Young Annabelle (19 page)

I headed to the bathroom before meeting Jenna
in the cafeteria.

“Donna! Nuh-ungh!” A barrage of girls shot
into the bathroom, giggling loudly as I shut the door to my
stall.

I paused with my back against the door,
deciding to eavesdrop when I heard who might be involved in this
intellectual conversation.

Donna.

“He’s so cute!”

“So cute!”

“Too cute!”

“He’s mine!”

“Uh oh! The predator’s been unleashed!”

“Donna’s out on the hunt ladies, so back
off!”

Who are they talking about
it?
My heart began
beating faster.

I didn’t move a muscle as they shuffled in
front of the mirror, fixing their hair and makeup. I turned around
to peek through the gap between the stall door and the wall. I
could only see Donna leaning into the mirror, applying mascara and
puckering her lips at her reflection.

“James is so mine!” Donna said with firm
determination.

James! But he’s…mine?
I worried, my anxiety levels
shooting up.

The door to the bathroom opened again and the
girls giggled their way out with more cheesy lines about how Donna
was unstoppable and other puke-worthy shit like that.

Should I punch her? I really
want to hit this bitch!
My fists clenched against the hard surface of the stall
door as a sickening feeling expanded from the core of my stomach to
the edge of my throat.

Calm down!
I urged myself, breathing in and out
slowly. Why was I upset? If Donna wanted to go for James, who the
hell was I to stop her? It wasn’t like I’d be a match against her
anyways. She was one of the hot chicks, according to the crowds of
boys that stopped and stared whenever she was around. No one
stopped and stared at me – unless I had a mustard stain on my
shirt.

I finished my business in the bathroom and
headed to the cafeteria. By the time I entered, there was no line
at the cafeteria restaurant. That wasn’t good. It meant everything
good was taken and I’d be stuck with whatever nobody wanted.

Salad and water.

Well at least I won’t have to
lie to Mom about what I ate.

I scanned the room for Jenna before getting
my food. My heart jumped when I noticed James sitting with a group
of baseball caps and Donna’s crew scattered amongst them.

That’s just great, she’s
already hard at work!
I
grated my teeth when I saw Donna scoot closer to James. My fists
clenched when I saw him cock his neck and smile at her.

Asshole!

I made myself turn away. Staring like a
stalker psycho was not a good look for me. I quickly scanned the
rest of the room and thankfully spotted Jenna sitting at a table
with some of her swim team members.

“Dude?” Jenna muttered, concerned, as I sat
down across from her.

I dropped my backpack to the ground and
turned to her.

“What?” I asked warily.

She leaned closer and hissed in my ear,

“Why is your face red?”

I touched my face; I felt a little warm.

“I’m just hungry. I barely got to eat
anything this morning; Mom gave me this weird cereal that tasted
like sticks and I think she mixed my milk with water,” I explained,
hoping she’d buy the excuse.

“Shit!” Jenna exclaimed. “Go get something to
eat,” she ordered, motioning to the restaurant.

I got up and headed to the empty restaurant.
Suddenly, I was hit by the realization that my hunger pains were
going to act up again, maybe by end of next period once I used up
the last of my energy.

I walked up to the sliding door fridge and
debated the selection of salads.
Caesar or House?

As I contemplated the difficult choice, a
hard body softly nudged my side, startling me.

“Hey – Wait your turn!” I yelped. I twisted
my head to see a muscular arm practically bursting out of a blue
sleeve. I followed the path of muscles to the asshole’s face.

James!
I blinked when my eyes met his amused
green ones.

I should have known it was him; the rudeness
was definitely up his alley. I quickly turned back to the salad
selection, slid opened the door, and pulled out a house salad. I
ignored him and walked to the counter with the dressing
selection.

“I didn’t take you for a coward,” he said to
my back.

“How am I a coward?” I responded. I picked up
a packet of Italian dressing and turned to face him. He was leaning
against the railing, arms folded across his chest.

“You insult me then run away like a scared
little girl,” he sneered.

“I was going to be late for my next class,” I
replied, trying to sound rational.

“Right!”

He didn’t believe me.

I didn’t care.

“Believe what you want!” I stretched out my
arm in emphasis and his eyes followed my arm to the salad in my
hand.

“Still on that diet?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked
quietly. I did not want anyone to hear I was on a diet. It was
embarrassing enough that he knew.

“You told me last time we – you know – spent
time together. The fight with your parents.”

“Yes, I’m still on a diet.”

“That’s ridiculous,” James said. “You don’t
need to be on a diet.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Yeah. You look good to me.”

“I can die happy then,” I sneered.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me into his
embrace.

“What are you doing? We’re at school!” I
exclaimed.

“Relax,” he murmured. “No one can see.
Everyone already came through, you came late.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Can’t you see that I like you?”

“Really? Well you could have fooled me.” I
tried to pull away from him, but he held me tightly.

“I’m telling the truth,” he said
urgently.

“And I’m telling you that the damage is
already done,” I explained. “Two weeks went by and there wasn’t one
word from you.”

“That wasn’t my fault, my phone was damaged.
I had to get a new one.”

“Still using that line, huh?”

“I’m telling the truth!”

“You’re not!” I stared him dead in the eye
and yanked my arm out of his hold. I walked back to the fridge and
put back my salad. I wasn’t hungry anymore.

I exited the restaurant, leaving him
alone.

What a liar!

My blood boiled; I could feel it burning
every inch of my body. I knew my face was turning red; Jenna would
be even more suspicious. I grabbed my cheeks and rubbed them,
hoping to send some signal to my brain to calm down. Jenna didn’t
notice when I slid back onto the bench; she was deep in
conversation with the girl on her right about the proper way to
swim a breaststroke. My stomach grumbled loud enough for me to
hear. I was hungry, but I felt too nauseous to even considering
eating anything.

