Chapter 3- Lost in thoughts

As we neared our lockers, I rationalized what I had seen.

Whatever bug I’m catching sure is making my imagination run wild.

I took a deep breath, willing my bad mood to go away, but a tension headache was already forming. I tried putting Olivia out of my head. Easier said than done.

We arrived at our first class, which was my favorite class of the day because it was the only one where Emma, Derek, and I had class together. Plus, Mr. Bailey always left us to our textbooks and let us talk with our group. Needless to say, there was more goofing around than working on geometry homework.

I walked in with a frown on my face. Derek noticed immediately. I moved my desk so that it was facing my two best friends, forming a triangle so that we could get to work.

Derek shifted in his chair and looked up at me. “What’s wrong?” he asked gently, obviously concerned.

“It’s just not a good day,” I murmured. With that, I actually opened up my textbook and began reading.

I could see Derek’s expression out of the corner of my eye as he looked to Emma for an explanation. She simply lifted her shoulders and opened her own textbook, but I could still see her stealing glances at him.

I apologized for my behavior when the bell rang, but I still couldn’t shake off my mood. I seemed to walk through the hall in a daze, blinking back tears and cursing the knot that was forming in my chest. Was I

getting sick, or was it something else altogether?

When lunch rolled around, I quietly found my spot next to Derek and Emma at our usual table. We normally sat with the other JV volleyball players but mostly kept our conversations to ourselves. Derek was freely welcome at our table. Last year when he tore his ACL in basketball, Emma and I begged him to join the team as our manager.

Besides, he didn’t really have the typical basketball player physique. He was shorter than most of the other players, although his attractive bright blue eyes and curly brown hair made him blend in with the other good-looking guys at school. He hung out with Emma and me more than any other guy, though.

Emma and Derek were arguing next to me about some issue I didn’t care to weigh in on, so I blocked them out as I picked through my food. When I lost interest in it and glanced up, I noticed the long table set up against the far wall of the commons.

Kelli and Justine sat behind it, still selling candy bars and taking donations. I watched in awe as they ran their campaign and encouraged passing students to purchase a candy bar or to spare a few pennies. The way they held themselves bit at my own self-esteem.

Our school wasn’t very big. In a small town like Peyton Springs, you couldn’t expect a large high school. Everyone knew everyone else here. It was so small that some of our team members—like Emma—had to double up on JV and Varsity.

I had talked to Justine and Kelli in volleyball once or twice, but they still intimidated me. Not only were they seniors and at the top of the social hierarchy, but they were gorgeous. Kelli was petite like me, but she’d

had more time to fill out, and her gorgeous smile reflected her confidence in her beauty. Justine had a similar smile painted on her face, but her body was one to really be jealous of. She had long, slim model legs that she kept in shape with volleyball and weight training, and her tan skin and shiny dark hair had me cursing my pale skin and plain dirty blonde locks.

I had zero curves to speak of and a pencil-shaped body that puberty had not yet had a chance to fill out. I was willing to bet I was the only girl in my grade who hadn’t started her period yet. Granted, I was one of the younger students in the sophomore class with a summer birthday. I was nearly a year younger than Emma, who already had her driver’s license, but that wasn’t any excuse for the universe to slow down the onset of my menstrual cycle.

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