Page 5 of Until the Ribbon Breaks

He’s a jock, but mostly, he’s just an ass.

“Thanks, dude,” his buddy across the way says, already ripping into the bag of candy.

“Why don’t you watch where you’re throwing things?” I mumbled beneath my breath, but it’s loud enough for him to hear.

He slings his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders and throws me a cocky smirk. “Why don’t you stop being a freak?”

A few kids laugh at his lame insult.

“Gross,” Kassi, his girlfriend, says. “Why are you even talking to her?”

My eyes flit from her over to Emily, who’s sitting next to them. She looks up at me but doesn’t speak. Not that I expect her to. She’s barely said two words to me since middle school.

“Mooo-ve, Cricket,” Sebastian taunts loudly, mocking the sound of a cow.

Shaking my head, I walk away and take a seat a few spots down from a lanky kid who’s sipping his milk and reading an old copy ofThe Chrysalids.

A loud eruption catches my attention, and when I look over my shoulder, Sebastian is high-fiving Brent, his lacrosse teammate. Emily and Kassi smile at whatever has them amped up. I turn back and shove a chip into my mouth, dreading having to be around them tonight at the game I’m in charge of photographing. If it weren’t for being on the newspaper staff, there’s no way I would subject myself to high-school events. For the most part, I go unnoticed—a wallflower, if you will.

Lanky boy looks up from his book, and we awkwardly catch eyes.

“Are you new here?” he asks, leaving me to assume he’s the new one since I’ve lived here my whole life and everyone should, at the very least, knowofme. Plus, I’ve never seen him before.

“No.” I crunch down on another chip. “You?”

He nods. “My family just moved here from Kansas.”

“What’s in Kansas?”

“Absolutely nothing,” he says with a hint of laughter.

I smile, appreciating the small interaction.

“Why aren’t you sitting with your friends?”

“Because everyone here sucks,” I respond with a hint of laughter.

“So, you’re saying I shouldn’t waste my time?”

Another loud uproar sounds from behind me. This time, it’s a bunch of guys cheering on Brent as he attempts to shove an entire slice of pizza into his mouth. The crust is bulging out from between his over-stretched lips when he pumps his fists in victory.

Turning to the new kid, I shrug. “Case and point right there.”

He closes his book and scoots down a couple of chairs to sit right in front of me before extending a hand. “I’m Noah.”

His formality amuses me, but I shake it anyway. “I’m Harlow.”

“Nice to meet you.” He shoves his book into his bag. “What do you do for fun around here since you detest everyone?”

“You make it sound like I’m nothing but a hater.”

He smiles. “Aren’t you?”

I quirk a brow before responding to his question. “Sometimes I like to drive to Seattle. This town has a way of feeling small when you’ve lived here your whole life.”

“What do you do in Seattle?”

“Nothing really. It’s just nice to be surrounded by fresh faces. But there is this local book and record store called Spines that hosts small concerts and stuff. It’s pretty cool.”

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