Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (4 page)

I arched an eyebrow at her and chewed the pizza that was in my mouth
.
“Wow, being a juvenile delinquent is awesome,” I responded sarcastically
.

Cami rolled her eyes at me
.
“Whatever, I hope he’s in my next class
.
I heard he has a motorcycle
and
a tattoo!
”

“You know he’s not locally grown,
so
he
’s
probably not healthy for you,
”
I joked
.

Cami was not the slightest bit deterred by my awful attempt at humor
.
She was practically jumping up and down in her seat, and I prayed for this guy n
ot to be in Cami’s next class. A
t this rate she’d question him to death
.
I scanned the crowded lunchroom as she prattled on
.
I spotted him across the room sitting alone
,
reading while he ate
.

I pointed across the room.
“Cam, that’s him over there, reading.”

I heard her sharpl
y suck in air between her teeth.
“D
on’t point! What if he sees you?”

“Chill
,
he’s reading
.
He’s not even looking this way.
”
As the words exited my mouth he looked up from his book and looked directly at us from across the room
.
I was left pointing at him awkwardly
and feeling the heat climb my face
.
I lamely put my hand down and looked away
.

“
Smoooooooth
,”
Cami
teased
.
 

The bell rang
,
bringing an abrupt end to lunch
.
I threw away the rest of my pizza and guzzled the remainder of my chocolate milk
.
Cami and I started
being pushed out the two main doors into the hallway
.
I turned and waved goodbye
to her
.
I was headed to English class and she was off to gym
.
I walked into British Literature and took a seat in the front row
.
Mr. Brown was my favorite teacher, and I didn’t care how dorky a front row center seat looked
.
I was rummaging through my purse for a pen when Gabriel walked in
.
He went up to Mr. Brown and my previous embarrassment in lunch came rushing back
.
I felt my face redden and I quickly turned all my attention to bottom of my purse
.
I felt him walk past me, and then sit
directly behind me
.
I froze
stiffly in my chair
.
I
heard him rummage through his papers and
then settle in for class
.
I did not settle in
.
I sat stiffly all class, very aware of him directly behind me
.
I felt the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I had goose bumps
.
I was so
distracted
I missed most of what Mr. Brown had to say
.
The bell rang and released me from my
awkward
prison
.
I was
definitely
going to move my seat
tomorrow
.
N
o way I was going to let new kid
distract
me from my favorite class.

I walked out into the hall and made my way to the gym
.
Ms. Still
not only made us change for the first day of gym, but also gave us a fitness test
.
After sit-ups, push-ups, and a lame attempt at a pull-up
,
I was a sweaty mess for last period
.
Luckily,
it
was only study hall and I had it with Cami
.
I walked in late because I had taken t
o
o long to get out of the locker room
.
Cami had saved me a seat in the back of the room
, farthest from the door
and the teacher’s desk
.
The teacher sat at his desk doing something on his computer
—
probably playing solitaire
—
and generally ignored the class
.
Which left Cami and I free to talk
.

She stuck her lip out in a fake pout
.
“I don’t have any classes with new kid.”

“His name is Gabriel, he was in my Brit Lit class
,
too.”

“Seriously,
Chell
,
you have all the luck! What did you say to him
?
Did you apologize for pointing at him so weirdly?” she asked.

“What?
No! He probably doesn’t even know I was pointing at him
.
Plus
,
he
kinda
creeps
me out
.
I didn’t talk to him.
”
I shifted nervously in my desk, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the turn in conversation. 

“Only y
ou would squander the opportunity to chat up a gorgeous, dangerous
new
guy
.
Come on
,
this year is suppose to be different!
”
Cami whined
as she stared into her compact, examining her already perfect hair.

“Then w
hy don’t you talk to him,” I snapped
back a little to
o
sharply
. I bit my lip
,
hoping
Cami wouldn’t take offense to my
tone. 

“Because I don’t have any classes with him
.
Plus
,
Alex Chase is looking pretty good this year
.
Did you see him in homeroom?
”
S
he nudged
arching her perfectly shaped eyebrow in my direction. 

