Chapter 26

"Hey Sammy," Bryan greeted her as she walked by him and Quinn at lunch. They were sitting at a table of friends, including the harem of girls vying for the guys' attention.

Sam's eyes slid away quickly. Bryan and Quinn watched and wondered what was going on with her. They looked at each other then shrugged.

Sam didn't even look at Jake, as she normally did, when she walked by the table he was sitting at with Darrell and their friends. Jake didn't say anything to her, which was normal, but he had seen the exchange between her and his brothers.

He watched as she sat at a table by herself and took her lunch out of her pink backpack. Jake didn't see the friend that Sam normally ate with. She must be absent today.

Jake saw Sam pull her hair forward as sort of a shield and wondered at it. He could tell by the way she had walked by that she was feeling down for some reason. This action with the hair just cemented that for him.

He looked over to where Quinn and Bryan were. They were too busy with all their girlfriends to pay much attention to anything else. Jake glanced over again at Sam who took a sip of her chocolate milk. Was that a tear that just dripped off her face?

Jake gave a long-suffering sigh, not sure what to do. He didn't want to call attention to her if she was crying but then again, he didn't want to see her cry either.

"What's the matter, man?" Darrell asked.

"Nothin'," Jake shook his head, turning back to his friends.

He couldn't help that he kept glancing over at her. She had kept her head down all during lunch, only raising it enough to sip her milk. Her hair stayed around her face, making it impossible for him to see her expression to get a clue as to what was going on.

When they left the lunchroom to go out for recess, he looked for Sam on the playground. He didn't see her anywhere.

"What are you looking for?" Darrell asked.

"Nothin'," Jake said.

Just as he was about to give up, he spied a splash of pink. That wussy pink backpack, as Quinn called it, was good for something.

"I'll be right back," Jake told Darrell and headed for it. Darrell watched him go, shaking his head at his friend. For all Jake's insistence that the little neighbor girl wasn't his girlfriend, he sure spent a lot of time worry about her.

Jake crossed the playground, not letting the pink backpack out of his sight. He reached out to grab Sam's arm when he reached her, surprising her judging by the look upon her face as she turned.

"What's wrong?" Jake asked.

Sam's eyes slid away from his, but not before he saw what he thought was sadness in them.

"Nothing is wrong," Sam insisted.

"Where's your friend?" Jake wondered.

"Ann?" Sam asked. At Jake's nod she said, "She didn't come in today."

"So why have you been cryin'?"

Sam denied it.

"Come on, Brat," Jake said. "I know you well enough to know when you've been cryin'. Did someone say somethin'?"

Sam shook her head.

Jake tilted his head, trying to catch her eyes. Sam avoided his attempt. He kept looking at her and finally her eyes slid to his. She shook her head again.

"Tell me later?" Jake asked.

"Maybe," Sam answered.

"You're okay?"

Sam nodded.

"You'd tell me?"

Sam nodded again.

"Just don't hit anyone," Jake teased.

Sam hit him and Jake chuckled as he rubbed his arm.