The next day, I got up reluctantly and began to pull on clothes halfheartedly. Today was the day I would have to talk to a random guy for an hour! The thing that made Darren and I friends was that we could sit and do nothing and it would feel like an endless mental conversation even though we never had to even glance at each other. Now I had to actually contribute. So after three periods of reading and working without having to move my mouth an inch, I walked slower than ever to the dreaded cafeteria. Darren met me there and presented me with his friend. To my surprise, he didn't look half  bad. Well, to be honest, he didn't look bad at all. He had straight hair in a quiff-like hairstyle and was wearing red basketball shorts with a gray top and some gray sports socks over some nikes. He was actually kinda, well really cute by girls' standards! But that didn't matter much to me. All I wanted was to sit and read again. But not today because of Darren. Hmm.
I sat down in front of him at the nearest table and released a breath. It was also awkward when you know that the reason you're even doing this is because the guy is interested in you. So Garrett came in with some simple questions.
"Do you play sports?" he asked.
"Nah," I answered, figuring that this guy's interests were all sports.
"Ah, okay," he replied without a trace of anything in his voice. He drummed a little bit on the table and lifted his head.
The poor guy, I thought to myself. I refused to take down any sort of walls. No wonder people never wanted to be around me. But I didn't want to be here. So I watched him drum on the table until he finally stopped abruptly.
Garrett looked at me.
He hesitated before starting.
"I'm a huge nerd," he said truthfully. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah right," I snorted jokingly, but apparently he didn't get the fact that I was kidding, because he started telling me all of the books he had been reading and all of the video games he was working on creating. He talked about Doctor Who and Star Wars, but the way he talked about it made it sound cool. I listened, a little more interested, but definitely not set. I mean, he was gorgeous! He had long eyelashes and dark green eyes that flattered his light brown hair; and his face was lightly tan. But I don't warm up to people quickly. And I certainly don't pick them just because they're cute.
After lunch, I walked away relieved and finished out the rest of the day quiet and alone. After school at Darren's house that night, he asked me all kinds of questions, and I simply answered, "He isn't my type, Darren,"
After a while, he got up.
"I got to go for a second! Be right back!" he called. Once he had gone, I looked up and down the hallway at the rows of pictures. One interested me a lot. It was a picture of four people: Darren's dad, mom, Darren, and.....
But that didn't make sense! I observed the fourth person. He was a couple of inches taller than the young five year old Darren and had dark brown, curly hair and was smiling happily at the camera. His eyes resembled Darren's too much to not be related. My stomach began to drop as I looked more and more at the picture. He could have only been a year or so older than Darren. And where he was seemed a personal but obvious question.
"Oh, Darren," I whispered sentimentally.
Just then, Darren came barging out of the bathroom door towards me.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, but stopped short. I tried to act like I hadn't been looking at the obvious picture I had been looking at, but Darren already knew. He looked straight at the boy in the picture, smiling sadly. His eyes got glossier, but he didn't cry. He didn't shed a tear. I looked at him sympathetically, but he didn't look back at me. And that's when I saw the look. The same look when looking at the view outside of my house and at his lake. A pained expression of memories relived. His own brother gone. And I had sat there, oblivious to it all.