CHAPTER 15 (NEWCOMER ON THE SCENE)

I slapped the back of Shane's head.

"Shane! Put me down!" I protested as he continued to speed towards the bench under a tree.

Gosh. He wasn't stopping or anything at all.

"No. I need to tell you something," he said stubbornly and finally put me down on the bench.

I huffed and straightened out my skirt. I pulled the crown from my hair, sending strands of my hair tumbling down in curls. On my face was a frown. What was Shane thinking? And in the middle of the play too!

"What do you want?" I asked him.

He was silent for a while. He paced back and forth. I grew impatient.

I sighed. "Really. What do you want? Why'd you do that for crying out loud?"

He suddenly placed his hands on my shoulders. He looked at me with such a serious expression on his face that it nearly scared the cereal out of me.

"Shane?" I whispered this time. He was dead serious, and he was never like this. He was always the aloof guy. Not this serious person looking at me with nearly stone-like eyes.

"Norah, do you still love me?" he asked me.

I could only stare back at him. I turned my head the other time. Jeez. Why'd he have to bring this up?

"Shane, stop asking me that question," I said.

"I'll make a frog leap on your skirt," he replied.

I laughed. "Yeah right Shane."

"No. I'm serious. I have one frog in my hand now."

My eyes widened and traveled towards his hand. In his hand was a slimy and disgusting-looking frog. The frog made a ribbity sound and it seemed to stare at me. The hairs on my body stood up.

"Shane!!!! You wouldn't!!!!" I screamed at him.

OH MY FREAKING LORD OF PEANUTBUTTER!! I hate frogs!!! EEEWW!! They just look so disgusting to me!! Jeez Shane!!

"See? Now answer me before this frog makes himself home on your lap," he said.

I sighed and made sweeping gestures with my hand. "Oh fine!! Just keep that creature away from me!"

He smiled, satisfied. He bent down and let the frog go, which hopped towards the small pond a few meters away. "Bye Froggy."

I rolled my eyes at him. "'Froggy the Frog'?"

He laughed and sat down beside me. "Isn't it a cute name?"

I only grinned and rolled my eyes. "Yeah riiigght."

We were silent for a while.

"So, your answer?" Shane asked.

I sighed. I guess it was time.

"No. I don't like you the way I did before Shane. I like someone else now," I replied.

"Is it a girl?" he asked and I swear that it took me all of my self-control to stop myself to punch him. Instead, I pinched his hand.

"No. Obviously a boy," I rolled my eyes and laughed.

He pouted. "You didn't need to do that!"

"Well, you shouldn't have said something so stupid."

He laughed. "Fair enough. So what kind of guy is he? Is he gay? I've always been wondering if you'd date someone who wasn't straight."

"Shane, I swear that I will push you into the pond if you keep on saying things like that."

"Oh fine. I was just having fun. So, is he really nice?"

I nodded and smiled as I thought about Nate. "He's sweet. He's caring and basically everything I ask for. Even if he hurt me, it was okay."

All right. Number one on my to-do-list: find way to inflict revenge on Kelley. I'll get to work on that later on.

"Is it my brother Nate?" he asked.

I turned scarlet, and even if it was dark here, I'm sure that my red face shone in midst of darkness. "No! It's… Not him. No way. Yeah. It couldn't be him… I mean… Um… How can you think of that? It's… like… totally… not… er… possible. Aaah. I'm not in love with your brother for crying out loud!"

I turned to the other side, my arms crossed and my face turning a shade darker. Jeez. It's so obvious that I'm lying.

"You're lying," he said and frowned. Was that a flicker of disappointment in his face?

Finally, I decided to give up. It was no use. I had to break it to him while it was still early.

"Oh all right Shane, I do like your brother. That's it," I said and smiled. "Happy?"

I touched my cheeks. Man were they burning. I always feel like this when I'm talking about Nate. Did I really like him that much?

Shane nodded. He certainly looked sad, as his expression took on a different aura. But he seemed to understand. Like I always thought he would.

"It hurts you know, but ah… I have to let you go. Nate is in a heck of a trouble if he doesn't keep you happy. Mark my words. It's just that…" he said and smiled, before his expression faltered once more.

"Just that what?" I said.

He held my hands, and held it softly. I felt a sudden warmth.

"I just wished that I had you back," he smiled and kissed my cheek.

I smiled.

Maybe things weren't meant to be between us. Maybe we really were supposed to fall apart. Maybe there was a different door of fate for me. Oh I don't know why I'm speaking so poetically. For the love of crayola…

But I don't know how things with Nate will turn out to be… Will it be filled with a lot of things? I've already faced a supernova of a problem, Kelley. And she seems to be evil incarnate. I feel like praying the rosary every time I see her. But no way am I giving up.

"You know what Shane? You'll always hold a special place in my heart," I said.

He grinned, but now his sadness seemed to be gone. "Promise?"

I nodded and pecked him on the cheek. "I promise."

He hugged me and stroked my hair. "Why'd I have to let you go?"

"Maybe you just had to."

And there we sat as we watched the stars twinkling back at us. I know that it's wrong to say that stars twinkle, but it just seemed like that.

"Leticia!" I grinned as I sat on the baseball field. I sat in a cross-sitting position, my hands resting on the grass. Once in a while a dragonfly would flutter past me (one was even an inch close to my face) and I'd swat it away.

