Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (6 page)

Th
e twenty minutes of homeroom dra
g
ged
by in slow motion
.
I attempted to ignore Cami and Alex all through the Pledge of All
eg
iance and the morning announcements, but they were not making it easy
.
They whispered back and forth
,
snickering and giggling
.
By
the
time the bell rang, I was so over the display that I bolted for the door
.
I didn’t even stop at my locker;
j
ust marched right off to science
.

In my aggravation I stomped
down the hallway in
a
huff
, l
anding me outside the anatomy and physiology room in record time
.
I thought I was the first one there, until I went to set my bag down and glanced towards the left side of the room
.
Gabriel was already there, sitting quietly
and
reading, presumably the same book I saw him reading in lunch
.
I tried to sneak a pee
k at the cover, but he had the book angled in such a way that I couldn’t see
.
He must have felt my eyes on him, because he chose that moment to look up and my way
.
It was the lunchroom all over again, and I immediately felt the heat rush up my cheeks
.
I abruptly sat down in my seat and busied myself
,
looking for a pen in my bag and getting out my notes and book
.
I
thought by
the
time I was done he would be back
to
reading his book, but as I ventured a peak in his direct
ion I realized he was still sta
ring at me
.
I instantly felt my skin crawl with imaginary bugs and my cheeks redden
.

I continued to look down towards my notes
.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare
.
I was just curious what you were reading.
”

He cleared his throat and replied, “All you had to do was ask and I would have been more than happy to answer your question.
”

It quickly dawned on me that this was the first time I had ever heard him speak
.
His voice was a deep bass rumble, but it also had a musical quality to it
.
It was the kind of voice that you expected to hear on an audio book recording
.
For a split second I thought he had a slight British accent, but then I grasp
ed
that it was his inflection or pronunciation
.
He pronounced the words with such enunciation that he sounded like the national newscasters that had worked hard to hide their local accents
.
With a start I realized that I had spent so much time analyzing his voice that he was still staring at m
e waiting
for a response
.
For the third time in the last two minutes, I felt myself blush
.
I started to ask what he was reading, but before I could get the question out
two football players with interchangeable cheerleaders on their arms walked in loudly braying with laughter
.
Gabriel quickly snapped around in his seat and buried his face back into his book.

“
Way to look like a freak, again,
” I quietly chastised myself
.
It was times like this that I wished my invisibility i
n my social
life
was
actually
the
power to disappear
.

Science continued on as usual
.
Mr.
Edder
assigned a ridiculous amount of homework for over the weekend
.
The back of the
classroom nearly revolted since tonight was the first football game of the season
.
Lucky for me
,
my weekend was wide open for
homework;
even more so since Cami had ditched me
.
When the bell rang I hurried along to math without risking a glance back at Gabriel.

Cami graced me with her attention in math class, and I greedily accepted it like a pathetic fool
.
I may not be happy about her newfound commitment to the student council, but I really did miss her
.
Of course the majority of her attention towards me was in the form of questions about what we
were
learning in calculus, and I attempted to prove my usefulness in that area although I was just as lost
.
When the bell rang I reached down to grab my bag, and turned to ask her if she would walk with me to pottery, but by the time I got my things together she was already in the hall walking to her next class with you-know-who
.
I audibly groaned and marched off to
pottery.

I had to admit, I enjoyed pottery
.
There was something very relaxing about the potting wheel, and the feel of smooth, wet clay running through my fingers
.
Granted
,
my
pot looked like a lopsided mess
next to the beautifully done symmetrical works of my classmates
.
Apparently waiting till senior year to explore my artistic side, was something only I did
.
Everyone else had clearly been doing this for years
.

At the end of class
I washed my hands and gathered my things, and began to mentally prepare myself for another un
eventful lunch of eating alone
.
I
didn’t even glance around when I entered the lunchroom today
.
I walked straig
ht into line and forced myself not to scan the room
.
It was bad enough if Cami had ditched me two days in a row, but I refused to look pathetic by searching the room
desperately for her
.
When I finally reached the front of the line I realized I wasn’t hungry, so I grabbed
a
chocolate
milk and rummage
d
for fifty cents in my bag
.

