Lunch was over way too soon. John and I got up to dump our trays and I got the distinct feeling that I was being watched. I felt someone's eyes focused intensely on me and I was starting to feel uncomfortable. At first I thought it was my paranoid imagination because I often felt like someone was watching me, but then I looked around and Nick Johnson was staring at me. He was sitting at a table with Kyle Masters. I knew Kyle from the hockey team and I knew he was friends with Nick, but I had never talked to Nick before. Nick smiled at me and waved. In my state of shock, all I could do was wave back. Then Nick motioned for me to come over.
"Do you know that kid?" John's voice snapped me out of my daze.
"He's friends with a guy from the hockey team." John and I finished dumping our trays and we both walked over to Nick's table. Kyle was sitting across from Nick and he was looking at his tray like there was something on it. Kyle was so focused on his tray that he didn't even notice us walk over.
Nick extended his right hand and we shook hands. "Hello, Pat. My name is Nick and I'm Kyle's best friend. I don't know if you've heard about me, but I'm sort of a musician. Anyway, I'm performing at this club in about three weeks and I just wanted to personally invite you and all of your friends." Nick reached in to his shirt pocket and took out a small card. "Here's the information." He handed me the card. "There's going to be an after-party, too. I think that will start at about eleven."
"Thanks. Are you in a band, or are you a solo act?" I put the card in my pants pocket.
"Solo."
Well, that was all I had for small conversation so I began to back up. "Well, um, I've got to get to class, so, um, it was nice meeting you. I might check it out." I looked over and Kyle was still focused on his tray. "See you at practice, Kyle." He looked up and his face had this expression on it like he was surprised I spoke to him. He just nodded his head. John and I walked away from the table. We reached the door in just enough time to watch Drew and Laurie walk in from the courtyard area. Drew and Laurie always left lunch early. Everyone knew that they were making out in one of their cars but they always said they just wanted some fresh air. John and I looked at each other and smiled. When we reached my locker, John finally spoke.
"The end of lunch was interesting."
"Yeah, it was." Don't get me wrong, my friends and I get invited to random parties all the time, but there was something strange about the way Nick did it. It felt like he was singling me out.
"Do you think that guy was hitting on you?"
"What?" I hadn't even thought about it that way.
"He didn't even say hi to me and I know him. We have calculus together."
"Oh, did you want him to say hi to you?"
"Haha. You know what I mean. He was focused on you. I don't even think he looked at me once."
"I didn't notice."
"Oh, maybe it was nothing."
I wondered if I heard a hint of jealousy. I finished at my locker and John and I walked to his locker. We had one more class together and then I would be on my own until my last class, which happened to be my only class with Chris. John and I went in our English class and took our usual seats. Class started about one minute after we sat down. The class was boring as usual, but I had lots to think about. Was John right? Was that Nick guy hitting on me? Was John jealous?
Nick thought I didn't know who he was, but I had heard lots of gossip about him. He excelled in all the artistic classes, and he had won about six or seven prizes for creative writing. He was a little scrawny and his voice was softer than most guys. I knew he got a lot of flack from the guys at our school. Most people said he was gay, but he was always linked up with some girl. He couldn't be gay, could he? He did have those frosty type highlights in his hair. I always attributed it to his rocker image, but now I was wondering if there was some merit to the rumors. If he was gay, did he have a crush on me? I knew there had to be other gay people at Clairmont, but I never suspected Nick before. I definitely had to keep an eye on him. Nick Johnson, hmm. He wasn't my type. I hoped he didn't like me. How would I let him down without hurting his feelings? Maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself.
I looked over at John. Was John jealous? I know I heard something in his voice. He was jealous that Nick only talked to me. He had to be jealous, or was I only hearing what I wanted to hear? I knew then, this was going to be a long day. John looked over and winked at me. I made a face and gave him the finger. He smirked and went back to listening to the teacher. I didn't want him to think I was staring at him for the second time today, so I looked down at my notebook.
