I Spun the Bottle

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Twelve

Song for this chapter: “Perfect” by Marianas Trench

As I walked to my locker, a hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to come face to face with a pair of light blue eyes. I smiled up at him, my cheeks involuntarily tinting a light shade of pink.

“Hey Lyn!” Jace greeted me warmly with a cheery smile, before his eyes landed on the brace on my right ankle. “Is it broken?”

I shook my head side to side, hobbling a few steps forward. “No, just badly sprained. The doctor said I have to keep it on for at least a couple weeks.”

“Oh, that must suck.”

“A little. It’s kind of hard getting around, and people like to stare at me.” I said, noticing that my locker was now in view.

Jace’s warm hand grabbed my shoulder, lightly. “I bet they’re just thinking you’re cute.”

My face heated up again at his compliment, and I shook my head to the side vehemently. “I don’t think so.”

I seriously needed to get used to the feeling of being complimented so out of the blue. It seemed like Jace was the only one who could get this type of feeling out of me. We made it to my locker, and I opened it within ten seconds. While I shuffled through my school supplies, I was very aware of Jace’s eyes following my every move.

Finally pulling out my English textbook, I shoved my backpack into my locker, closing and locking the door afterwards. The bell rang just as soon my locker was shut. With my textbook and writing utensils in hand, I started towards my classroom with Jace dogging behind me.

“Oh yeah, I have your shirt.” I bit my lip, realizing that I forgot it at home. “I’ll bring it to you tomorrow?”

“Sure, sorry it wasn’t very warm. It was the best I could do.” He grinned at me, dodging a group of girls passing by us.

I shook my head. “No, it was fine. It was better than being in freezing clothes all night.”

“That’s true. So, does Taylor know that you didn’t take her home, yet?” He asked, eyeing me from the corner of his eye.

I smiled wryly. “I don’t think so. Do you think she’ll be mad?”

“Maybe. You did spend the night with David, her boyfriend.”

“How do you know about that?” I demanded, my fingers starting to feel clammy.

We entered the class at the same time, and we sat in our assigned seats, passing through the chattering groups of students. I placed my stuff on the desk before carefully sitting down in the seat, making sure my brace didn’t bang against anything.

“David told Cam and me the other day. He said something around the lines of you being very cranky.” Jace said, shifting a little so he was angled towards me.

“He’s such a jerk. I didn’t even want to stay at his house, but he wanted me to ki—“ I abruptly shut my mouth, covering it with both of my hands, really not wanting to tell Jace that David tried to bargain a kiss from me.

“Ki?” Jace repeated, shooting me a puzzled look.

I gulped, a hesitant grin crossing my lips. “He wanted me to ki…kill? Yeah, he wanted me to kill his… uh goldfish.” I finished lamely, wanting to slap my head down on my desk and die.

“What do you mean kill his goldfish? Why would he want you to do that?”

“Uhm,” I paused thinking of any excuse. “He said that if I killed his goldfish then he would take me home, but I didn’t want to kill it, so I, uh…had to stay there.” I sighed, feeling like a complete idiot.

“Right...” Jace replied slowly, his face scrunching up in confusion. “So he wanted you to kill his fish? Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think David even has a fish.”

A nervous laugh left my closing throat. “How about we just drop the subject completely?”

“Fine with me. It’s too early for me to be using my brain anyway.” Jace smirked, tousling his dark, curly hair around his right index finger.

I bit my lip, cursing myself internally about being such a bad lying girl. Jace probably thinks I’m such a creeper now.

“Sorry if I’m being weird.” I mumbled, bringing my hand under my chin, so I could rest my head on it.

Jace chuckled, a deep, attractive sound and replied. “Don’t worry Lyn. I think it’s cute.”

“Er, thanks.” I responded shyly, turning my head away from him so he couldn’t see my face.

