Page 4 of Our Final Encore

I’ve been on the receiving end of their bullying enough times to know how awful it feels. Alex keeps staring off into the distance, ignoring them completely, but I can see the annoyance simmering in his expression. He’s obviously a lot less bothered than I would be, though.

Why would they even say that to him? He just keeps to himself from what I can tell.

Before I can stop myself, I say, “Hey Mark, why don’t you shut up?”

“Huh? What was that, snaggletooth?” Mark says, glaring at me with the type of mischievous smirk that can only belong to an obnoxious middle school boy.

My heart sinks into my stomach and I feel a blush crawl up my neck. It’s true, I wasn’t born with perfectly straight teeth, and unfortunately having a single mom means braces aren’t in the budget. Of course, he manages to prey on my single biggest insecurity.

“You’re so insecure that you have to pick on strangers for fun? What a boring life.” I roll my eyes, hoping he won’t notice that his insult had any effect on me. I wish Maisie was here, she’s a lot tougher than me, and she always knows what to say.

“Well at least we’re not ugly like you,” Westley says.

I ignore him and go back to eating my lunch. Why did I involve myself in that situation? It was none of my business anyway.Stupid, Opal, stupid.

“You’re probably just mad that she’d never be interested in you.”

I flick my eyes up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Alex is staring at Westley from the corner of his eye, his lips in a flat line.

Did he just defend me?Wait.Did he just…compliment me? My heart suddenly hammers against my ribs, and I know I must be blushing even more now than I was before.

It’s no secret that Alex Anderson is one of the cutest guys at our school. All the girls are already obsessed, all week I’ve heard them whispering and giggling about him. I kind of guessed that would be the case from the first moment I saw him, guys like him are pretty rare around here. These two are probably jealous of all the attention he’s getting.

“Well of courseyoulike her, she looks like a man.” The two boys burst into laughter again, high-fiving each other like that was the joke of the century.

“Dude, why don’t you shut up before I kick your ass,” Alex says. He says it so matter-of-factly, his face looks almost bored.

My eyes fly open wide in disbelief as I take in the scene before me, and the laughter suddenly stops. I glance back over at Westley and Mark, who are both silent and slack-jawed.

When my gaze shifts back to Alex, our eyes connect and he gives me a soft smile that forms a little dimple in his cheek. I hadn’t noticed until now just how handsome he is. His hair is light brown, with tiny streaks of blonde peeking through, and he has green eyes the color of seafoam. Freckles are sprinkled all over his lightly tanned skin. He looks like he’d fit in better in a place like southern California than the plains of Texas.

Seconds later the bell rings indicating that lunch has ended, thank god. The two boys scurry away without another word.

“Thanks for taking up for me. I was starting to think there weren’t any cool people in this town.” His smooth voice surprises me again as I throw away my trash.

I turn around to look at him, and again I’m stunned by his good looks. Is this a dream? It has to be, this is too bizarre, stuff like this does not happen to me in real life.

I shrug, trying my best to act normal. “There are a few cool people, but a lot of jerks, too. Obviously.”

He chuckles and shoves his hands in his jean pockets. “I’m Alex. I think you live in my neighborhood.”

So he does remember me?Embarrassing.“I’m Opal, and yeah, I do.” We start walking out of the cafeteria and down the hall towards our next class. I try to keep my racing heart in check as we walk side by side. He’s so nonchalant, clearly unfazed by the whole event that just took place, meanwhile I’m internally freaking out.

“Maybe we could be friends, Opal. I mean since we’re two of the only cool people here, we might as well be.” He smiles, revealing a set of perfectly straight, white teeth and that same adorable dimple.Holy crap.I can’t believe he’s still talking to me.

“Sure,” I nod. I’m embarrassed by my lame response, but it’s all I can manage to get out. I swear my heart is beating so fast that I might be having a heart attack.

“Cool.” He smirks and nods at me before turning towards his locker and opening it. I stand there a beat too long, still admiring his perfect golden locks. He grabs his book and shuts the locker. “See you in class,” he says before winking, and nearly sending me to an early grave.

FOUR

Alex

I’ve officially decided that I hate this place.

At my old school people were cool. Sure, there were always those douchebags that picked on the weird kids, but everyone left me alone. Someone has already started a rumor that I kissed a boy in the bathroom. It isn’t true, I’ve hardly spoken to anyone here, let alone kissed them.

I drag a hand through my long hair, tugging on the ends.Should I cut it?Maybe it’s making me a target. I never thought people would really be that ignorant, but apparently I was wrong.

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