Jeremy had been hearing about the new girl since first period. She was already known as the 'angry chick' after she allegedly slammed Bryce Gellar into a locker when he tried hitting on her. Bryce was sort of a dick, so his idea of flirting may have involved ass slapping. But Jeremy hadn't actually heard anything reliable until his lunch period started.
Honestly, he felt kind of bad for her. After all, only a few weeks ago he had been the new kid everyone was talking about. And to top it off, he hadn't had to deal with hormonal teenage guys hitting on him his very first day.
Well, Nick had hit on him, but when Jeremy turned him down he'd taken it well and they'd become friends. Nick was actually the one currently filling him in on the transfer student.
"She's foreign, but her accent isn't strong enough to make her hard to understand. And her name is kind of strange – she pronounced it 'Dahk-mhar' when Miss Ray asked but then told her to just call her 'Dag'. She was my partner in physics this morning. I don't know if it actually happened, but I can completely see her fucking up Bryce. She's funny in a mean way, I like her."
Jeremy felt a smile cover his face. His own sense of humor was pretty sarcastic, and if Nick gave her a thumbs up, she was alright in his book. The guy was a good judge of character.
He could see the new girl – Dag – from the table he and Nick sat down at. A few more of their friends came over in the next few minutes, but he found himself turning back to look at her a few times during the first five minutes of lunch. She was sitting alone and seemed to be flipping through a book, but when he saw her let out what looked like a bored sigh, he made his decision.
When Jeremy grabbed his tray and stood up, a few of the guys at his table looked confused, but Nick caught on pretty quickly to what he was going to do.
"You're about to go all white-knight, aren't you?"
Jeremy laughed and lightly punched him in the shoulder but became a bit more serious when he responded, "Nah, I just figured she should have someone to sit with the first day. I was her a few weeks ago."
Nick rolled his eyes but waved him away, apparently giving his blessing.
The girl didn't move at all as Jeremy approached, it was only when he cleared his throat, standing just next to the table, that she looked up.
For a second she looked surprised – but in a strange way. She didn't look startled by his presence at all, it was more like something about him was surprising. However before Jeremy could think too much about it, he realized he should probably start talking. Now.
"Can I sit here?"
The girl shut her book when he finished speaking and leaned back in her seat, looking him up and down before responding, "That depends on your reason for sitting."
Jeremy noted that Nick had been right – her accent was immediately noticeable, but not too strong. It sounded European, but Jeremy had no idea where exactly it would be from. Up close she was cute – dark hair and eyes with a delicate face. The feminine features made the hoop in her nose and multiple ear piercings stand out in contrast.
Jeremy realized he had spent just a second too long sizing her up when he saw her expression begin to turn into one that looked simultaneously bored and annoyed.
"I thought you could use a friend. I was the new kid here a few weeks ago and I know how much the first day can suck."
Without really waiting for an answer, Jeremy sat down on the seat across the table from her and extended his hand.
"I'm Jeremy Gilbert."
A small smile covered the girl's face and she extended her own hand, shaking his firmly.
"Dag."
He knew it was rude, but he couldn't resist –
"Dag?"
She snorted and didn't seem offended when she explained, "My full name is Dagmar, which is pronounced strangely and is considered bizarre in America in the present, so yes, Dag."
Jeremy laughed at her somewhat mocking tone, and when he looked down noticed she was reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
"The third book is my favorite. I love the character –"
Jeremy was honestly taken aback when Dag lurched across the table and slapped her hand over his mouth with a panicked expression on her face.
"Don't spoil anything! My god, how terrible a person are you?"
When she removed her hand a second later, she was still looking at him as if he had stabbed her, and he couldn't keep in his laughter.
"How the hell has Harry Potter not been spoiled for you yet?"
A strange expression crossed Dag's face, a sort of unease, and she replied, "I haven't been in America for very much time. I heard they were popular and wanted to read them."
That – that didn't exactly make sense. The series was known throughout the world. But he disregarded his train of thought and decided he wanted to get back to talking about her.
"So where are you from?"
Dag seemed much more relaxed and said, "My family is from a place near Stockholm, Sweden. You probably haven't heard of it – it was quite small."
Jeremy smiled but said in a falsely serious voice, "Try me. I happen to be an expert on Sweden."
His words had the desired effect and Dag began laughing. However he cut in to the conversation before it could get too off track.
"Really though, how are you liking it here so far?"
She shrugged and said blandly, "Only got here two days ago. Denver seems nice, though. America is mediocre."
Jeremy faked an offended expression, but her worried look made him drop it – clearly she hadn't picked up on the disingenuousness of the expression. When he smirked at her all tenseness left her and instead she looked a little embarrassed, probably realizing her mistake.
"Clearly you haven't experienced the non-mediocre parts of America, then."
His challenging tone was matched by hers when she immediately shot back, "Is that so? Do tell."
"Well, the arcade is a must. Skee-ball will change your life. Not to brag, but I'm fantastic if I do say so myself."
Dag smirked and seemed to be mocking him a bit when she asked, "Is that a challenge, Gilbert? How prideful."
"Guess you'll have to see, won't you?"
She laughed, and immediately pulled her phone out of the pocket of her leather jacket, sliding it to Jeremy across the table.
"Put your number in. We'll coordinate something. Then leave. I have four more books to read after this one and I can't risk you ruining it."
Jeremy smiled but put in his number. However, as he walked away he couldn't resist shouting in her direction, "It's too bad Harry turns evil in the end and becomes the new Dark Lord."
Her shocked gasp was audible to him even at fifteen feet away.