What the hell does he want from me? If he
actually likes me, why is he always making things difficult?

“What the hell happened to you?” Jenna
whispered.

I didn’t look at her, instead turning my head
back to the restaurant. James was walking out; his friends were
hollering at him to get his ass back to the table and settle
whatever they were debating, probably some baseball statistics. He
held out a chocolate milk to show them what he’d been up to.

He hadn’t even gone in there to talk to me;
it was only convenient that I happened to be in there too. He
really just wanted chocolate milk. I watched him slide into his
seat; he glanced up and scanned the room, stopping when he saw me.
He scowled at me. I shook my head at him.

“Who are you looking at?” Jenna asked
loudly.

“Chocolate milk!” I muttered in
disbelief.

“Chocolate milk?” Jenna repeated sounding
confused.

I broke the connection and turned my back on
him.

I took a deep breath.

“I’m not feeling too good. It’s too noisy in
here; it’s giving me a headache.” I got off the bench and lifted my
bag off the ground.

“Where are you going?” Jenna looked
concerned.

“To the library. It’s quiet. I need quiet
right now.”

Jenna nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you next period
though, right?”

“Yeah, see you there.” I walked out of the
cafeteria, feeling his green eyes stare.

The silence was golden when I walked into the
library. I wandered toward the back where the study nooks were
hidden behind the stacks of books and plopped down in the one
furthest from the entrance. I put my bag on the table and rested my
head against it, closing my eyes. With the help of the air
conditioning and the quiet bliss the library offered, I was cooling
down.

My bag vibrated as my phone received a new
message.

Can’t be James, apparently he
doesn’t have my number anymore!
I swiped the screen and checked the message.

New message from: Mom!

Fuck!

From: Mom

What did you choose for lunch? Please
Annabelle! I hope you were responsible!

She’d be happy to know that I didn’t eat
anything bad. But if I told her I ate nothing, then there’d be hell
to pay for putting my body in ‘starvation mode.’ Curse all those
pamphlets from the nutritionist’s office.

I texted her back:

I ate salad. Happy?

There, that should ease her blood
pressure.

Beep! Beep!

That was fast; she must have been hovering
around her phone, waiting for my response.
From: Mom

Thank you!!!!


I tapped out of the messages and slid my
phone back into my bag, resuming my previous position.

This is nice!
I enjoyed the silence
immensely. The library was so quiet; I could hear the front
entrance open and people walking about inside. The sound of someone
walking through the stacks caught my attention, but I didn’t bother
opening my eyes. It had nothing to do with me.

Then I heard those same footsteps come to a
halt. Right behind me.

What now?!
I was beginning to get irritated. I’d come
in here for some peace and quiet, which was a hard to get that when
whoever was behind me wouldn’t shut up.

What, is he lost?
I wondered, waiting to hear the
person move away. I tucked my face further into my bag, trying to
hide from the light. I heard the Lost Boy walk over to the study
nook closest to mine and drop a bag on the desk then he dragged the
chair…towards me.

What!

My eyes snapped open and I lifted my head off
my bag to see what was going on. The first thing I saw was blue. My
eyes began adjusting to the light and I saw the blue was a t-shirt
on a guy’s strong body as he dragged the chair over to me.

I blinked a few times; maybe I wasn’t seeing
things right.

James?

He positioned the chair next to mine and sat
down with a small, satisfied smile on his face. I stared at him
wide-eyed and he stared back. It looked like he wanted to grin but
tried to hold it back.

It was several seconds before I broke the
silence.

“Is there something I can do for you?” I
asked him quietly. I was tired and emotionally drained long past
the point of having the energy to fight him. Whatever this was
going to be, it was going to end quickly so I could return to my
nap.

That’s probably what he’s counting on: my
lack of energy.

He leaned in and whispered, “Why do you love
giving me shit all the time?”

“Really? That’s why you came all the way
here, to ask me that?”

“You love to ride my ass don’t you? I can do
nothing right with you,” he exclaimed.

“That’s because you’re an asshole,” I replied
calmly.

“
And
you keep insulting me! But, unlike you, I don’t
hold it against you for days.”

“Whatever. Are you done?” I asked. “I don’t
have the energy for you right now. Any last thoughts before you
leave me alone?”

His lip twitched.

“Yeah, there’s something else.”

“Well, be quick about it,” I sighed. “I’ve
only got fifteen minutes left to nap.”

James’ hands jerked out suddenly and latched
onto my face, pulling me towards him.

“What!” I hissed at him.

He closed the distance between us and pressed
his lips against mine. The last two weeks without me were showing;
his lips moved hungrily across mine as if the time apart had been
difficult for him, too.

Pull back, Annabelle – Like
now!
My mind commanded
my body.

My body gave my mind the finger.

Well, fuck you too then. He’s
going to hurt you again and you know it!

I wrapped my arms around him and pressed into
him more. James let go of my face, wrapping his hands around my
waist and pulling me from my chair into his lap, sidesaddle.

Are you crazy?!
My mind screamed, incredibly
shocked at my body’s irrational behavior.
What happened to erasing him from
your life?!

My body replied:
Can’t talk now, kissing.

He deepened his kiss, moving rapidly. It was
like he was starving and I was the juicy hamburger that had become
too tempting to turn away from.

A louder than necessary moan escaped his lips
as we separated for a second to catch our breaths.

The librarian!
I panicked. If we got caught,
we’d be in big trouble. But instead of stopping this crazy thing we
were doing, I tightened my hold on him. He tightened his arms,
pulling me against his chest. I felt his hands creep up and graze
the side of my boob.