Painfully Ordinary Special Edition Read Online Free Page B

matter the situation. He was also a perfect complement
for Leah. They appeared to have some chemistry between them, and I was incredibly
happy for her.
    I stole a
quick look at Talon. I had different feelings about him altogether and was not perfectly at ease with him at all.
Instead, I was self-conscious and aware of every move he made. When he was nearby,
it was easy for me to lose track of the fact that there were other people watching.
I could get completely lost in his eyes if I let myself.
    Suddenly the
bell rang, and I realized I just had. Was it always going to be like this when
these two are around?
    We picked up
our backpacks and headed back down the hall through the commons into the
cafeteria.
    It was a madhouse, but what else was new?
    We grabbed a
table and sat down. Leah and Jace raced to stand in line, while we saved seats.
Talon sat across the table gazing at me again and it made me nervous. Did I
have something on my face?
    Tami and the
Alley Cats flounced by. She flashed Talon a smile, and shot me a dirty look as
soon as she passed from his line of sight. A self-satisfied expression spread
across her face, and she lifted her hand to wave at someone near the door of
the café.
    I glanced back,
saw Ryan smiling at her and immediately stiffened. This
did not bode well for me at all. My hands shook in anticipation. I just knew they were going to do something to me, but what?
    Unfortunately,
Talon noticed everything. He studied my hands and I quickly pulled them off the
table, attempting to hide them in my lap. Searching for what had upset me, he made
eye contact with Ryan, whose smile quickly died. Ryan joined the Alley Cats at
their table. He and Tami had never really talked to each other before, that I
knew of, but I guess they were brought together by a
common goal—getting Talon away from me.
    I let out an
enormous sigh. Talon reached across the table to tuck a piece of hair behind my
ear. My eyes widened at the tender gesture.
    Why was he
being so nice, and why did he pick me over so many others? There really wasn’t anything special about me.
    Jace and
Leah sat down with our trays. Leah handed me a bag of Goldfish crackers and a Dr.
Pepper . She knew me so well. I have a hard time eating when I’m nervous. Jace
had two hamburgers on his tray, but only handed Talon a bottle of orange juice.
Wasn’t Talon going to eat?
    I kept watching
Tami and Ryan out of the corner of my eye, nervously awaiting their next strike.
Leah grunted and nudged me in the ribs, which was her way of telling me to
knock it off.
    Was I crazy?
    There we
were, eating lunch with two of the nicest, best-looking guys I had ever met,
and I was stressing myself over two utter douche bags. Okay, that was dramatic,
but also completely accurate. My face heated and I knew I was being bad company.
I made a decision to change things then and there.
    I slapped my
palms down on the table. “Okay, so what’s it going to be for dinner next Saturday,
burgers, or Mexican food?”
    Leah put an
arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “There’s my Caiti.”
    The rest of
the day went pretty smoothly , with no additional confrontations.
By the time the final bell rang, I had genuinely relaxed. Maybe my luck was
finally turning around, but somehow I seriously doubted it.
     

Chapter 3
    Because A
Warrior Was There
     
     
    After school,
I went outside to meet Leah and catch our bus.
    “Hey there, pixie girls.”
    We both spun
around to find Jace leaning against a car. He did that a lot. However, if most of
the male population at Marcus High School looked that good while leaning on
things, they would all do it.
    “Why don’t
you let us give you a ride home? It’s good practice for Saturday.” Jace asked.
    “Sweet!”
cried Leah.
    She hated
the bus even more than I did, but until I got around to getting my license, it
was a necessary evil.
    “Okay, so
where are you parked?” I asked.
    Jace just
shook his head and threw an arm around each of us.