turning myself slightly to the side so that I was facing him, I retorted, "And you do realize that stalking me is really more creepy than flattering, right?"

"Who said anything about stalking you? We just happened to see you come in here as we strolled by and thought you might like some company." Reid said as he sat down and pushed a fresh cup of tea towards me.

I eyed the tea for a few seconds wondering if he could have done anything to it, since I hadn't been watching while he got it. Finally coming to the conclusion that they had absolutely no motive to do me harm and probably no interest in me as a girl, seeing how the female population at Spencer was throwing itself at the last two "sons of Ipswich," Caleb Danvers and Pogue Perry being no longer available, I took a careful sip of the drink.

It was good; it had a slight tinge of mango flavor and just the right amount of sweetness. "Okay, let's say I believe you. There still is no reason for you to want to come and keep me company, we're not friends. To be more accurate: neither of you probably knew I even existed until this morning."

"Well it was hard not to notice how you were staring at Reid this morning," Tyler finally spoke up.

"So he does speak," I couldn't help but note with just a hint of sarcasm. "So what if I was looking at him? Lots of girls do."

"But not you." Again it was Tyler who spoke.

"Which brings me back to – I didn't know I registered in your minds."

"To be completely honest, I didn't really know who you were aside from your name and the fact that you'd transferred in, but Tyler here knew more and he thought your sudden interest in me was weird," Reid said.

I looked over to Tyler lounging in his chair somehow graceful and bashful. "So you noticed, eh?"

He just smiled at me and just like that my irritation was back. Tyler rubbed me the wrong way; he smiled too much.

We lapsed into silence again, and I took that opportunity to sip my tea and think of a better way to formulate my thoughts into words so that I could get answers. "So my interest, in you, made you interested. I must be special since none other girls' attention seem to generate such a response from either of you."

"Sorry, but no, it's actually the reason behind your interest that really caught our attention," Reid said looking more serious than he had before.

"You basically want to know why I'm suddenly noticing in you," I stated rather than asked.

"Pretty much."

I looked from one to the other. Why would my looking at Reid seem so unusual? Even though I didn't ogle him like many of the other girls did, it didn't warrant such a reaction. "Well it could be that both of you have legions of groupies in the school and I was wondering what made them all drool after the pair of you. It could also be that I was trying to figure out how the two of you and your other two best friends always seem be on top of everything. Or better yet maybe I already know something about Reid and was thinking of the best way to blackmail him. Why not just ask? It's a much easier way to get answers."

They both shrugged as if they expected me to know. "Well," I said having had my share of frustration for the day, "it was nice speaking with both of you, but I have to cut this short seeing as how this is going nowhere and I'd rather not waste my time trying to divulge any secrets from the pair of you." I got up, picked up my bag, and left resisting the urge to look back to check if they were coming after me.

"She knows."

"It seems like it. Now, what do we do about it?"

A/N: Chap 2 done yay! Hum, I might come back and change some of it I'm not sure I like the way I ended it, but it's pretty late and I have classes early…I'll have to wait. I just wanted to give you something. Hum…I'm also looking for a beta reader, if anyone would like the job let me know. Chap 1 does need revising…I'll try to answer questions tomorrow, but sleep calls.

TBC