Summer of Love

I completely forgot how boring P.E was...I’m just glad it’s over.

I was in the change room as soon as the bell rang and dressed before everyone else and out the door in the speed of light. I hate gym and I don’t think that’s ever going to change. I stood just beyond the gym doors and took a deep breath before moving my way through the crowded hallways to find my friends in the cafeteria.

As soon as the door opened, the aroma of freshly made Cheese Buns filled my nostrils and I inhaled deeply, feeling my mouth beginning to water. I didn’t notice my friends were standing off to the side with identical grins, watching me.

“Oi, close your mouth, you moron. Your drooling again,” Sara said with a snort and I quickly snapped out of it and wiped my mouth before anyone else noticed.

I turned to smile at them and gestured to the long line to get our lunch. “Want to get in line? I’m starving!”

“No wonder you’re a freaking giant. All you do is eat.”

I turned with a glare to the owner of that annoying voice and saw Cian standing there with his hands in his pocket, his tie loose around his neck and girls ogling him from every corner of the cafeteria with hearts in their eyes. I shot a glare to the nearest fan group and watched them cringe and back away a few steps to watch from a distance.

Placing my hands on my hips, I turned back to face Cian head on and scowled. “So? If I didn’t like food, I’d be dead.”

He gave a snort and rolled his silver eyes. “The entire population would die, even with food because no one would want to reproduce with a huge Amazonian.”

I narrowed my eyes, feeling the growing itch to club him over the head or at least give him a black eye. Hannah decided to step in at this point with her hands out in a peaceful gesture, laughing nervously.

“Come on you two. Just for today, could you try to get along?” she asked quietly in that shy voice of hers, but shrunk back into Fox’s safe embrace when we both turned to glare at her.

“I’ll never get along with this idiot!”

“I’ll never get along with this beast!”

I grit my teeth and clenched my hands into fists, turning back to face him. I could feel my blood boiling and the steam coming from my ears. I stepped forward challengingly, not caring about the attention we had attracted.

“Your just as tall, dumbass!”

“Guys are supposed to be tall! You’re a freak of nature!”

I froze and my heart stopped. Usually his comments didn’t affect me, but that one pierced right through the barrier I had worked so hard to build. I knew I was a freak of nature. I was tall, taller than almost all the guys in my school, and especially taller than the girls. Every day I saw couples together, the girls nice and decently short while the guys were always taller. She would look up at him and he would smile down at her. I’ve never seen it the other way around.

I just stood there blinking in surprise while Sara jumped in and began tearing Cian a new asshole, shouting and screeching while the entire cafeteria watched on with amusement, shaking their heads. They were used to it after all, seeing as we were always like this and yet we were still always seen together in a group.

The embarrassment kicked in and I turned away from my friends so they couldn’t see my face, especially Cian. I knew what he would say, that he would just tease me even more. I was already conscious about my height, but now the entire population knew it. I had never been asked out by a guy, never been kissed...nothing. Guys weren’t interested in such a tall girl like me. They liked the short, cute ones. I was just...tall.

Shaking my head, I pushed my way through groups of students to the doors, ignoring the calls from my friends behind me and stepped into the hallway. I knew I was about to cry so I found the one place no one ever went. The Music Room. I slipped inside and closed the door behind me with a sigh and moved to sit on the bench in front of the grand piano. I stared down at the keys, not really seeing them and lowered my head onto them with a sigh.

I stared at the ground, feeling the tears burning my eyes but I kept them at bay. Crying about it wouldn’t change anything, I knew that. It would only make it worse for me to start bawling like a baby, so I kept myself in check and tried to force his words from my mind. He didn’t see me as a girl. He saw me as a girl wanting to be a guy, which was worse.

I closed my eyes in annoyance and glowered at nothing in particular. Stupid Cian; he had nothing to worry about being the hottest guy in school, wanted by all the girls and even the guys admired and looked up to him. All the girls wanted to be his girlfriend, always hovering around him and admiring his good looks and heart stopping smile. Have I ever had a guy look at me that way? Nope. I’m too tall and they find it weird to have to tilt their head back just to see my face. Do they look at everything else? Yep. My boobs are huge and really annoying and my legs are a mile long. Disgusting perverted little boys.

I sat up and looked out the window down below where students gathered around in the court yard to hang out with friends during lunch break. They laughed and talked animatedly while I hid in the music room like a loner. I rolled my eyes and moved away back to the piano and sat down. Lifting my hands, I traced the keys and began to play a lullaby she used to sing to me. She called it Lacie.

Playing always made me feel better, especially this song. My Mom used to hum it to me all the time when she was alive and it always cheer me up when I felt sad or lonely. I smiled to myself, knowing that as I played this song in the Music Room, she was right there sitting beside me with a smile.

