The only exciting part of my day so far was first bell, Advanced Painting. I had U.S. Government second, English 12 third, Pre-Cal fourth, and now I’m on my way to lunch.

As I look through the cafeteria I spot a couple kids from each of the classes I’ve had so far. I haven’t talked to any of them though. They didn’t seem to accept me when I walked in the classrooms. I guess it’s no big deal. I’ve had that happen before. Why wouldn’t it happen now?

I walk towards an empty table when I hear my name being shouted across the cafeteria. I look around to see who called me. A few seconds later I see Jessy waving me over to her table. The only thing I can do is go over to her. As soon as I get to the table, Jessy tells me to eat lunch with her and her friends.

I take in the physical appearance of all the girls and notice that Jessy is the only one at the table with brown hair. She’s also the only one who doesn’t look like she belongs on the cheerleading team. Somehow Jessy doesn’t fit in with the rest of the girls. She doesn’t even talk like them.

“Everyone, this is Blake. The guy I was telling you about that sits next to me in my painting class.”

All the girls look from Jessy to me with wide eyes. A few of them are whispering to each other and a few others are just sitting there staring at me. Finally a girl with short light blonde hair asks, “You’re the new kid aren’t you? Nice to meet you! I’m Liz.”

I’m a little surprised by the way she talked to me, but I recollect my thoughts and answer, “Yeah, I’m the new kid. Nice to meet you too, Liz.”

I take it that Liz is the head of the table, aside from Jessy, because once I answered her question all of the other girls start asking me loads of questions.

“Where did you come from?”

“Do you have family up here?”

“What kind of car do you have?”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Why did you move here?”

I could only answer a few of these questions honestly; otherwise none of them would ever want to talk to me again. Just as soon as the questions started coming, they stopped. All eyes were on me and everyone was waiting for me to answer their questions. Jessy nodded at me and gave an encouraging smile.

If it were only her and I, she would be up in my arms and I would tell her how much I already cared for her. I would tell her what I’ve done and what I’ve been through. I would ask her if she could accept me for who I was.

“Were you even paying attention to us when we asked those questions?”

“What? Oh, yeah. Sorry. Um well, I came from Miami, Florida. I don’t have any family up here. I used to have a girlfriend. The reason why I moved is none of your business. Any other questions?”

They all looked at each other before Liz said, “Yeah, I have a question. Why would you move to Green Grass, South Dakota when you don’t even have family here? It doesn’t make sense to me. And I don’t think the other girls understand that either.”

“Blake doesn’t have to tell us everything, guys. Maybe he doesn’t want to tell us. Besides, I don’t think it’s any of our business anyways,” says Jessy. Everyone gives her a look of disgust then go back to, I’m guessing, their gossip of the day.

Jessy stands up and throws her garbage in the trash can. When she comes back over she leans over and whispers something into Liz’s ear. She grabs her books off the table then takes hold of my arm and pulls me away to a wall and sits down. I sit down next to her. As I sit I notice a smell of vanilla. I turn to face her and realize that the smell is coming from her. I put my nose in her hair and drink in the vanilla.

“What are you doing?”

Jessy’s voice snaps me out of a trance that I had no idea I was in. I pull my head back and look into her blue eyes. I don’t know how I’m supposed to answer, so I just tell her the truth.

“I love the smell of vanilla. Your hair just so happens to smell like a vanilla factory or something. Is that weird for a guy like me?”

“No. It isn’t weird to me. I think it’s kind of sweet.”

“Oh. Cool. So those were your friends back there? They seem a little, different from you.”

“They aren’t really friends anymore. Back in junior high we all hung out together at the theater and mall. When we started high school they all wanted to join the cheer team. I, on the other hand, did not want to join the cheer team. Liz got the head position on the team and all the other girls followed right behind her. Over the years I got farther and farther away from them. I just sit with them now because I don’t have anyone else to talk to. But now I have you to eat lunch with and talk to. Sorry, that was a long explanation.”

“That’s fine. It explains a lot.”

We sat there staring at each other. A few seconds passed by when she asks the question I know she’s dying to ask, “So why did you move from Miami to Green Grass?”

I don’t want to tell her just yet. It’s not really something she needs to know at the moment.

“I’d like to get to know you better before I start opening up my life to you. I don’t really tell people about myself. I want to know that I can trust you. Is that okay?”

“That’s perfectly understandable, Blake. I wouldn’t want you to tell me anything you didn’t feel comfortable telling me about. And I would like to get to know you better too.”

I didn’t want to get attached to anyone too quickly. I was a little hesitant of getting close to Jessy at all. But then again it’s hard not to get close to somebody that you may actually like as more than a friend.