Page 16 of The Other Half

“Dude? Hello?” Rodney says, interrupting my daydream about wrapping her legs around my waist.

“Huh?”

“What are you staring at?” He follows my line of sight to where I was looking before. “That chick? Who is she?”

“Uh, she’s just a friend of mine.” I shrug and pick at my lunch tray.

“She’s cute. Not really your type, though.” He laughs. “She looks like a debutante or some shit.”

“Yeah, dumbass, that’s why I said she was my friend. Nothing else.” I roll my eyes, hoping he’ll drop the subject.

“Well I’m your friend and you never stare at me and drool. I’m a little offended.”

I snort, he’s stupid but he is funny. “Shut up.”

“Really though, why don’t you go get her number? You’ve been staring at her for like half an hour.”

“I have it already.”

“Ahhh, okay I get it, you’re fucking her. Good job, man.” He holds his hand up for a high-five.

My face darkens. “No I’m not, shut the hell up.” I don’t know why it bothers me. If it was any other girl I wouldn’t give a shit about him saying that.

The bell rings and I watch as she quickly stands up and throws away the remainder of her lunch. I’m trying so hard to ignore this pull towards her, but it seems like every day it gets more difficult.

I follow her out of the cafeteria to the hall, and pick up my pace slightly so that I can catch up to her. She walks so fast, like she’s always nervous about being late or something.

“Hey,” I call out once I’ve almost caught up to her.

She turns around to face me, with a startled expression. “Oh, hey.” Her lips curl up into a small smile.

“You wanna hang out tonight?” I ask hopefully.

Her smile grows even bigger, exposing her perfectly straight teeth. “Of course,” she says.

“Cool.” I smile back. “Can I walk you to class?” Walk her to class? What is this, Oliver, 1950? I’m embarrassing myself and I know it. I don’t know what this girl is doing to me, but I don’t feel like myself. Or maybe I feel more like myself than ever, who knows?

She raises her eyebrows and giggles. “Sure?”

“What class do you have next?”

“Um, remedial math. With Mr. Larson.” She says quietly, I can tell she’s embarrassed by it. She shouldn’t be. My brother was in some remedial classes, too, and he’s not stupid at all, he just had trouble with certain subjects. “What about you?”

“Calculus,” I reply.

“Wow, so you’re smart.” She laughs nervously.

Ouch, hopefully that didn’t make her feel even worse. “Yeah, when it comes to some things.” It’s kind of a lie, though, I’ve pretty much made straight A’s since I was in kindergarten. School has just always been easy for me, I can’t explain why.

When we get to her classroom I wave goodbye to her and head to my class. I try to focus on the lesson but that’s proving to be impossible. All I can think about is how perfect her ass looked in that dress.

I don’t know what to think about the feelings I have for her now. Ever since the night at her house I haven’t been able to get my mind off of her. She’s the exact opposite of what I would typically look for in a girl, and yet she’s everything I never knew I wanted. She’s smart, kind, down to earth. Extremely beautiful.

I’ve never had feelings like this before. I’ve been attracted to girls, of course, but the romantic side of it has never been there until now. When I’m with Oakley I don’t want to just fuck her and then call it quits, which is what every relationship I’ve had up until now was like. I think about holding her hand and threading my fingers through her golden strands, cuddling with her in my bed and kissing her softly.

I also can’t let go of my worries about what her parents will think of me. I think it’s safe to assume they wouldn’t approve of someone like me. Does that matter? It doesn’t seem like she cares a whole lot about what her folks think, but I also doubt she’d want to date someone they don’t approve of.

I can only imagine what they’d think if they ever met me. Her mom would probably clutch her pearls while her dad chased me off with a baseball bat. I should let that thought deter me from letting this go any further, but I have a feeling it won’t.

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