Breathing Under Water

"So, what's up with this girl?" Clark asked as we walked to the cafeteria.

"I think she tolerates me." I said grabbing an orange juice. I also got a burger, fries, and a fruit cup. The fruit cup was for Lilly and I knew that she'd probably steal a few of my fries.

We had eaten lunch together several times. I always offered her something. One day it might be trail mix and the next it might be chips. After a about a week, she started embraced my open concept of food.

One day she ate most of my coconut almonds as she concentrated on organizing her notes. We were both trying to cram for an upcoming test. I don't think Lilly noticed until the bag was empty and tried to apologize.

"Lilly, it's fine. Eat whatever and whenever. I really don't care. You don't have to worry about me judging you, because I don't. "

She shrugged, but I felt like I'd made progress. She offered me some of her lunch the next day. I ate part of a really awful tuna salad with a grin on my face.

"Well, good luck with that. You going to Prom with her?" Clark asked.
"I think we're still working on being friends right now. It's weird, but I don't know. I guess we'll see," I replied.

Clark shook his head and said, "She's not easy like I thought. You're wasting your time. Lucy was asking questions about you the other day and I'm just saying that if I were you..."

"Lucy?"

"Yeah. The Hispanic one with roses and shit on her sweater. Sitting over by there by - hey isn't that your little red head? "

Lilly was standing by the table I usually shared with Clark. She was fanning herself with her big sun hat. The skin on her face and shoulders looked flushed.

I then registered that I was actually looking at her shoulders. She'd taken her sweater off and just had a cami on underneath. It was more of her body than I'd ever seen before.

I tried not to stare as we got closer to her. I focused on the downward curve of her mouth and the dent between her eyebrows. Something was wrong.

"It's hot. Like I'm melting into a small puddle of sweat hot," Lilly groaned.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but this isn't sweater weather,"Clark said motioning at the garment hanging on her arm. It was fuzzy and sea foam green. Not the kind of fabric that breathed.

"It was chilly this morning,"Lilly replied evenly.

Clark shrugged and said, "Well it's obviously disgusting outside now. So let's all grab a seat and get to know each other. Shall we?"

There was a bead of sweat. It started by her ear and rolled a little down her neck. Then it redirected at her collarbone and eventually met the slight curve of her breast.

It was more entertaining than the most intense football game I'd ever watched. I was staring like my life depended on it. Lilly didn't seem to notice. She was talking with Clark. Well maybe arguing was more the word.

"You have got to be kidding. Sansa is the worst Game of Thrones character. She's just this helpless, weak willed,idiot."

"She's hot though. I love a sexy redhead."

"You probably only watch the show for the boobs, "Lilly said. She ignored the redhead comment and Clark's wink.

I jabbed at Clark with my elbow. He laughed and asked me,"Didn't know I spoke nerd did you?"

"When you say nerd, do you mean an intelligent person with various interests,"Lilly shot back.

"Oh gorgeous, don't worry I like my beauty to have brains."

"You are quite possibly the devil. I expected him to be a bit better looking."

"Clark,"I cautioned. I really didn't want to genuinely upset Lilly. I also didn't want to give her the impression that my friends were all lecherous douche bags.

"She's saucy. I approve, Sean. Her eyes get all sparkly and pretty when she's mad."

Obviously Clark didn't take the hint. He could be kind of an ass like that. I quickly ate the rest of my burger and my last few fries.

Lilly hadn't touched them or the fruit cup sitting on the corner of my tray.I knew she was uncomfortable. Maybe it was a good thing that Clark was being so annoying. Hopefully it was distracting her from feeling anxious. Instead she was probably just really irritated.

I waited until Clark left to find out how irritated. I hadn't know her long enough to really understand very many of her facial expressions. I'd be interested to learn them though.

"So on a scale of one to never again how terrible was it to sit with us today?" I asked.

She shook her head and shrugged. There was a funny little smile on her lips. She looked at me and said,"You must have a freak magnet strapped to your back or something."

"I know. So, what's a girl like you still hanging around for?"

I had the satisfaction of seeing Lilly blush. She looked surprised and responded, " I thought Clark was the one with all the bad lines."