I definitely needed to get laid on Friday night. That’d clear my head of her. During fourth period, I browsed through the contacts in my phone to figure out my date’s name on Friday. Desiree was her name. Such a gentleman, making sure I knew the name of the girl I’d be screwing. Gianna would be proud.
Catching up with Gianna at the end of fourth period, I took her backpack off her shoulder and carried it. “Princess, we’re going to work on number eleven now.”
She looked at me quizzically. “Number eleven?”
“Yep, make new friends.”
“I can’t do that,” she breathed out.
“Why the hell not?”
“Because I belong with the popular group. The other kids always treat me weird, like I’m so above them. They won’t have a real conversation with me or anything. They just agree with whatever I say and stare at me.” Her face was so sad I couldn’t resist putting my arm around her and bringing her close. The situation was ridiculous and it just showed how silly kids my age could be.
“Well, that’s where I come in.” Confidence mixed with humility always worked.
“What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously. As if I’d ever steered her wrong!
I smiled knowingly at her. “You’ll see.”
We went through the lunch line. “So, being brave, where’d you like to sit?”
She scanned the lunchroom before her blue eyes settled on a table. “Do you see those people over there?”
Following her gaze, I spotted a group of guys and girls near the windows. “Yeah, why them?”
“Well, I was friends with a couple of them in elementary school. Do you see how they don’t all dress the same? From looking at them, you wouldn’t even think they had a lot in common, but they’re friends. That tells me they all accept each other for who they are, not for what they look like or what they wear. I’ve always thought it’d be cool to hang out with them.” From her pink cheeks, she was embarrassed about opening up about something she’d obviously given a lot of thought to.
Not wanting to discourage her, I ignored her embarrassment. “Wise choice, let’s go introduce ourselves.”
Her nervousness was cute as we walked to their table. It was funny that the most popular girl in the school was afraid of not being accepted by what looked like a group of misfits. I liked them for that alone. Taking an empty seat at their table, I pulled Gianna down onto the seat next to mine.
I start eating my food as if sitting with them was an everyday occurrence, but Gianna sat there looking down at her food. Swallowing my food, I glanced around the group of shocked faces. “What?”
A petite Asian girl with red streaks in her hair whispered shyly, “Why are you guys sitting here? Shouldn’t you be over there, with your friends?”
“And what if we want to sit here?” I challenged her, taking another bite.
A guy with a face pierced like a pincushion said, “That’d be cool, I guess,” but he was looking at Gianna as he said it. That, I hadn’t anticipated. If he hit on her, perhaps we’d find a new group of potential real friends.
My eyes met Gianna’s to see her staring nervously back at me. Breaking the ice apparently wasn’t her forte. “I’m Caleb, I started here last week. Do you guys all know my stepsister, Gianna?”
A kid with spiked blonde hair and black Buddy Holly glasses answered for the table, “Everybody knows who Gianna is. She’s like a celebrity here.” His sarcasm wasn’t appreciated.
Gianna stiffened next to me and I sensed her disappointment. I quickly blurted out, “Celebrity?” and laughed derisively. “That’s ridiculous! Besides, she’s sitting right here, so you shouldn’t speak as if she isn’t here.”
“Sorry,” the blonde kid mumbled.
I nudged Gianna and she finally spoke to the Asian girl, “Hey, Kara, do you remember when we used to walk home from school together in elementary school?”
“Yeah, I remember,” Kara answered shyly. Then she laughed abruptly. “Do you remember that one time we raced and you fell into a puddle of mud in that dirt field?”
Gianna joined her laughter. “I remember that. My mom was so mad at me for ripping a hole in my jeans.”
The rest of lunch was more relaxed and we got to know the other kids at the table. They were actually pretty cool. Definitely cooler and less fake than the friends Gianna had before. The entire lunch period, I saw kids from other tables staring and whispering. Thankfully Gianna was oblivious to it. It was the first time I’d seen her like this at school, happy. By the end of lunch, Gianna had talked about tattoos with a guy whose brother was a tattoo artist and she’d invited all of them to come watch her and her crew on Saturday at a battle. They were pretty surprised to find out Gianna was a breaker.