“I guess
.
If you’re into blond
e
hair, perfect teeth, and overflowing charm.” We both laughed, and spent the rest of the period deciding which football players were on steroids this year and which cheerleaders had had breast enhancement surgery
.

The bell rang and Cami and I walked to our lockers
.
We said our goodbyes
before turning in opposite directions to head for home
.
She promised to call me later tonight
and
I
in turn assured her
I would be home, doing nothing, and
would
answer
.

Tuesday morning went much the same as Monday morning had
.
I found myself leaning against the wall next to Cami’s locker as she reapplied her lip-gloss
.
She had opted to wear her black strappy sandals again today, but had paired them with a black mini-skirt and purple top
.
Her pink highlights still looked cute against the purple shirt
.
I was starting to regret not getting some of my own, but pink highlight
s
in auburn hair just didn’t look as good
.
I had chosen to wear my favorite jeans complete with
a black t-shirt and a pair of combat boots
.
My hair was braided down my back, since I had woken up late and didn’t have time to dry it before school, and I wor
e my favorite
necklace that my a
unt had gotten me for my birthday last year
.
The necklace was a silver cross with vines wrapping around it, and a few red stones placed here and there like flowers among the vines
.
I thought it stood
out nicely
against the black shirt
.

“So I was thinking;
I’m going to join stud
ent council this year,
”
Cami announced
as she examined her
reflection
in her locker mirror. 

“Wow, that sounds like no
fun whatsoever,” I teased,
“and completely out of your character
.
You know they don’t go shopping, give make-overs, or take the monthly
quiz in the Cosmo magazine.
”
I noticed the number of students in the hall
had begu
n to thin and
realized
we were about to be late to class. 

“Well, I want this year to be different, and I know it will look
good on my college applications,” s
he retorted
over her shoulder as she bent to gather her books from her locker.  I have no idea how she managed to bend down in her skirt and not flash the entire hallway, but I guess practice makes perfect. 

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with Alex Chase running for senior class president would it?
” I inquired
with
suspicion
,
readjusting my bag on my shoulder. 

“N
o
! I just want to be involved,” s
he replied in mock outrage
as she stood and adjusted the books in her arms. 

“Whatever, but you’re on your own
.
You couldn’t pay me enough to sit through meetings about prom colors and senior class gifts
.
Have fun
without me.”
I
tried to imagine sitting in those meetings, but no matter how much I loved Cami I just couldn’t do it. 

“I swear
,
Chell
!  What is up with you
?
You act like
you’re too cool for everything!
Would it kill
you to join something just once?
”
s
he
shouted back
.
As she stomped off to homeroom, leaving me leaning against the wall, I had a moment to register that she was actual
ly
mad that I didn’t want to join student council
.
We had been friends for over twelve years and she had never gotten mad about my lack of participation before
.
U
sually
she was
right there with me, making fun of the joiners
,
too
.
If this was really that important to her, I guess I could join something with her, but not student council
.
Maybe she would want to join art club with me, at least they took a trip to the Philadelphia Art Museum
.
I could get behind a club that would get me out of school for the day
.

As I slumped into my desk in homeroom, Cami never even so much as glanced my way
.
She was way to
o
busy attempting to catch Alex’s eye
.
My best friend was serious; she was determined to make this year different
.
I had a terrible
,
sinking feeling in my stomach
.
I wanted her to be happy, but I
kinda
enjoyed my
lame high school existence
.
Although being invisible condemned you to a boring social calendar, it also left you free to do as you pleased without any social criticism
.
No one cared what I wore, or who I dated, or if I sat in the front row in Brit. Lit
.
As much as I wanted to be a little more popular, it wasn’t worth the constant keeping up with social appearances
.
I was
definitely
going
to suggest art club at lunch
.
At least that might distract Cami from her master plans of p
opularity
.
 

The bell rang
,
dismissing us from homeroom
,
and everyone began filtering into the hallway
.
Cami had succeeded in catching Alex’s attention and I overheard her asking him for advice in running for student council election
.
I proceed
ed to science class
alone
.
I was
starting to doubt if art club was
going to be enough to distract
Cami from her mission.