Chapter 8: English Escorts && Quick Defenses
Author's Note:: Sooo…there's another jump. Not so bad as the last one, but I wanted to let you know, just in case you thought you missed a chapter. Junia meets Caleb and Tyler outside of class and gets two different views on a very interesting topic.
What Happened Last
Tell me Junia who are these imaginary friends of yours? Jane Doe and Mary Smith?"
"Kate Tunney and Sarah Wenham actually." Junia said coming out of the bathroom , keeping her voice calm and even in stark contrast to Amanda's.
"Why would you want to be friends with sluts like them?" Amanda charged
"Because it's better than being friends with a slut like you." Junia shouted back,.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
She stood in the window watching a boy in a dark blue ski cap, make a shot and sink the 4 ball. He looked up, to the window and right at her. It was Reid.
October 28th, 2006
Junia walked down the path on the way to her next English class. Amanda was still insisting on giving her the silent treatment, however she had introduced another petty tactic of hiding certain things of Junia's. It had only taken Junia a maximum of seven minutes to find her things, but it was still annoying to have to look for things that were stolen from her. `
"Hey, Junia!"
Junia turned her head to look at the person who called her name. Behind her Caleb and, was it Tyler?, were making their way quickly towards her.
"What's up?" Caleb smiled. He seemed happy to see her. She wondered why.
"Not much, just walking to English."
"We are too. We'll walk you there." Caleb said gesturing at the path ahead of them. "I didn't know you were in our English class. You should come sit with us today." They started walking, the two boys at either side of Junia.
"Won't that cause a bit of a disturbance when I take someone else's seat?"
"Eh, let them figure it out. Not our problem, right?" He asked nudging her. She smiled.
"Yeah, sure." She tucked a hair behind her ear.
"Oh, I forgot you didn't meet Tyler the other night. Junia, this is Tyler Simms. Tyler this is Junia."
"It's nice to meet you." Tyler offered a small, fleeting smile.
"It's nice to meet you too. I think I saw you the other day, after the history test."
"Oh, yeah. You're that girl." Tyler said, his eyes widening.
"That girl. Real nice Tyler." Caleb narrowed his eyes in a teasing way.
"No, I mean. You're the girl who Reid walked to the dorms." This sparked Caleb's interest.
"Junia is that girl?"
"Um, yeah." Junia said feeling awkward. "Reid helped me out because I forgot my umbrella."
"Why didn't you say so at Nicky's the other night?" Caleb asked. Junia wondered why the fact would mean anything to him.
"Well, I didn't know it was Reid until recently." Junia said. "I didn't know his name at the time, and well, I didn't think it mattered."
"Well—" Tyler started. Junia felt a movement behind her back and saw Tyler flinch.
"Don't worry about it." Caleb grinned. "Reid was just bragging about his 'being a good Samaritan' or whatever and we were just making fun of the girl who we assumed was completely different from you."
"What do you mean?" Junia asked in genuine confusion.
"Sometimes Reid meets…interesting girls." Caleb explained. "But they never stick for long. He usually ditches them once he realizes how annoying or clingy or just plain stupid they are."
"He's never talked about anyone as long as you though."
"We've only met once. I didn't even know he knows my name." Junia felt herself growing red.
"He doesn't he—"
"Well, look at this." Kira Snider said as she walked up to the group of three. Amanda was walking next to her. She just glared at Junia. "Looks like good advice does often go unheeded. I see you made new friends Junia." Junia looked at the ground, away from the two girls.
"Hey, cool it Kira, ok?" Caleb asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry Caleb. I didn't realize that I was talking to you."
"Listen, leave Junia alone. She's allowed to make her own choices in friends. She's not obligated to become your second lap dog."
"Excuse me?" Amanda asked. "You know what Kira, let's go. I'm done being with these losers. I spend more than enough time with them already being as my roommate is their newest Loser-Inductee."
"Clever. Did you come up with that by yourself, or have you been looking up comebacks on the Internet again?" Caleb asked. Amanda opened her mouth and then shut it.
"You watch." Kira pointed at them. "I'm going to tell Aaron, just you watch." The girls stormed ahead of them.
"Thanks." Junia said quietly. "You didn't have to stand up for me like that."
"It's no problem. Every once in a while it's nice to put them in their place." Caleb shrugged.
"Besides, you're way too nice for them." Tyler added. Junia smiled and blushed simultaneously.
"You guys are too nice to me." She said quietly.
"We're only buttering you up now so you don't crack when we mess with you later." Caleb dismissed. "I mean you saw how we treat Kate." Junia laughed, and the three soon found themselves at the English building.
"Thanks for keeping me company on the walk."
"What you're just going to abandon us? C'mon sit on our side, at least next to Kate or something so we can throw bits of paper at you." Caleb was going through great lengths to make her feel comfortable. She was thankful.
"Well, alright." She shrugged, and followed them into the building to her new seat in English.