Destiny Binds(6)

“What about Jase?” Talley asked, looking over my shoulder.

“What about him?

“Donʼt you think Iʼm beautiful?” my brother asked, sliding into the booth next to me.

“Of course youʼre beautiful.” Not to be gross or anything, but he actually kind of is. “Youʼre also completely vapid.” Which is only partially true.

“Aw. Youʼre just saying that because you know I have no idea what vapid means.”

“It means quit eating all my Doritos.” I snatched my nearly empty bag out of his hand.

“What are you doing here, Jase? Arenʼt you supposed to be in class?”

“Nope. This is my lunch period.”

Talley froze with a carrot stick halfway to her mouth. “No way. How did that happen?”

“Tal, isnʼt it obvious? Scout and I are mature, responsible Seniors now. Donʼt be so shocked that the school administration has taken notice.”

Since an incident in the third grade, Jase and I were separated at school as much as possible. We were never in the same classes or allowed to join the same clubs. It really hadnʼt been an issue since we got to high school. Jaseʼs interests tended to skew towards athletics while mine had a more academic feel. Yet, I knew for certain the superintendent, who just happened to be our father, still intended for our schedules to never intertwine. Obviously, someone wasnʼt paying attention.

“You? Me? The same lunch? Thatʼs going to be odd.”

“Odd?” Jase looked at me, totally confused. “Itʼs going to be awesome!” It is common knowledge that things have to work a certain way in the world of high school politics. The super-cool, yet approachable, star athlete was supposed to date the prettiest girls, attend the coolest parties, and eat lunch with the rest of the elite, not his socially awkward sister.

“Shouldnʼt you be holding court with Twiddle-Dee, Twiddle-Dum, and Twiddle-Moron over there?” I asked, referring to a table in the middle of the dining area where three of Jaseʼs teammates - Tyler Burkeen, Seth Roberts, and Jordan Daniels - were hanging all over a cluster of cheerleader types, occasionally tossing a french fry towards the back of James Kiplingerʼs head.

“I see those guys all the time.”

“You live with me. Our bedrooms are roughly five feet from each other.”

“Are you trying to say that you donʼt want to eat lunch with me, Scout?”

“Of course she wants to eat lunch with you,” Talley said. “Sheʼs just worried that youʼre going to make her have an actual conversation with someone other than you or me.” That wasnʼt entirely fair. It wasnʼt my fault I wasnʼt as affable as they were.

“You know, they really arenʼt that bad once you get to know them,” Jase said, watching as Jordan managed to get a ketchup coated fry to stick to Jamesʼ shirt.



“Jordan Daniels is not only a complete jerk, but heʼs also as dumb as a box of rocks.”

“He doesnʼt still call you Al the Albino does he?”

“No.” Not since Jase slammed him into a wall in the boyʼs locker room and suggested he quit. “That doesnʼt mean that he suddenly stopped being a half-wit. I overheard him asking one of the secretaries where to put a stamp on an envelope last year.”

“Okay, so Jordan is an idiot, but Tyler and Seth are pretty decent, and I think you would like some of the girls if you would just give them a chance.” Sure, we would become the bestest of friends. We could have sleep-overs where we braided each otherʼs hair and talked about how super-cute and hunky Jordan is.

Gag.

I was about to turn back to my table when a pair of steely eyes caught my attention. Alex Cole sat two tables away from us, once again staring. Only this time, it wasnʼt at me. Instead, he was looking at Jase with an expression which could have easily been interpreted as murderous. His eyes were hard and I could see the muscles in his cheeks jump as he clenched and unclenched his jaw.

I could also see Ashley Johnson babbling on like a ditz beside him. I briefly wondered if she was discussing possible honeymoon locations.

“Earth to Scout,” Jase said, pulling my attention away from Alexʼs table.

“Who are you looking at?” Talley glanced over and smiled. “Ah-ha. The new guy. I should have known.”

It occurred to me that it might have been a good idea to have mentioned Alex before that moment.

“What new guy?” Jase looked towards Alex and his face went blank. I was reminded of the time he came home to find that our little sister had decided to make his Star Wars figures

“pretty” by coloring on them with a red Sharpie. He had looked at them with this exact same expressionless stare before launching into the biggest temper tantrum ever. Angel had cried for hours.