Stay With Them Tonight

RACHEL P.O.V.

During the whole U.S. History class, Allie and I exchanged glances, and I also spent a good portion of my time staring at Greg. It was a well known secret that I liked him, but Jen, who was kind of my friend, dated him once three years ago, and insisted I shouldn’t “play rebound.”

Please. (Note sarcasm.) I don’t think he ever seriously liked her. Stupid me, I had listened to her anyway.

But if he had wanted Jen, he would’ve stayed with her longer than eight days. I had liked Greg before Jen even knew him.

I had liked Greg since he helped me up in seventh grade after my typical blonde self tripped over my own feet. Back then, I wasn’t exactly fat, but I wasn’t as skinny as I am now. My parents had never said no to me, and that included when I wanted another candy bar, so I had developed a little weight problem. Add to that, I was flat as a board.

Greg was my first love. And it had always been unrequited, ever since that warm afternoon in the dirt when I had first met him.

When I transferred to this smaller school in which few people knew of my former self, my confidence sky-rocketed, and nobody doubted that I was destined to be one of the popular people. What I had gained was self-esteem, a body that finally went through puberty, a few false friends, a reputation as being one of the hottest girls in school, and a massive crush on a guy that I still thought would never notice me.

And I was starting to think I was wrong about him never looking my way.

We had started something before I threw it all to shit before, but I didn’t know exactly what. We had gotten surprisingly close surprisingly fast, and even looking back on it I couldn’t tell where it would have gone. I could only hope.

As soon as the bell rung I jumped out of my seat and walked past Greg out the door, trying not to stop and talk to him. I wasn’t brave enough to do that. Had it been any other guy, I wouldn’t have cared if it looked like I was pining after them, but Greg was different. Allie looked at me again, and we went our separate directions.

*****

ALLIE P.O.V.

I was dreading going to lunch. I walked slowly to my locker, taking out a book for my next class that I wouldn’t need yet. I made my way over to the library, hoping Rachel would want to sit and talk for a long time before going to the café.

I wasn’t avoiding her, or Kelly, or Ryan, or Greg, or anyone else who didn’t have the name “Jason.” He, I was avoiding.

I found Rachel in the far back corner of the library, where we could talk in privacy. I sat down across from her, and she smiled at me anxiously.

“This is the first time I’ve left them at lunch since last time.” she told me.

“Do you want to be with them right now?” I asked.

“Nope.” She grinned at me. “I want to see Greg again. And Katie and everyone else.” I laughed- of course she would want to see Greg first.

“Okay. Can we just sit here for a minute, though?” I asked. She quirked a corner of her mouth up.

“Avoiding a certain someone?” She asked. I frowned.

“No, I just want to talk to you.” She leaned towards me on her elbows, propping her chin on her hand.

“Sure. What do you want to talk about?” She smirked when I couldn’t think of anything.

“Right. You’re avoiding Jason, huh?” I may have blushed a little, mumbling a “no.”

“Fine. You want to go? Let’s go.” I said suddenly, pushing my chair back and linking arms with her as she stood up.

“W-wait!” She said. “Can we go the long way?” she asked.

“I was planning on it.” I told her.

*****

I could feel the group’s eyes burning holes in our backs as we strode through the line for the pizza place, and I knew Rachel could feel it too.

“They’re staring!” she whispered nervously.

“Did you expect them to not notice? The only ones who won’t forgive you right away are probably Kelly and Katie, maybe. Everyone else is going to be glad. They’re surprised, that’s all.” I reassured her (and myself).

We walked over, and while Rachel studied the posters on the far wall, I gauged everyone’s reactions. Like I predicted, Kelly looked mad an Katie looked a little angry, but everyone else, with the exception of Greg, was just staring curiously. Greg was looking at the opposite wall, not in our direction at all.

“Hey, guys. You know Rachel.” I sat down, bringing Rachel who still had her arm through mine. I could feel her wanting to run away from this situation.

“Hi.” she mumbled.

“Allie,” Kelly said, completely ignoring Rachel, “what is she doing here?”

“She’s here to eat lunch with us.” I stated calmly, hoping Kelly was in a good enough mood to let it go. She hated people letting her down, and never forgot it.

“I thought she wasn’t allowed.” Kelly said dryly. I rolled my eyes.

“She left her ‘friends’ for us. Yeah, it was a bitchy thing to do to leave us in the first place, but maybe we should give her another try.” I spoke directly to Kelly, Katie, and Greg. Greg suddenly got up and started walking towards the door. I called after him, but he kept on walking. When the hall door shut behind him, Rachel let go of me and ran after him, dodging the people milling around the cafeteria.

“Well this is interesting.” Ryan said.

“Suuuure, it is.” I said under my breath. Kelly sighed and put her head on Ryan’s shoulder. Jason hadn’t said anything, and I glanced at him to make sure he was still alive. It was a bad idea, because he was staring right at me.

“Can we talk?” he mouthed as soon as Katie started a conversation with Ryan and Kelly. I shook my head no. He rolled his eyes and got up as the bell rang. I groaned to myself. I had him in my next class.

I threw away my trash and took my time getting to class.

*****

RACHEL P.O.V.

I ran after Greg, cursing myself for being so stupid. Of course he wouldn’t just forgive me. I had ran away from him and everyone else so I wouldn’t lose face. I was mad at myself for it, how could he not be?

I blindly tore around the corner, knowing I had to get him to forgive me.

*****

GREG P.O.V.

I jogged through the halls, going the most obvious route. I knew, or maybe just hoped, she would come out after me.

Once I had gotten far enough away, I slowed to a stop and turned around, waiting for her to come. I leaned against the wall right after the corner, out of sight if you were running down the hallway.

Soon enough, I heard footsteps running towards me, going at full speed. I grinned to myself and stepped out as she ran around the corner, not seeing me.

She didn’t have time to even slow down, and ran into me. I picked her up, laughing as she blindly wrapped her arms around me.

“Took you long enough.” I said. Her hold tightened as she caught her breath.

“Why didn’t you stop!?” she yelled into my neck, where she had buried her head.

“I wanted to make sure you would come.” I said honestly. She gave a short laugh.

“Do you like me, Greg?” she asked. “I’m not wrong, am I?” She pulled back to look at me.

“I like you, Rach. Would you go out with me?” I had thought about it a lot last night after Allie had texted me, saying she was bringing Rachel around today. Had I not been warned, I would have walked away and meant it, but then I thought of this.

I couldn’t delay the inevitable, after all. She kissed me in reply.

*****