Monday

October 14, 2019

"So, I've learned something interesting."

The singular sentence has my entire body freezing up mid-step in the middle of a very crowded hallway. Students shuffle around me in a tired daze, none of them ready for the Monday morning. I look down to my right where Gwen Evans watches me with large, clear blue eyes. Her long blonde locks are in a messy bun sitting high atop her head and she sports a rather autumn look in a tight, tan and red sweater dress accompanied by black leggings and tan ankle boots. Small freckles cover her cheeks and nose standing out against her pale skin.

"Something interesting?" I question a small tremor in my voice. My heart skips a beat when she nods, a devilish gleam to my childhood friends' eyes. "Care to enlighten me?"

She can't know. There's no way she can know. Can she? Only Carmen knows and she wouldn't ever tell anyone. Right?

Gwen snickers as she rubs her hands together. "Word around the school is-"

Oh no, it's all around school?! Is that why people have been watching me?

I shake my head.

Calm down, King. You're getting worked up over nothing.

"We're getting a transfer student today." Gwen dishes her voice giddy at the prospect of someone new coming to our small town of Linsdale, Illinois. I can't say that I blame her though. The last thing of any type of interest to happen was Mrs. Pelinskie's cat going missing.

And that was a year ago.

My shoulders relax now that I know this 'something interesting' doesn't pertain to me and I smile. "Oh yeah? Hopefully, they're nice."

"I hear he's gorgeous. All dark and mysterious with black hair and blue eyes." Gwen makes a swooning motion as if she's just been struck by the God of Love himself. The movement pulls a chuckle from me and Gwen's smile only grows. "I was already planning on a Halloween Party since the haunted day is right around the corner anyway, so I figured it'd be a good idea to just combine it into a Halloween Welcome Party."

"That sounds nice, I'm sure he'll like it. Your parties are always the talk of the town." I said, not one hundred percent into the conversation anymore now that I know it doesn't involve me. We stop at my locker and Gwen leans against the green one beside it, crossing her arms over her chest. She crinkles her nose and clicks her tongue in annoyance.

"Not like it's that hard to be the talk of the town when the town in question has a population of maybe 400 people. Our graduating class is under fifty!" Her voice is bitter as she speaks, and I chuckle getting a dirty look tossed my way. "It's true."

"I know it is. You're just too large for this town."

"You can say that again." She huffs and I glance down towards my friend taking note of the far off look in her eyes. From the slight twitch of her mouth moving upwards I know that she's dreaming large about escaping our town. I smile and nudge her, bringing Gwen back to the here and now.

"So, you gonna give me the scoop on this transfer?"

"Hey, what're you guys talking about?" A small voice interrupts our conversation. Gwen and I turn only to find the final member of our trio standing in a red and orange autumn sweater of her own a messy blonde braid and muddy brown eyes looking at us with curiosity. Dark circles sit beneath those eyes and her pale complexion stands out against the fall colors.

"Carmen!" Gwen squeals in delight. "We match chickadee!" She tosses her arms around the quiet member of our group and Carmen just smiles, returning the hug while trying to juggle her binder and notebook in one hand.

"What did you two coordinate or something? Woe is me." I joke as I close my locker door and drape an arm around Gwen's shoulders. "My friends have left me out of the loop. I guess I really am alone in this world."

Carmen giggles and Gwen rolls her eyes as she replies, "Oh come off it drama King. We didn't coordinate. It's just a pleasant surprise." Gwen turns her attention back to Carmen then as we begin walking towards our respective homeroom classes. "Anyway, chickadee have you heard about the transfer student?"

"You mean tall, dark, and handsome?"

I snort at the response and shake my head. "I feel bad for the transfer. Probably hasn't even set foot in the school building yet and already he's got a reputation."

Gwen shrugs beside me. "At least it's a good one."

Well, can't argue with that.

Author Note: If you enjoyed this chapter don't forget to comment and vote. Hearing from you makes my day!