Chapter Three – Rejecting Girls That Like You and the Art of Irritating Arms

Gavin plonked himself and his tray down on the table next to Alex, not even bothering to wait for a reply. Tom jerked his head towards the unwelcome guest and pulled a face that clearly said "Who the hell is this joker?"

Alex was completely gobsmacked. He'd always thought he had a certain aura of mystery and aloofness that warded people off. Although he'd moaned about it, he actually quite liked the feeling of superiority and distinction that you got when people chucked themselves behind bushes so they didn't have to talk to you. Yet, here was this...this...Gavin...bloke being positively friendly. Something was most certainly wrong about this.

Gavin had either not noticed or was choosing to ignore the open hostility radiating off his lunch buddies and was happily tucking a napkin into the collar of his shirt, displaying the heavily muscled arms as he did so. My God, those arms were irritating.

Alex's left eye twitched.

"I don't mean to be rude..." Tom began, obviously with every intention of being as rude as humanly possible. "...but who exactly are you?"

"I'm new." Gavin replied, tucking heartily into his hot-pot. "I moved from Paris."

"You don't sound French."

"We moved around a lot." Gavin said, between mouthfuls. Now thinking about it, Alex realised that Gavin didn't really have an accent. It just seemed to be a blend of every single nationality under the sun, so much so that his voice sounded monotone and boring. Alex liked sounding posh.

Smugly, he spread a little of his raspberry jam on his muffin, not really listening to Gavin's tale of moving from place to place, but instead humming 'Yellow Submarine' under his breath. Tom's eyes seemed to have glazed over and he was now nodding his head vacantly.

The only interesting thing that happened in the next ten minutes was when Tom's apple juice carton leaked a bit on the table.

"Er...hi..." The three boys looked up to find Lisa Greenwood hovering nervously at the end of the table.

"Hi." Alex answered, grinning winningly. When it came to girls, he fancied himself a pro.

"Erm...hi..." Lisa looked at him strangely before turning to Gavin, smiling. "Sorry to bother you..." She said, simpering a little. "...but my friend thinks you're really fit." She grinned and gestured over to a table where a gaggle of hormonal teenage girls were all waving cheerfully. The one in question turned a brilliant shade of bright red, while the others all giggled hysterically.

Alex frowned.

This wasn't normal. It was usually him that got giggled at. He turned to Gavin, expecting to see a satisfying look of sheer terror etched on his rival's face. Instead, charm seemed to ooze out of every one of Gavin's features and he was smiling winningly. He waved over to the girls (who all giggled louder) and turned back to Lisa.

"Tell your friend thanks..." He said, still smiling. "...and that I particularly like the colour of her retaining brace, but I'm not really looking for a relationship right now."

"Oh...ok..." With one last simper, Lisa flicked her hair and returned to the gaggle of girls. Gavin returned to his lunch as if nothing had happened.

Alex was completely stunned.

"What the..." He trailed off as the girl in question turned and smiled at Gavin

"Women." Gavin rolled his eyes. Tom, who had always been slightly scared of girls, was staring at Gavin with as sort of unlimited worship.

"You're not going to go out with her?" He asked, his voice slightly squeaky. Gavin looked her up and down.

"Nah...I'm not really looking for a girlfriend right now....besides, there's someone else I've got my eye on..." Alex followed his gaze to the opposite side of the classroom and felt his stomach coil up into a knot.

Gavin was staring at Clarice.

The Clarice, his Clarice. Anger boiled up inside Alex's chest and without further ado, he picked up his tray and left the cafeteria in a huff.

*

Gavin viewed every step in and operation in two ways: Objectively and Personally.

From and objective point of view, lunch had been crap. He'd had to endure and hour's company with the Rider boy without actually discovering anything new that could help with his operation. Personally, it had actually been pretty good. After all, a moderately attractive girl had asked him out, not Alex and he had also managed to have a conversation with the wondrous girls from Maths. Granted, it hadn't been a very long conversation but it had been worth it.

He'd managed to corner her at the canteen hatch where the dirty trays were collected in.

"Why hello there..." Said he.

"Er...hi..." Said she.

"You're new?" Said he.

"Yeah." Said she.

"Gavin." Said he.

"Clarice." Said she.

"Do you like-" Said he.

"Goodbye." Said she.

Looking back over this snippet of socialisation, Gavin felt a little let down. He hadn't managed to get her phone number off her or anything. Feeling slightly dejected, he sloped off to Science.