Peace Sign

Evangeline's P.O.V.

Right when I got home, I immediately rushed to the kitchen to grab something to eat, considering the fact that I haven't eaten anything since lunch at school. When I got to the kitchen, I saw that Mom and Dad were almost done making dinner.

"Hey, guys," I said, giving them both a kiss on the cheek.

Mom turned away from the stove and gave me the tightest hug and cheerfully replied, "Hi, my baby. How was your first day?"

"It was good," I said as I grabbed a can of soda from the refrigerator.

I noticed my dad turn away from the stove, as well. "Is that it? Aren't you going to tell us all about it?" he asked.

"There's not really much to tell. It was the typical awkward first day of school."

"Were people nice to you?" Mom asked, with a slightly worried look in her eyes.

I nodded and took a sip of my soda. "Yes, Mom, people were really nice. I actually think I made a couple of friends."

"Aw, that's sweet. You know you can invite them here anytime you'd like," Mom replied, turning back toward the stove to stir the pasta that was boiling.

"How about the daycare center?" Dad asked. "How did that go?"

"That went really well, also. The kids there are so well behaved and the employees were really welcoming."

Dad smiled and gave this nod of approval. "Well, Angie, I'm glad you had a good first day. Your mother and I know it can't be easy moving to another school...let alone another state."

"I think I could adapt pretty easily," I replied, taking another sip. After a few moments of silence, without thinking, I said, "I also met this really nice guy, today, too." My parents didn't respond to this at first and, for a second, I could actually feel a hint of tension in the air.

"Oh?" Mom finally said, in a strange tone of voice that was serious and completely opposite of the tone she was using earlier.

"Yeah, his name is Derek. He's in my Physics class."

"Really," Dad said, using the same serious voice as Mom. "This guy didn't give you any trouble, did he?" Right after I heard Dad's question, I knew what was going on in their heads.

I sighed and shook my head. "No, Dad, he didn't. He's actually very sweet."

"Yeah, I've heard that before," Dad mumbled, sarcastically.

"Charles," Mom hissed, not making eye contact with neither Dad nor me.

"Well, it's true, isn't it? This is how it all started last time, and look what happened. Evangeline---"

"Dad," I interrupted, in a loud voice that even startled me, "please stop. Just because I meet a nice guy does not mean history is going to repeat itself. I'm not stupid, I know what I'm doing."

Dad gave me this sympathetic look and nodded slowly. "I know, sweetie. I just want you to be safe, that's all."

I sighed again and made my way to the stairs. "I know," I said before I made my way up to my room.

If my parents freaked out about me just meeting Derek, imagine how they would've reacted if I told them that he has a daughter.

- - - - -

The next afternoon, I ate lunch with Emma, Emily, and Ryan again. What was weird about the four of us was that we would talk as if we knew each other forever. It was the first time in a long time that I actually felt completely comfortable around people.

As Emily and I were talking about some other girl in our English class who cussed out her boyfriend in the middle of class, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I quickly turn around to see Derek Montgomery standing behind me with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey." Derek smiled, showing off his dimples. I heard Emma and Ryan get quiet as they noticed Derek's presence.

"Hi," I replied, kind of taken by surprised. After I responded, Derek gave a nod to Emma, Emily, and Ryan before making his way back to his table. I was kind of expecting Derek to say something else to me, but a "hey" was just enough to make Emma and Emily look at me with their mouths wide open.

"It's only your second day here and you're already close to Derek Montgomery?" Emily asked, gently nudging my shoulder.

"We're not close," I replied. "We just have Physics together. Plus, I work at the daycare his daughter goes to."

Ryan, Emily, and Emma all exchanged glances. "Oh," Ryan said, "so, you know about him being a baby daddy?"

I giggled and nodded. "Yeah, Mia is actually very sweet."

"I can't believe it," Emily said, shocked, "It would take the average Clearview student approximately a year to go as far as you have with Derek. And you've only known him for a day and a half."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Think about it," Emma cut in, "You had him practically gawking at you during lunch yesterday, you have a class together, you met his daughter, and you have him coming to you to say hi during lunch. Evangeline, my friend, it's pretty obvious he digs you."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed at Emma and Emily's "observation". "You guys are ridiculous. It's like you said, I've only known him for a day and a half." I turned to Ryan who, again, seems to have a sudden fascination with his lunch. "Ryan," I said, wanting a guy's point of view to help end this discussion, "do you think that, based on their observations, Derek is into me?"

Ryan was quiet for a couple seconds, as if he was thinking hard about this. "Well, considering the fact that he's been glancing over here at you about twelve times the past two minutes, he probably wouldn't mind getting your number or something."