I dejectedly shuffled over to the table that Cami and I had sat at together on Monday, and was not surprised wh
en I was met with an empty spot where my best friend should have been
.
I plo
pped down and opened my milk,
while gathering
the courage to glance
around the room
.
I spotted the football team sitting at the far side of the room at one of the large tables with their interchangeable cheerleaders
who were
sipping spring water and nibbling carrot sticks
.
I spotted the
emo
kids on the opposite side of the room, dressed in their ridiculously tight pants and shaggy haircuts
.
Scattered throughout the lunchroom were various groups of kids
.
Some of the more distinct groups stood out, but for the most part everyone looked generic and happily occupied with their conversations
.
At least if I had to sit alone, it looked like no one noticed.

I shifted my gaze to the front of the lunchroom and
spotted Cami and Alex at
a table filled with other students
.
Alex seemed to be capturing the entire table
’
s attention with animated g
estures
as he spoke
.
I couldn’t hear what he was saying from here, but I could see Cami’s expression
.
She was gazing up into his face with a look of total infatuation
.
She, along with most of the table, was hanging on his every word
.
“No one’s that int
eresting,
” I grumbled.

“Sorry, what was that?”

I jumped in my seat and let out a
terribly girly
s
queaking noise before I could stop myself
.
I glanced up to see who had over heard my hateful comment and was left staring into Gabriel’s icy eye
s
;
my brain
refused to function while I just stared
.
His black curly mop of hair fell in disarray, just long enough to fall w
ildly but not so long as to hide his
eyes
.
I studied his face, realizing that this was the first really good loo
k I had of him
.
He was pale, but not sickly looking
.
He reminded me of marble,
strong but beautiful at the same time
.
He
had a
well-built
face, high chee
kbones
and a well-defined chin
.
His face wasn’t obscured by that layer of ba
by fat that some of the other
boys had even though they were seniors
.
He had a good face, a man’s face
.
Every other guy in the room suddenly looked like a boy compared to t
he man standing in front of me. A
nd those eyes
; i
t was like staring into the clearest, coldest water, and I wanted to let myself drown.

I fin
ally tore my gaze away and star
ed down at my milk container
.
No
t
looking at him helped, and my brain kicked back into gear
.
“
Ohh
, s
orry
.
I didn’t know you were there
.
I was talking to myself.
”

As soon as I said it
I regretted it
.
I was sure he already thought I was weird, now he could think I was certifiable
,
too
.
Admitting you were talking to yourself as you sat alone at lunch was not a good way to make new friends
.
He didn’t seem to notice my awkwardness though
.
He stood in front of me with perfect posture, and a tray containing an apple, a carton of white milk, and a sandwich of some kind
.

“May I sit down?” h
e asked with a slight bow in my direction
.
The mannerism was strangely formal
.

“
Ahh
, yeah
…
I guess.
”
Articulate and smooth
,
that’s me
.
No wonder Cami ditched me in her pursuit of prom dates and popularity; I was a lead weight
.

“I saw you sitting alone, and I t
hought you may like the company,
” Gabriel explained
.

Pity,
great
…
“Don’t you usually sit over there?
”
I questioned as I pointed behind me
.

“If my presence is
not wanted, I will gladly return to my own table.
”
He had yet to sit down and appeared to
be
waiting for my answer
.
Wow, I was really messing this up bad.

“No
… u
mm
…
t
hat’s not what I meant
.
Please
,
sit down
.
I
…
I was just wondering why you chose to come over here?
”
I stammered.

“I simply observed your absence of company and I thou
ght perhaps you would like some,
”
h
e replied.

Gee, and I thought no one had noticed my social quarantine
.
Apparently no matter how wrapped up people are in their own lives they can always take time out to notice the weirdo sitting
alone
.
I so love high school
.
“Yeah, my best friend ditched me for some guy
.
I don’t know what
ha
s gotten into her lately
.
That’s like number one of the friend list
.
You don’t
ditch your friends for a guy.
”
Wow, over share much
?
What was the matter with me
?