Jace and I chatted for a few more minutes before the second bell rang, and our teacher, Mrs. Mckenly, stood up from her desk and started the morning. Several times during class, I caught myself thinking about Taylor and how she’d react about me not driving her home. Would she expose my picture to the school just because I didn’t drive her home? It wasn’t like I did it on purpose. I didn’t tell myself to fall off a gigantic rock and get a sprained ankle. Besides, she did get home without getting into an accident, right?

Even after trying to reassure myself, I still felt nervous about confronting her. Suddenly an idea popped into my head. I didn’t actually have to talk to her. Maybe, I could avoid her the entire week. With that new thought in mind, I was able to continue through the next few periods without thinking about her.

After fifth period finished, I headed to the cafeteria for lunch. My stomach growled quietly, proving that I was a little hungry. I checked up on the board seeing what was for lunch today. I shrugged my shoulders at the menu. It was Baked Potato with cheesy broccoli and some kind ice-cream. Baked potato sounded pretty good to me. Without another thought, I walked into one of the two lunch lines.

“How’s your ankle?” A familiar voice inquired, just as I picked up one of the lunch trays.

I tilted my head to the side to meet a pair of hazel eyes. My heart suddenly quickened, and my tray slipped from my grasp. The dark blue, plastic tray landed on the floor with loud clanking noises. Embarrassed, I quickly scooped up the dish, ignoring the strange looks I was receiving from the teenagers around me.

“It’s almost unbelievable how klutzy you are.” David chuckled, picking up a tray for himself.

“Shut up.” I snapped, my cheeks burning with humiliation. “And my ankle’s fine.”

“That’s good. Did your parents find out?” He asked, urging me down the line.

“No, I told them I fell that morning.”

“And they seriously bought that?”

“Yeah, they don’t think I lie.” I puffed my chest out proudly, but then went back to normal because I thought I looked strange.

He smirked, amused. “Yeah, you’re a terrible liar by the way.”

I glared at him, but I knew that was the truth. “Shut up, and stop following me.” I muttered, moving down the line quicker than he was.

This earned me yet another laugh from David, and I couldn’t stop the strange feeling that filled up my insides from that subtle sound. “It’s the lunch line, Lyn. I’m not following you purposely.”

“Oh,” I managed to say, feeling even stupider then I already was.

The lunch lady placed a fairly large baked potato on my tray, while I ignored David and put a spoonful of broccoli in one of the smaller side pockets. I finished grabbing the rest of my lunch and hurried to the cash register lady. I handed her a five dollar bill, and impatiently waited for her to give me my change.

Shifting my weight from braced foot to the other, I noticed that David was stepping behind me now. The middle-aged woman continued to take her sweet time, counting my money. It was like she was going super slowly on purpose. She finally finished counting and held out a fistful of dollars and coins. Using my left hand, I took the change from her and hurried away from the line and him.

My usual spot called to me as I began walking around the lunch room, feeling free from David. Then suddenly, my eyes darted pass a pair of red heads. It didn’t take me long to realize who the two were. The girl was Penny and Cam was the other. They quickly noticed me glancing in their direction. Penny grinned and shot her hand up into the hair, gesturing for me to join her and Cam. At first I nodded, until I realized who else sat with them. I shook my head at Penny, telling her that I shouldn’t go there. She nodded, giving me a sympathetic smile.

I was about to turn, until Taylor’s catlike, blue eyes caught a hold of me. My breathing hitched in my throat as she narrowed in at me. The corner of her lip curled into a devious smile. It was yet another one of her cold, plastic smiles. She lifted up one of her hands, and curled her manicured, index finger at me, ordering for me to come there.

I groaned resentfully.

Stomping to the table in a childlike manner, I took a seat next to Penny, placing my food-filled tray in front of me. She smiled at me warmly before shifting her attention back to Cam, who was talking to her animatedly about some movie. It looked like they had become a couple over the weekend and I had to admit that they made a cute couple.

“Hey, nerd.” Taylor said, gaining my attention.