Confused, I turned around at Derek's table to see if he was looking at me, but he was laughing and goofing off with the other guys at his table, completely oblivious to my table's conversation.

"Once again," I said as I turned back around, "you guys are ridiculous. Derek is not into me. Besides, he could have any other girl at this school. Can we please talk about something else?"

- - - - -

Right after the bell rang, indicating that class had begun, Mr. O' Connor (my Physics teacher) ordered that everyone choose a partner for a certain packet he was handing out to us. I was about to ask Derek to be my partner, but I was suddenly interrupted by someone else.

"Evangeline," Derek's flirty friend Chris called out. Derek and I looked at Chris, who was sitting on the opposite side of Derek. "Do you want to be partners?" Chris asked hopefully and cheerfully.

"Um, sure," I replied, a little hesitant. I quickly looked at Derek, who just gave me a smile and stood up from his chair so that Chris can sit next to me. As Chris was getting himself settled, I saw Derek make his way over to a girl sitting in the front row, waving at him to come over.

"So," Chris said to me, smiling widely. "I hope you're really good at this stuff because when it comes to Physics I'm completely hopeless."

I smiled back at him. "Don't worry, I'll help you out," I replied. And I did, which wasn't so bad.

Chris and I ended up being one of the first to finish the packet, so we had a little extra time to talk near the end of class. He asked me some questions about Chicago and growing up there, so that's what our little conversation mainly consisted of.

About two minutes before the bell rang, I noticed Derek make his way over to us to gather all of his stuff. While Chris and I were doing the same, I heard Chris say my name in a gentle and quiet voice.

"Yeah?" I asked, sliding my bag over my shoulder.

"Do you want to maybe go out with me this weekend. Maybe see a movie or go to dinner or something?"

I was absolutely speechless for a few seconds since his question kind of caught me off-guard. I saw how Derek froze and shyly looked in our direction. Of course, Chris was a sweet guy and far from unattractive, but I just wasn't ready. Not yet. I've never rejected a guy before (that's because there's only been one guy that's ever asked me out and I definitely didn't reject him) so I didn't know exactly how to "kindly" say no to Chris.

"Wow, Chris, that's very sweet. You're very sweet." I paused. I figured I would be honest with him. "I'm sorry but, no. You see I just got out of this very very complicated relationship and I don't think I'm ready to date yet."

Chris looked a little disappointed, but not as disappointed as I would have figured. It seemed like he either hardly cared about me saying no or he was used to it. I am so clueless when it comes to guys.

"Okay, I understand," Chris said gently and gave me a small smile. Right after he said that, the bell rang and Chris left, leaving me and Derek alone.

I noticed Derek giving me a look and I sighed. "Don't say anything," I warned, getting up from my seat.

"I wasn't," Derek said, smirking.

"I'm sorry, I know he's your friend."

"You don't have to be sorry. He'll get over it." There was something in Derek's facial expression and tone of voice that looked a little relieved.

"You don't seem to be too sympathetic for your friend," I said as we were walking out of the classroom.

Derek shrugged and looked down at the ground while we were walking toward the parking lot. "I guess I'm just used to it, that's all. To be completely honest, he does this a lot. He'll ask a girl out and if she says no, he'll be moving onto another girl a couple hours later. And even if she says yes, it doesn't last too long before he breaks it off with her and goes for someone else. Believe me, I've known Chris for a long time and I've seen this happen about a billion times."

"Oh," I said, my eyebrows raised.

Derek looked at me and started walking more slowly. "I don't mean to offend you or anything, it's just how Chris is," Derek said, a little frantically.

I smiled and shook my head. "I'm not offended, don't worry."

Derek smiled back and nodded. "Besides," he said, not looking at me, "I don't really think Chris is the right guy for you, anyway."

I give him a look, one eyebrow raised. "Oh? And how do you know who's the right guy for me and who's not?" I was half-joking and half-serious. I mean, Derek and I have only known each other for two days and know he's commenting about who's not the right guy for me.

"Well, I, uh, I don't," he stammered. He looked at his watch and looked out at the parking lot. "I better go. I have to go pick up Mia. I'll see you tomorrow?"

I nodded, a little confused about his sudden behavior. "Yeah, sure. I'll see you tomorrow."

Derek smiled at me again before quickly walking toward his car, leaving me alone in front of the school. As I made my way toward my car, I began to think about my, Emily's, Emma's, and Ryan's conversation at lunch and how they mentioned that there's a possibility that Derek liked me.

There's a part of me that considers looking more into the idea and then there's another part of me that thinks it's just ridiculous.

I mean, the hot and popular guy falling for the new girl he just met? The idea's a little too predictable, don't you think?