I went through the rest of the day, dodging Sara’s worried questions of concern and completely ignoring Cian, though he kept stealing the odd glance my way. Hannah was kind enough to leave it alone and just offered me a reassuring smile. When the final bell rang, I tossed my books into my locker and stuffed my homework into my bag, slinging it over my shoulder when Sara sighed.

“I’m sorry if I’m annoying you with all the questions, but I’m just worried about you,” she said softly with a frown as I turned to regard her with surprise. “What he said was cruel and way beyond the line.”

I smiled, having pushed myself to the point of not caring anymore. It was a waste of time to worry about it.

“I’m fine, really. There’s no need to be worried about me,” I said with the dismissive wave of my hand and stepped out into the warm sun.

Sara followed in silence, but I could feel her eyes along with everyone else’s boring into the back of my head. Cian was with us as usual seeing as we lived close by to one another and walked with me home. Despite everything, I guess we were friends. His eyes too, stared at my back and sent an eerie chill up my spine.

“Seriously guys, stop staring,” I said and continued walking, glaring ahead of me with annoyance. I hated to be stared at. Instead, I felt the worry transform to a hostile atmosphere and knew they were glaring at Cian instead.

We came to the stop where we went our separate ways and Sara frowned.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” she asked with concern and I laughed.

“Yes, Sara. I’m fine, okay? Don’t worry about me, go have fun with Jack tonight,” I said, referring to the date they had set up for the night and she managed a smile.

“You’re a tough one, Misa,” she said with a smile and patted my arm before rushing back to her boyfriend and headed off together down the opposite street.

I bid Hannah and Fox farewell with a wave before turning to glare at Cian. With a sigh, I turned away and walked away leaving him to follow. The silence was awkward and unusual for bonehead, but I didn’t read much into it. I was giving him the cold shoulder and had no interest in talking to him whatsoever at the moment.

“Silent Treatment, eh? I never thought it was possible for you seeing as I can never otherwise get you to shut up,” he muttered with annoyance as he carried his bag over his shoulder, his free hand stuck in his pocket in a typical carefree pose.

I said nothing and simply continued to walk in silence as the traffic past during the evening rush. I couldn’t help but take notice when a cute couple walked past, looking at each other all lovey-dovey and of course, the girl was cute and petite while the guy was tall and handsome. I cursed under my breath and shook my head, growing agitated with the world and the people in it. What was so special about smaller girls? What was so wrong with me that I wasn’t attractive to the male species?

A group of young men from the neighbouring school walked by and paused to whistle. I felt a twitch and glared over my shoulder, watching them cringe except for one guy and I blinked in surprise. He stood as tall as Cian with layered blond hair that hung in a pair of gorgeous emerald green eyes. He had adapted the same pose as Cian with his bag hanging over his shoulder, hand in pocket but now he stared back at me with the same interest. Cian stood ahead watching through narrowed eyes, his face serious. I felt a blush creep up into my cheeks at the way this stranger was staring at me. By god, the man was a hunk.

I watched those intriguing vivid green eyes move slightly behind me and a smile crept onto his lips before returning to mine. That smile spread slowly and I felt my heart skip a beat in my chest, my limbs frozen in surprise. He turned away without saying a word and followed after his group of friends, leaving me rendered useless and still unable to move. Who was he and which school did he go to? Judging by the black fancy uniforms they wore, they went to the rich, wealthy Shakespeare Academy.

In the next instant, pain flashed through my head and I cringed. Straightening, I saw Cian standing there with an annoyed expression, his hand clenched in a fist and I growled.

“What the hell is your problem?” I shouted angrily, my head beginning to throb from all the hits I received today and he gave a snort.

“You were standing there, drooling after that rich snob in the middle of the sidewalk. I always could have left you standing there alone,” I said he with a raised eyebrow and I glared angrily. I was beginning to grow sick of his twisted sense of humour and his idiotic ways. His words came back to me and despite my best efforts, the tears were coming back. It just reminded me that I had no chance with any guy, especially the one I just encountered.

“Maybe you should have!” I cried with frustration, my eyes filling with tears and watched his face transform into that of surprise, his eyes wide.

Feeling embarrassed for showing my tears in front of him, I pushed past and ran the rest of the way home, not caring if I had left him behind. He was a big boy, he’d make it home without me. I raced into the house and slammed the door closed behind me, out of breath and took a moment to compose myself, not knowing my brother stood in the kitchen watching me carefully.

“Something happen at school today?” he asked and I lifted my head in surprise. Usually he wasn’t home before I was, but here he was looking at me with such an intense I felt like a science experiment.

I didn’t feel up to telling him about my problems, so I shook my head and removed my shoes before disappearing down the hall into my room. I flopped back on my bed with a heavy sigh and stared at the ceiling. I chewed on my lip until my cell began to ring and I rolled my eyes with a groan and dug through my purse to find it. I looked at the screen and saw that it was my boss. I flipped it open and inside there was a text asking me to come in for the night. I gave a sigh and replied back I would be there.

So much for my night off.