I managed to survive English relatively unscathed. John and I parted ways at the door and I went to my history class. I sat down in the back of the room, as usual, but Kyle stunned me when he walked in and sat down next to me. Laurie usually sat there.
"What's up Kyle?"
"I need to ask you a question."
Laurie walked in and yelled from the front of the room, "What the hell are you doing in my seat?"
Laurie never spoke to me at all during this class. She just sat there and passed notes with other cheerleaders. I didn't understand what the big deal was. She could take Kyle's seat and sit next to Rachel. Kyle looked at her and said, "Look, Laurie, I need to talk to Pat about something. You spend the whole class passing notes with Rachel and Jessica anyway, so back off." I was impressed; I never knew Kyle could dish it out so well.
Laurie looked stunned. "I'll let it slide this time, Masters, but don't you ever talk to me like that again, or I'll"
"Or you'll what?"
"Or I'll tell Drew."
"Is that supposed to scare me?"
"It should!"
"Oh, okay. I'm scared. Will you sit down now?" He pulled out the seat in front of him and gave her this shit eating grin. "Please." I just busted out laughing. I didn't know Kyle could be such a smartass. Of course there were a lot of things I didn't know about Kyle. I had never had a real conversation with him. Our conversations were always about hockey or some other sport.
Laurie said, "Screw you!" She threw her notebook down on the desk, folded her arms across her chest and sat down in the seat he had pulled out for her.
When I stopped laughing, I turned to Kyle and asked, "So what did you want to ask me?" I felt a twinge of nervousness and I couldn't tell if it was from the way Kyle's eyes were locked with mine or from the anticipation that the question might be about Nick. Thinking that someone has a crush on you does something to your spirit. There is a level of excitement and wonder that cruises through your veins, and even when you don't like them back, it still feels good to know that someone likes you. Kyle opened his mouth to talk, but the teacher came in and silenced everyone. Mr. Weathers passed out a pop quiz. There were way too many surprises in this day.
History was boring, as always. By the end of class, all I could think about was getting out of that room. I completely forgot about Kyle, but Kyle stopped me as I stood up. He grabbed my arm. "I still need to talk to you, um, about that question."
"Oh, yeah I almost forgot. Walk with me." Without hesitation, Kyle got up and followed me in to the hallway. Kyle didn't say anything as we walked down the hallway. I wondered what he was thinking. When we got close to my locker, I broke the silence. "So what did you want to ask me?" I wondered why his question mattered so much to me. I felt like I was the one pushing the issue.
"Um. I wanted to know if you would, um, well, if you would help, um, help me with my math. I'm not doing too well." I started to grin. "Don't laugh! It's not funny. I'm serious. I need help or I may have to quit the team."
"Relax, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at myself. I am probably one of the worst people you want to have trying to teach you math. I do okay in math, but I can't explain it to save my life. If you really want help, you should go to John. Or better yet, I'll talk to John and ask him for you."
"Are you sure you can't help me? I don't even know John. I mean he seems like a nice guy, but, I don't know."
He almost sounded like he was whining. I wasn't sure how to respond. "John is cool. Trust me. I guarantee you'll love him as a tutor. The guy is awesome in math."
"Well okay. I guess I'll try him out. Any help is better than no help. Just set it up and let me know. I have to get to class. Thanks man."
Kyle gave me half a smile and walked away. I wasn't sure what he was thanking me for because I hadn't done anything yet, but I was alarmed to find that I was watching Kyle walk down the hallway. That boy had a nice ass. It's amazing how you can know someone for so long and never really notice them. Kyle wasn't a bad looking guy. With a little confidence and maybe some clothes to accentuate his assets, he could have some real potential. Nothing like John or Drew, but potential nonetheless.
Thanks so much to everyone for their commentary. Please send comments to lustyville@yahoo.com. Also, several people have asked me to email them and let them know when the story is updated. In order to make this easy for me, and so I don't forget, I have started a yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lustyville. Don't worry though, Nifty is still my home and I will send the new chapters to Nifty as I upload them to my site.