“I’m eating.”
“You don’t belong here. Come on.”
“Don’t tell her where she belongs,” David says, his eyes on the table.
“What?” Chase looks back and forth between me and David. I have this awful idea that he might think we’re together. Not that it would matter to him.
“Nothing,” David says, his head drooping even further.
Chase stands over me, his expression turning to uncertainty. He almost looks…hurt.
“Do I have to carry you over?” A smile tugs at the corner of his lips, erasing whatever his eyes were giving away. That brief look, so uncharacteristic of him, is gone so fast I’m not sure if I imagined it. “Because I will,” he says, eyes sparkling with mischief.
Before I can answer, he moves quick as a cat behind me and scoops me up in his arms. He tosses me over his broad, strong shoulder like some conquering hero raiding a village and claiming me as the spoils of war, whisks my lunch up with his other hand, and starts across the cafeteria.
It’s all I can do not to shriek in surprise, but I manage to stifle it to a small cry of protest. After the initial shock, I pound his shoulder with my fist and growl, “Put me down.”
He immediately deposits me back on my feet and hands me my lunch with such a huge, boyish grin that I can hardly keep from smiling back. People are staring, wondering what’s going on.I am the opposite of invisible. I am standing near someone who shines as bright as a star, and I’m caught in the circle of his spotlight.
Annnd…here comes the blush.
“Now,” he says, “Don’t make me do that again. You belong here now.”
I follow him obediently to his table, and he squeezes in next to Lindsey and leaves me standing there with my lunch, wondering where to sit. He gives Lindsey a squeeze with one arm and then turns to me and says, “Well, don’t just stand there. Sit down. Can’t you do anything yourself?”
And, there’s the asshole again. I wish I had a glass of water just so I could dump it over his head. He goes from hot to cold, from cute and fun to surly asshole so fast it’s giving me whiplash. I can’t see any spaces big enough for a person to sit, but I know if I walk away, he’ll come after me. This must be some kind of game for him. He doesn’t want me, but he’s keeping me close, keeping an eye on me.
I’m not about to be the object of the entire school’s stares again, so I find the largest opening on the bench, a tiny spot next to the hulking Todd, and try to squeeze my butt into a space about half the size of it. My legs are too long and awkward, and I can’t seem to squeeze them under the table. Daria, on my other side, notices me and scoots down. “You gotta be fierce,” she says. “You’ll get the hang of it.”
Right then Todd, demonstrating something, smacks me in the ear with his big beefy elbow. He doesn’t even notice, just keeps on telling his story to laughter from the other guys at the table.
“Todd, you big idiot.” Daria slaps his arm and scoots down a little more. “Just ignore him, he’s a moron,” she says, then lowers her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “He’s really a nice guy, just not the brightest crayon in the box, if you know what I mean.”
I wonder briefly if this girl has ever said anything nice about anyone, but I decide I don’t really care right now. She saved me from the humiliation of standing there forever like a statue promoting brown-bag lunch.
“So,” Daria says in the same conspiratorial tone, “what’s up with you and Chase?”
My heart nearly stops in my chest. Shit.
I try to breathe. If he told them, he wouldn’t bring me over here to sit with them. I choose my words carefully, adding a shrug for good measure. “Oh, nothing. We’re working on that project together in Lit.”
Daria smirks. “Mmm hmmm. Sure you are. But what’shedoing?”
I’m not sure what to say to that. I can feel my fucking face turning red again, though, betraying me.
“We’ve seen the way you moon over him,” says Elaine, leaning across the table toward me. “Don’t think we don’t know what you’re up to.”
My heart is frozen in my chest, my palms clammy, my head spinning. I think I’m having a panic attack, but then they both laugh.
Daria pats my arm and says, “It’s okay, sweetie, we’re just kidding. We all did it at first. Chase is like a sun, and we’re all his planets. Everything in this school revolves around him. It’s practically impossible not to be dazzled by his presence. You’ll get used to it.”
“Just don’t stare too long at the sun, or you’ll go blind,” Elaine says with a knowing smirk.
“We’re just looking out for Lindsey is all,” Daria says.
“Lindsey can take care of herself,” Elaine says.
Daria shrugs. “Well, she is pretty naïve. She’s in her own little blissfully ignorant world.”