Shooting Star - Chapter 3

"Need a ride?" Nicholas rolled down the window all the way and slowed down the car to match my walking pace, which was about 2MPH. "C’mon, Miss Cranky Pants, hop in." He gave me another goofy smile and stopped the car altogether.

"No thanks. My mommy told me not to talk to strangers, let alone get a ride from them." I dutifully ignored his chuckles and kept on walking while he followed right behind.

"Stop being so stubborn, Anna. It’s going to be a very long walk all the way to school and you don’t want to look all sweaty and disgusting for first day of school now do you?" I hated it when he was right.
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Yes, I ended up getting a ride from Jolly Nick after all. And just for the record, I did not enjoy one second of it. He just wouldn’t shut up! He kept on talking on and on about his life, which I couldn’t give a bird poop about, and then he tried to get me to talk but of course, I wouldn’t say a word.

"I’ll show you around if you want. It’s not a big school or anything but you /could/ get lost." He said as he entered the school parking lot. When he finally found a spot, he cut the engine and dropped his keys into his jean pockets. Nick tried to hop out of his seat smoothly but failed, landing on his butt. And even then, he chuckled to himself and got up quickly, dusting off the dirt from his pants. I rolled my eyes at his clumsiness and got out of the car myself, walking around the front to catch up with Nick who was waiting for me.

"Holy crud, we were talking for twenty minutes and I don’t even know what grade you’re in! Hm, lemme guess, Senior?" We walked towards the main entrance, dodging different cliques on the way—Goth, skaters, preps, jocks, etc.

"No shit, Sherlock. And newsflash, WE weren’t talking. /You/ were just blabbering while /I/ pretended to listen for twenty freaking minutes. " I rolled my eyes again and kept on walking, ignoring the shocked and hurt expression on his face. His mouth was hanging open as if he was going to talk, but nothing came out.

We walked silently for the rest of the way and he led me into the main office. There, I got my classes and my locker number/combo—all of which were far, far away from Nick, thank god. Then Nick gave me directions for my homeroom and after lingering around a bit he finally turned to go. He was almost around the corner when suddenly he jogged back to where I was still standing.

"Why do you hate me so much?" He looked down at me with curious blue eyes while I tried to compose my shocked face.

"I just don’t enjoy talking to people like you. Don’t take it personally," I muttered, a beat too late. Nick was staring at me intensely and I could feel my face burn. Why was I blushing?!

"What do you mean people like me?" I tried to walk around him, ignoring his question, but he just grabbed my wrist and made me face him. I ripped away from him immediately and took a step back.

"You’re one of those people who act like everything is okay, when really, it’s not. You won’t leave me alone and you act like you want to be my friend. You’re always talking about something that I couldn’t give a shit about," I took a short breath, "and your shoes are always untied." The words just came flowing out of my mouth and I knew I sounded harsh but you know what they say; honesty is the best policy. And the last one about his shoe laces being untied really bugged me for some reason. I think I may have OCD.

As soon as I was done, he tied his shoes neatly—double knotted it, actually—and smiled back at me.

"Oh that was it? Well, FYI, I really do want to be your friend. I’m not just acting. And people like /you/ simply NEED people like /me /. Opposites attract, remember?" He said all cheerfully and walked away quickly before I had a chance to reply.

It shouldn’t have bugged me, but it did. I couldn’t stop thinking about what he said and I couldn’t concentrate on ANYTHING for the rest of the day. What did he freaking mean?!
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I rushed to get to my bus on time, not wanting to get another ride from Nick, but I was still late. When I finally got on, there were no seats left except next to this dude named Alex that I recognized from my English class. So I sat down as far as I could from him and started to "read" my copy of Hamlet. But before I could even finish my first paragraph, Alex turned around to face me. He had long brown hair and pretty green eyes. He reminded me right away of Oliver.

"You’re starting to read already? Jeez, the project isn’t due until like next month." I smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"I don’t like to procrastinate, that’s all." Alex just nodded at that and let the subject go. Then he unzipped his beat up backpack and brought out his IPod. He offered me to listen and I accepted. First, he just shuffled through the songs quickly but a few minutes later, he settled with a Muse song. Alex began to tap his feet and drum his fingers to the beat and I couldn’t help but hum along. It went on like that for a few songs until finally he looked at me. He didn’t say anything, but just smiled…and that was all I needed to fall in love all over again. Just a smile.

And it scared me.
A lot.