“Don’t call me nerd.” I answered, wrinkling my nose in distaste at the “nickname” she gave me. “What do you want, Taylor?”

“I don’t remember you taking me home Friday. Do you?” She asked, inspecting her clean cuticles.

I bit my lip, giving a fleeting look to Cam. He was the one that took Taylor home on Friday, so I silently begged him what I should say. In response, Cam gave me a hesitant smile.

He wants me to lie?

“Well?”

I refocused on Taylor, giving her a shrug, which I hoped was taken in as nonchalant. My heart raced in my chest, feeling some type of anticipation building up. “I—uhm took you home. You were just…too drunk to notice?” I finished my last sentence in more a question than a statement.

“Is that so?” She raised an eyebrow, studying my movements carefully.

“Y-yes,” I mentally cursed myself for stuttering.

Taylor leaned towards me, close enough that her sweet-smelling perfume tickled my nose. Instinctively I leaned away from her, trying to gain as much distance as possible. Her eyes gleamed with something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

“Listen here, nerd.” She hissed in a hushed whisper so that I was the only person that could hear her. “I want you to stay the hell away from my boyfriend. I saw you that morning. He had his arms around your revolting, scrawny thing that you call a body. If you ever want to make it out of high school without being known as the naked nerd, you’d better back off my man.”

A lump formed in the middle of my throat as I stared back at Taylor in disbelief, my mouth slightly ajar. She just threatened me. Somehow, without even knowing it, I had started a war with the witch of Brea High School.

My expression must have pleased Taylor because she laughed in a high pitched, squeaky tone, making everyone at the table quiet and stare at us questioningly. I felt like my entire body had become numb, desensitized, and immobile.

The sound of another tray joining the table woke me out of my current state. I stared at the new blue, tray that was diagonal from me. Slowly, I let my eyes travel up this person’s body before they stopped on David’s face. He was staring at me questioningly, with one of his eyebrows arched up.

“What’s going on?” He inquired, glancing from me to Taylor.

“Oh nothing,” she purred, wrapping an arm around David’s waist protectively. “Lyn was just leaving, right?” She eyed me, daring me to say no.

Bobbing my head up and down a single time, a wry smile passed my lips. “Yeah, I’m not hungry anymore.” I muttered, pushing my tray away from me, and standing up from the table.

I looped my legs out of the table and walked away, still ignoring the stares I held. My tummy rumbled, telling me that I was hungry, but I ignored that too. I really, really didn’t want to be near Taylor. I couldn’t believe that she thought I wanted to steal her boyfriend! I was definitely not the type of person to go after a taken guy, especially a guy that Taylor was going out with! Besides, I didn’t think of David that way.

Right?

Nodding my head a once, I silently agreed. I didn’t think of David in that way. The only word that could describe him perfectly was ass—I mean jerk. I frowned at myself. I wasn’t supposed to be using that kind of language. Biting my tongue, I started to wander the empty hallways.

As I passed a clock, I sighed. There was still about fifteen minutes of lunch left before the bell rang, fifteen excruciatingly boring minutes of just avoiding the hall monitors and ignoring my growling stomach. The poor thing. My tummy didn’t do anything to deserve this kind of treatment. I stopped walking for a moment, and placed a hand on my tummy. “It’s okay tummy wummy, I’ll feed you soon enough.”

“Tummy wummy?” An amused voice echoed from behind me.

Pivoting on my heel, I turned to face David. For the about the fifth time today, I groaned. I could swear David was stalking me. He wasn’t making this any easier for any of us.

“What?” I inquired harshly, a scowl forming on my face.

“Nothing,” he shrugged, a smirk teasing his lips. “I just wanted to go to the bathroom, but instead I found a nerd talking to her…tummy wummy?”

