“Oh! Yeah, he’s usually in room 136. I’m always there with him but—”
“Thanks,” I mumble, and head to room 136, way too occupied in the task at hand to worry about social etiquette.
The door is cracked open, and I peek in first to see what I’m up against. There are about twenty boys crowded around two televisions hooked up to gaming systems. A few boys have controllers in their hands, thumbs moving quickly to kill the aliens on the screen. The ones watching crowd in closely, yelling instructions. I’ve clearly found the gamer room. From what I can tell, the majority of these boys are juniors, but some are younger. No one I know.
I spot Ethan—one of the boys with a controller in hand—instantly recognizing him from his Facebook picture.
Pacing outside the room, a game plan forms in my mind. How will they react to a girl in their gamer room? I think they’re past that age where they value games over girls, right?
I look through the door again. The majority look socially awkward, but who am I to judge? They could all have girlfriends or boyfriends for all I know. Being nice is probably the way to go. First, I take a calming breath. Forcing myself to put on a cute smile, I fluff out my hair. I take another calming breath, trying not to let my anger and the urgency of the situation show through.
Be friendly.
“Hi!” I lighten my voice to sound more polite and friendly.
All twenty boys freeze, then turn their heads to look at me, not even caring that the ones playing just died.
“Are you lost or something?” one asks, not rudely, but in a genuinely concerned tone.
My cheeks hurt from smiling this wide. “No, of course not! I’m actually looking for Ethan Moore.”
Nineteen pairs of eyes gawk at Ethan, wondering how and why a senior girl knows his name. Ethan sits there with a slightly shocked face, but recovers quickly, trying to seem cool for his friends.
“That’s me, babe,” he says.
I resist the urge to drop the act.
“Could I talk to you for a second?” I ask politely.
“Anything for you, hot stuff.”
Seriously dude? Hot stuff? The fake smile stays plastered on my face and I wait patiently as he gets up and walks over to me.
Up close I can see that his shoulder-length black hair is slightly greasy, tied back in a little elastic band. He’s grinning and his brown eyes are alight with curiosity and boastful pride.
The corner of the room affords us some privacy from his friends, who are still gawking at me. When Ethan reaches me, I open my mouth to talk, but I’m unnerved by their stares. Plus, Ethan keeps looking back at his friends with a that’s-right-the-pretty-girl-wants-to-talk-to-me kind of gloating face. His whole demeanor comes off way too cocky. I love confidence in a guy, but this is too much. Ethan wears himself like he has to work extra hard to prove that he’s confident, instead of just being that way.
When Aiden walks into a room, it’s filled with his presence. He naturally commands attention and respect without even having to do anything. Even the way he holds himself radiates
confidence, and the way he—wait, since when did I use Aiden as a role model for anything? Why am I even thinking about him? It’s definitely the stress messing with me.
Focus, Amelia!
I turn to Ethan’s friends, who are blatantly checking me out. “You guys can continue playing your game now. Don’t mind us.”
Ethan looks at his friends, too, gloating. “Yeah, guys, she’s here to talk to me.” He looks at me and winks. “Don’t worry about them, babe, I’m all yours.”
“I don’t know if you know me, but my name’s Amelia Collins. I’m in that video you posted.”
“Oh yeah! I knew you looked familiar! You’re awesome! I saw you telling off Aiden too! You totally kick ass!” he exclaims.
I feel my smile become genuine. Maybe this kid isn’t bad and this will go pretty smoothly. “Yeah?”
“Totally! We hate Kaitlyn! She deserved what you said to her. Your insults are hilarious too! Did you see how she reacted? I can show you; I got it on video!”
Maybe I was too quick to judge him. Maybe my first impressions of people are off. After all, I thought the Boys were all assholes and they turned out to be my best friends here. As much as I hate to admit it, even Aiden isn’t horrible.
“Actually, I did see the video, and that’s what I came to talk to you about.”