I had no problems with dragonflies but I absolutely detested mosquitoes. If I were as smart as Einstein, I'd whip up an invention that would obliterate the whole population of mosquitoes in the world. It would be the best invention ever introduced to mankind and it would be worth a thousand Nobel Awards.

Since I'm not, I'll have to fulfill my dreams of wiping them out in the slowest way possible:

Just slap them.

A mosquito landed on my shoulder and I slapped it.

"Eew!" I made a face as I flicked it from my hand.

Simply… YUCK!!!

Leticia smiled at me as she handed me a soda. I opened it and took a few gulps. Leticia was a year older than me, but she's totally cool. She's my neighbour and we hang out a lot. Recently, I've been sharing to her about Kelley, and she thinks she's horrid too.

One day I will have my sweet and most-awaited revenge.

"You done with volleyball?" I asked her as she sat beside me.

Beads of sweat trickled down her face. She pulled out her bright yellow towel and began dabbing at her face. She breathed deeply.

"Yup. Pretty tiring, but I have to go on. Otherwise, I'd do about fifty push-ups," she grinned and drank from her bottle of water.

I sipped on my can. "I love soda."

"Hm… Don't drink too much. There's like twelve tablespoons of sugar inside a can," she said and looked pretty serious.

I frowned. "Oh cheesecake. Why'd you have to say that?"

"Well, sorry for being concerned about your health."

I laughed and punched her on the shoulder. "Whatever!"

We continued chatting as we sat on the grass. There was a game of baseball going on, and we were just watching. The sun was exuding such a sweltering heat that it was a wonder why I didn't suffer from a heat stroke yet. And is that a mirage I see before me?

Aaah!!! I'm going nuts!!!

Suddenly, someone walked past us. It was a tall guy, maybe five inches taller than me. He had deep, blue eyes and straw-berry blonde hair. Leticia immediately tugged my shirt.

"That's Gian!! He's the guy we've all been crushing on," she whispered excitedly.

I nodded. Oh yeah. So he was the recent heart throb among the girls. I've been wondering quite a lot about him.

Nah. He looks cute. I guess he's good enough (or maybe I just had no taste).

But Nate's way cuter.

Then I smiled to myself.

All of a sudden, my eyes were towards the field. The batter hit the ball but it swerved out of place. My eyes followed where it was going.

OH MY HOTDOG!! It's going towards… What's-his-face???? Anyway! I need to save him!

Gian was walking when I lunged towards him, hugging him, and we toppled to the ground. The ball whizzed over our heads.

Whew. Close enough.

I looked at him and grinned. "A ball nearly hit you. It's okay now though."

I stood up and brushed the dust from my shirt. He stood up as well, completely astonished.

"Th-thank you," he said, his voice a little shaky. He was staring at me.

"Nah. It's totally fine. Glad you're safe," I grinned.

Ah. I feel like Batman. Once again the day is saved!

"I'm grateful, really. Thank you," he grinned and he looked excited.

"Sure thing. Well, I'd better go," I said and waved at him.

As I walked a few meters away, he called me.

"What's your name?" he called out.

"Norah. Norah Frost," I smiled and walked away.

Leticia was staring at me, her jaw dropping. I shrugged. "What?"

She took a deep breath and placed her hands on my shoulders. "YoujusttalkedwithGianandIcan'tbelievethatheevenaskedyourname!!! AAAHHH!!"

Okaaaaay. I only understood the 'AAHHH!!' part.

"You are so lucky!" she pouted.

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Well, I did what I had to do. I don't even like him."

Of course, I still like Nate.

Lunchtime came and I was sitting at my table with Shannon and Kirstie. As always, the cafeteria was filled with the tinkling of utensils which disharmoniously mixed with the chattering of the students. It was an annoying sound, but we had to get used to it.

Kirstie and Shannon knew about what happened between me and Gian. They didn't mind, they weren't even interested in him. In fact, Shannon thought that he was gay and Kirstie thought that he seemed autistic. How they came up with those conclusions is something that will always be a mystery to me.

"Look, here he comes," Shannon whispered.

Kirstie stared at him. "You sure he isn't even slightly autistic?"

I laughed. "I'm sure."

As he entered the place, heads turned to look at him. He seemed like a sort of celebrity or something. Well, he certainly looked like one.

He grinned.

"Ugh. An announcement again? This is the fourth time. Like I'm interested in what he says," Shannon rolled his eyes.

"People," boomed Gian. "I have found the girl for me yesterday. She was a vision of heaven, and I believe that I have deeply fallen in love with her…"

"Shouldn't it be a 'he'? I bet ten bucks that he's gay!" Shannon said.

I laughed and told her to keep quiet.

"And I now announce that my girlfriend is… Norah Frost!" Gian continued.

Oh. Norah Frost. Lucky girl I guess. I mean, everyone did like Gian and…

Hold on a second… What's going on??? Norah??? Me????? Is this real??? Is Norah even my name???

Desperately, I searched for my i.d.

"Dude! That's my i.d.! And what is going on??" Shannon demanded and I realized that I had been tugging on her i.d.

OH NO. OH NO.

Cripes…

OH FUDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!