Status: Read, Stay with me... Please!
Look at Me
10.
2:50
Hayden was standing on the street corner waiting for the bus when Terry Finchly pounced on like the unsuspecting prey he was. And with a mass of impossibly frizzy hair and a mouth full of metal, she was slightly scary.
“Are you seeing my friend?” she asked right out like it was her business to know every detail of Paige’s life, especially freaky details like him.
“Pardon,” Hayden asked playing it cool as he took a drag off his cigarette.
“Are you screwing Paige Brinkley,” she elaborated with a deadly straight face.
Hayden fought back the heat that he knew was turning his translucent skin pink as his whole body went ramrod stiff with indignation.
“No,” he said through tightly clenched teeth.
“Good,” Terry said, her whole face instantly brighter. “You might be interested to know she likes you and if you so much as look at her wrong, I will totally kill you.”
Her massive mouth flashed it’s shiny hardware like she’d just announced that the next day would be a snow day.
Then she went on to say, “So, are you free tonight? Paige needs a date and she can’t stand my boyfriend’s brother.”
3:45
When Paige opened her front door she was exhausted. She’d had a really brutal gym session (Whoever invented basketball seriously needed to die) and all she wanted to do was settle into a hot bath with the new 17 magazine. So she dropped her backpack off in the hall and made her way to the bathroom.
About an hour later, she emerged much more relaxed and wrapped in a thick towel. She thought about heading back to her room to dress, but she had a major case of the munchies. So she snuck back downstairs to order another pizza. Her mom wouldn’t be home until late that night and her stomach started to grumble just thinking about the pepperoni and the cheese.
When the pizza delivery guy showed up, it was almost five. So Paige devoured a piece and a half as quickly as she could and ran upstairs. She’d promised Terry she’d go to the movies with her. JUST THEM. No pervo Dennis Harper or Evel Knievel Kevin *Master of POS rides*. Just a girl’s night out. So Paige didn’t go through a lot of trouble with her cloths. She threw on a faded pair of jeans and a tank top and called it good. As she was putting a perfunctory coat of mascara on her lashes, Paige heard a car outside and then the doorbell. So she grabbed her purse and ran downstairs. When she opened it, it wasn’t Terry standing there though.
It was Hayden Peirce.
***
Hayden nervously shuffled his feet and glanced back at the waiting car. Kevin Harper shot him an exaggerated thumbs up signal and mouthed, just do it!
Then he faced a very surprised Paige and mumbled, “I heard you needed a date…”
***
When she looked past Hayden, Paige saw her best friend hanging out of the passenger seat of her boyfriend’s car. She had a huge cocky grin on her face and she was making “Hurry Up” motions with one gangly arm.
TERRY! Oh God. She was going to die and it was GOING to be painful. How could she, but more importantly, how had she?
Turning toward Hayden, Paige said with a calm she didn’t feel, “O.K. What did my friend say to you?”
***
The look on Paige’s face was not exactly encouraging. She looked torn between stomping back inside and throttling him with her bare hands. Hayden really couldn’t blame her. He was an idiot. He’d been railroaded into going on a double date by frizzy perm girl.
Okay maybe “railroaded” wasn’t the word. Maybe he’d jumped at the opportunity to go on an honest to god date with Paige. Maybe he’d have done anything just to see her again.
And then again, maybe he just didn’t want to go home…
Paige’s face became slightly more composed and then after a second she asked very slowly, “O.K. what did my friend say to you?”
Hayden didn’t even think about telling the truth. He might be an idiot, but seriously??? Like he was actually going to say, “She asked if we were screwing.” Paige already looked like she was considering triple homicide. No way was he making it worse.
Hayden was standing on the street corner waiting for the bus when Terry Finchly pounced on like the unsuspecting prey he was. And with a mass of impossibly frizzy hair and a mouth full of metal, she was slightly scary.
“Are you seeing my friend?” she asked right out like it was her business to know every detail of Paige’s life, especially freaky details like him.
“Pardon,” Hayden asked playing it cool as he took a drag off his cigarette.
“Are you screwing Paige Brinkley,” she elaborated with a deadly straight face.
Hayden fought back the heat that he knew was turning his translucent skin pink as his whole body went ramrod stiff with indignation.
“No,” he said through tightly clenched teeth.
“Good,” Terry said, her whole face instantly brighter. “You might be interested to know she likes you and if you so much as look at her wrong, I will totally kill you.”
Her massive mouth flashed it’s shiny hardware like she’d just announced that the next day would be a snow day.
Then she went on to say, “So, are you free tonight? Paige needs a date and she can’t stand my boyfriend’s brother.”
3:45
When Paige opened her front door she was exhausted. She’d had a really brutal gym session (Whoever invented basketball seriously needed to die) and all she wanted to do was settle into a hot bath with the new 17 magazine. So she dropped her backpack off in the hall and made her way to the bathroom.
About an hour later, she emerged much more relaxed and wrapped in a thick towel. She thought about heading back to her room to dress, but she had a major case of the munchies. So she snuck back downstairs to order another pizza. Her mom wouldn’t be home until late that night and her stomach started to grumble just thinking about the pepperoni and the cheese.
When the pizza delivery guy showed up, it was almost five. So Paige devoured a piece and a half as quickly as she could and ran upstairs. She’d promised Terry she’d go to the movies with her. JUST THEM. No pervo Dennis Harper or Evel Knievel Kevin *Master of POS rides*. Just a girl’s night out. So Paige didn’t go through a lot of trouble with her cloths. She threw on a faded pair of jeans and a tank top and called it good. As she was putting a perfunctory coat of mascara on her lashes, Paige heard a car outside and then the doorbell. So she grabbed her purse and ran downstairs. When she opened it, it wasn’t Terry standing there though.
It was Hayden Peirce.
***
Hayden nervously shuffled his feet and glanced back at the waiting car. Kevin Harper shot him an exaggerated thumbs up signal and mouthed, just do it!
Then he faced a very surprised Paige and mumbled, “I heard you needed a date…”
***
When she looked past Hayden, Paige saw her best friend hanging out of the passenger seat of her boyfriend’s car. She had a huge cocky grin on her face and she was making “Hurry Up” motions with one gangly arm.
TERRY! Oh God. She was going to die and it was GOING to be painful. How could she, but more importantly, how had she?
Turning toward Hayden, Paige said with a calm she didn’t feel, “O.K. What did my friend say to you?”
***
The look on Paige’s face was not exactly encouraging. She looked torn between stomping back inside and throttling him with her bare hands. Hayden really couldn’t blame her. He was an idiot. He’d been railroaded into going on a double date by frizzy perm girl.
Okay maybe “railroaded” wasn’t the word. Maybe he’d jumped at the opportunity to go on an honest to god date with Paige. Maybe he’d have done anything just to see her again.
And then again, maybe he just didn’t want to go home…
Paige’s face became slightly more composed and then after a second she asked very slowly, “O.K. what did my friend say to you?”
Hayden didn’t even think about telling the truth. He might be an idiot, but seriously??? Like he was actually going to say, “She asked if we were screwing.” Paige already looked like she was considering triple homicide. No way was he making it worse.