I glared, trying to ignore the racing flush of color blossoming onto my cheeks. “Shut up, I’m hungry okay? Sahr-rey if I act strange when I’m starving. The last time I checked, you’re the whole cause of this entire situation. You started this whole freaking thing! Now leave me alone! I just want to look like a loner, roaming through the halls with my poor, hungry tummy.”

The last part of my tiny speech came out of nowhere, and when the words finally sunk into my head, I wanted to slap myself. I could act like such an idiot sometimes.

Instead of answering to my lame outburst, David took three, evenly lengthened strides to come face to face with me. Now I noticed that one of his arms was hidden behind his back, and for a moment, I mused over what he could be hiding behind him, but my thoughts were quickly replaced by how close our bodies were to touching. If I leaned in a few inches, my head would be resting on his chest.

I raised my head upwards, so that our eyes met. “Ever heard of personal space?”

“Nope,” he answered sarcastically.

“Back up, David.” I ordered, my eyes narrowing in on his, a silent threat passed from me to him.

“That’s the first time you said my name.” He pointed out with a happy, boyish grin.

His grin seemed to be contagious because I wanted to smile back at him, but I shook my head adamantly, keeping my thoughts and lips straight.

Purposely ignoring his last comment, I stood up a little straighter, keeping my feet firmly planted on the floor, and repeated. “Back up, please.”

He sort of listened to my demand, by taking a half a step back. It wasn’t far enough to where he wouldn’t be invading my personal bubble, but it was enough to ease my nerves…kind of. His eyes were beginning to make me feel self-conscious. They had a strange glimmer of emotion hiding behind a thin veil. I tried to match up that emotion with one that I knew, but I came up empty handed.

“I have a question.” David suddenly announced, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Can I ask it?”

“No.”

“Great, I’m asking it anyway.” He grinned. “What happened?”

I rolled my eyes and answered reluctantly. “Nothing happened.”

“Something obviously happened because you stormed out of the lunch room like your feet were on fire or something. You didn’t even say hi to me.” He added, teasingly.

“It’s her fault.” I mumbled, mostly saying it to myself.

“Who’s? Taylor’s? What did she say? Tell me,” he insisted in such a manner that I couldn’t entirely grasp his fast paced words.

I finally turned my eyes away from him, taking a step full step backwards. My body slumped over a little, and I bit my lip, embarrassed.

“Lyn?” David spoke, when I didn’t answer his multiple questions. “Was it Taylor?”

“Why do you care if it is her? You’re just her stupid boyfriend that can’t seem to leave me alone.” I muttered, suddenly interested in the lines on the floor.

This seemed to spark another emotion off within David. He stumbled back a few steps, his voice now distant. “Forget it,” he paused, producing something from behind his back. “Here, I took this off your tray, figuring you were hungry. Take it.”

My eyes trailed upwards to find my ice-cream cup that I chose when I was in the line with a plastic spoon, completely stopping the next words I was going to ask David. I stretched my fingers toward the two things and plucked them out of David’s hands, carefully so that my fingers didn’t make contact with his.

The sight of seeing something my stomach could digest, even if it was ice-cream, made me smile. “Thanks,” I said, slightly nodding my head in gratitude.

“No problem. I should probably get back before she figures out I’m gone and sends a search party after me.” He grinned cheekily. “Sorry, I couldn’t bring you your entire tray. It’s kind of hard to stuff that in my pockets when I’m trying to be discreet.”

For the first time, a small giggle was produced at the back of my throat. “Funny, and it’s okay. Better than nothing.” I murmured, trying to keep my face straight.

“True,” he nodded, turning on his heel, heading for the cafeteria again.

When David rounded the corner, my thoughts came back to me. As I shifted my weight off of my braced foot, I wondered briefly why he suddenly acted so strange when I questioned him. Opening the lid of my ice-cream and throwing it into the nearest trash can, I dug my spoon into the creamy, almost melting texture popping the spoonful into my mouth. I grinned at the taste of the sweet creaminess of vanilla ice-cream.

At least my “tummy wummy” got something out of this whole mess.