Wishes on Birthday Cake Candles

At lunch, I felt sick to my stomach. Brendon had ignored me the rest of the day. When I tried to talk to him, he dashed away as if I had the plague. I was literally counting down the minutes until I got to go home.

Lexi sat across from me at lunch, munching happily on her turkey and mayo sandwich. She stared out of the window with glossy eyes. I didn't talk to her. I could tell she was off in a much happier world, rather than reality. Too bad my imagination was horrible. I wished I could leave reality and slip into some crazy world of my own.

A short girl hurried and sat down at our table, her charm bracelets clicking against the hard, white table. Lexi smiled and waved at her. The girl waved back, panting as she brushed back her short red hair.

"Oh, Josie this is my sister, Clarice," Lexi said.

"Oh, hi," I said, turning to the girl.

The girl smiled at me, but it was fairly sad. I frowned. What had I done? Lexi automatically grabbed my hand and shook her head, smiling.

"Don't worry, you did nothing wrong. It's just that Clair doesn't speak," Lexi said.

"How come?" I asked.

Lexi bit her lip. "Umm, rough past."

Clarice shrugged and took a bite of Lexi's sandwich, her green eyes glittering in the light from the window. Faint freckles dotted her rosy cheeks and scattered across her nose. Her eyes were big and covered in thick, black lashes. I smiled at her. She reminded me a lot of a little kid.

"So, I saw Brendon storm off," Lexi said slowly. "Did you like, try to shove him into a locker or something?"

"No," I chuckled. "I don't think he likes me very much."

"Don't worry. He just has a problem with people," Lexi answered, rolling her eyes.

Clair nodded and drank out of Lexi's water bottle. Lexi pulled the hot pink bottle away from her sister to take a quick sip. I laughed. I had always wanted a sibling, but Mom said she wouldn't be able to take care of two kids. I understood why.

"I think he actually used to be friends with Ian," Lexi said.

I nodded. "Ian told me."

"Maybe ask him more about it if you really want to know," Lexi suggested. She rose her eyebrows. "Or, you could just ask him yourself."

"Yeah right!" I exclaimed, laughing.

Lexi shrugged and tossed her empty lunch bag into the trash can. "Just a thought."

The lunch bell rang throughout the cafeteria. Students rose from their seats quickly, saying their goodbyes to their lunch buddies. Lexi didn't have anymore classes with me, so she waved goodbye, gripping her sister's hand as they headed off to their own classes.

As I sat through sixth period, I began to think about what Lexi had said. Maybe she was right, maybe I should have just asked him myself. But I ended up shaking my head, thinking the thought was crazy. I had just met him one day ago. I didn't need to barge into his life.

When seventh period came, I headed off to piano lessons. I wasn't very eager, about it, though. But think about it; if you lacked skills in playing any instrument, you wouldn't be too happy to go to that class, would you?

But, as I made my way to class, I noticed something odd. A figure rushed down a hall nearby, trying to walk as fast as possible. I looked around and followed them. When I got closer, I saw it was Brendon. He looked around nervously and then quickly walked into a room. I walked over to the door. With a quick peek inside the door's window, I gasped. It was violin lessons.

Brendon got out a shining, reddish-brown violin from a case. He stroked it lovingly, a smile placed on his face. His hazel eyes scanned over the instrument. I frowned. Brendon hadn't told me what he had for seventh period. He wouldn't tell me one little thing. The sad thing was, he shouldn't have been embarrassed to tell me.

He played the violin. That was probably the coolest thing I had seen a guy do.

I backed away from the door, realizing I had to get to class. I ran down the hall and over to my classroom, panting. My teacher turned to me, her blue eyes wide.

"Is there a problem, Josie?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, not at all."

"Well, take a seat please," she said, waving her hand at the empty piano.

I quickly rushed over to it and set my books on the ground. Today was my first day to play the piano, so I was a little more than terrified. Luckily, Mrs. Dent had said a student would help me out the first few weeks.

A girl with short brown hair sat down next to me, smiling shyly. She pushed her wide-framed glasses up the bridge of her nose and set out some sheet music. For that class, she went over the basic keys. I was getting the hang of it, but I felt odd at a piano. I felt as if I were being judged by a thousand criticizing eyes.

When the bell rang, I jumped up from my seat. The girl blinked and gave me another tiny smile. She extended her hand to me.

"I'm Sarah," she said.

"Josie," I replied, shaking her hand.

Sarah grinned at me and waved goodbye. I waved bye back as quickly as I could and dashed out of the door. People yelled at me as I ran, but I didn't really care. I just wanted to get to my Dad's car as fast as I could.

When I noticed it in the parking lot, I ran faster than I had been. Bob's eyes were wide as I got in. I gave him a tiny smile.

"I was just glad to get away," I chuckled.

"I guess so," Dad answered, laughing softly.

As we drove away, Bob cleared his throat. "How was school?"

I shrugged. "School."

Bob rolled his eyes and grinned. I smiled back and turned on the radio. As we drove away, Bob's phone rang. He slowly pulled it out from his pocket and answered it. When he heard the person speak, his eyes opened a bit wider. I stared at him in confusion. Bob sighed and laughed.

"Hey Jose?"

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Do you mind coming with me to go get some coffee with Mikey?" he asked.

I laughed. "No, I'll come."

Bob nodded. "She's come. Yeah, she likes coffee. If she doesn't, she isn't human."

I chuckled to myself and looked out of my window.

"Fine, I'll pay!" Bob yelled.