Notice Me (6 page)

"How about you go sit down at the table?
I'll go get us food." Tristan said pointing over to a table in the
far right corner. I could see Luke and Max already seated there
with a bunch of other guys. Tristan must have been able to sense my
hesitancy and uneasiness at going over to the table on my own. He
smirked at me and began walking over to their table.
"Guys..." Tristan addressed everyone at the table. "This is Lise,
she's sitting here with us."
"Hey." Chorused a bunch of male voices. Guess the girls aren't here
yet. I'm sure I wouldn't receive as warm a welcome from them.
"Lise, so glad you could join us." Luke smiled patting the empty
seat next to him, signaling for me to sit down. "Anya said to make
sure you call her after school."
"Hey." I responded with a small wave and slight smile as I sat down
next to Luke and across from Max. "Ok, I will. Thanks."
I grinned at the fact that Luke was starting to talk to my best
friend more then I was. Luke seems like a nice enough person and
besides, I've never seen Anya so happy. "Don't worry they won't
bite." Tristan reassured me, leaning down and whispering in my ear.
"Do you want anything special to eat?"
It took everything out of me to not shut my eyes and relish in the
smell of his wonderful cologne, but I didn't want to seem like some
sort of freak. "Anything's fine." I answered in a dismissive manner
as I stared straight ahead. My body was thrown into overdrive from
the warmness of his breath trickling down my neck. What is this guy
doing to me? I can't even form a full sentence, let alone figure
out what I want to eat for lunch.
"Be right back." Tristan promised as he straightened up and headed
to the line with Luke and Max. I sat there staring down at the
table, suddenly interested in the swirly patterns in the wood. For
some strange reason, it seemed as though all eyes were focused
curiously on me.
They were probably wondering whom the freak show was that managed
to snag Tristan's attention for the week. I've had numerous people
come up and ask me if I was a new transfer student. It’s getting
old, having to explain that I skipped a grade to each and every
person who approaches me.
Tristan kept his eyes trained on me the entire time he stood in
line with Luke and Max. I felt as though I was a child and he was
the parent watching over me to make sure I don't get lost. Just as
I counted my twenty-fifth swirl, I heard a chorus of giggles erupt
from the left of me. A group of the popular senior girls who
included cheerleaders, volleyball players, and the girl's soccer
team came through the door.
Jewel, the most popular girl in our school was in the center. I can
see why all the girls flock to her she's gorgeous. She's got long
chocolate brown hair straight down her back, bright blue eyes, and
the body of a Sports Illustrated model. She's also captain of the
volleyball team.
"So where have you been these past couple days skank?" A girl with
short black hair and brown eyes asked. "I was calling you to see if
you wanted to go shopping, but you've totally been MIA."
I know I shouldn't have been eavesdropping, but I really couldn't
help myself. They were talking so loud as they made their way over
towards the table I was sitting at. "I was a little busy." She
answered with a suggestive smirk. "Spent all of Monday and Tuesday
with Tristan."
What? Is that where he disappeared to all day Monday and Tuesday?
He was spending time with her? Doing what? Well, I can only imagine
what the hell they were doing! I suddenly felt stupid, as if
someone like Tristan would be interested in plain old me over her.
Why would he want bread-freaking pudding when he has access to
creme brulee?
All the girls around her ooh'ed and ahh'ed appreciatively. "You
lucky bitch!" Some of the girls squealed in excitement. "What'd you
two do?"
"Oh you know..." Jewel grinned wildly. "Kept one another extremely
busy."

I began getting lightheaded and dizziness swept
over me as my heart developed a dull ache. I bet they are all in on
this little game. Thoughts of this morning suddenly crept into my
mind. I began replaying Tristan leaning sexily against his car
smiling at something on his phone, probably a text from her.
What is this, a sick remake of the movie She's All That? I refused
to be Rachael Leigh Cook's character, even though I fit the role
perfectly. Realizing I indeed stopped breathing I inhaled deeply
and with all the dignity I could muster, I stood up from my seat on
the bench.
I was extremely grateful that Tristan was no longer in view of me,
he was in the part of the line that was blocked off by a wall to
make sure kids didn't steal any food. My eyes began to water as I
mentally cursed myself for being the gullible idiot I said I
wouldn't be! I could mentally slap myself for falling for the
crap.
As quickly as I could, I escaped out of the lunchroom and ran down
the hallway to the girl's bathroom. I didn't want anyone to see
nerd girl crying. Locking myself in a stall I pulled my feet up to
my chest as I sat down on the toilet crying my eyes out. It was
then that I decided something of high importance.
I was through with Tristan Evans and the games he wanted to play
with my emotions. What explanation could he possibly give for
spending all day Monday and Tuesday with Jewel, none. My breathing
was ragged as I gasped for air. Why am I sobbing over him? It's
only been a couple days for crying out loud!
It finally dawned on me, that in these past couple of
days...Tristan Evans managed to steal my heart like a thief in the
night. Guess his mission was accomplished, but guess what? I wasn't
going to give any of them the satisfaction of knowing they broke
me...

Chapter 8: Silent
Treatment
Spending the entire lunch period locked in a bathroom stall,
sitting atop a dingy toilet was not my idea of a good time. I ran
all the way to the freshman/sophomore wing to hide inside their
bathroom. At least here, I stood less of a chance of running into
any of those witches. Our school is split into a freshman/sophomore
wing and a junior/senior wing.
I cried for a good half-hour before I was able to calm myself down
enough to stop the tears from flowing. I'm sure my eyes are all
swollen, red and puffy. Unlocking the bathroom stall, I stared at
my reflection in the mirror. "Stop being so pathetic." I mumbled to
myself pitifully. You could say I was throwing myself an
extravagant pity party, me being the only guest.
Turning on the cold water, I leaned down into the sink and splashed
some of it on my face. I look like I suffer from a bad case of
rosacea, with how red my face is! The bell went off notifying me
that lunch is over. I would have been relieved if it were the end
of the school day and I could go home, but no of course not.
There had to be one period left; Anatomy and of course Tristan is
in my class. I'm sure they were sitting at lunch having a good old
chuckle over me. Waiting for a few more minutes to pass by, I
grabbed my messenger bag and made my way towards my last
class.
The bell rang just as I approached the door. Hopefully all the
seats are full and I'll be forced to sit next to another loner. I
didn't want to have to face him, I couldn't. I was still able to
feel the knot in the back of my throat threatening to suffocate me
at any second. Walking in, I did a quick scan of the already filled
room. There were two seats left one at the front of the room next
to a quiet smart girl named Angelica and one in the back next to
Luke.
Lord, why can't I seem to get away from these people! Luke looked
at me with a puzzled look on his face. Almost as if he were trying
to silently ask me what was wrong. I slid quietly into the seat
next to Angelica in the front row of lab tables and began pulling
out my binder. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I could
feel his presence without even having to look up from my bag, nor
did I plan on acknowledging him.
"Lise, where'd you disappear to?" His voice came out gruff and a
bit annoyed. "I came back with the food and you were gone. So I
went looking for you in the library, I waited there for you the
entire period and you never came."
Pretending like I was still searching in my bag for something
important, I completely ignored Tristan. This only seemed to cause
him to question me even more so. Why can't the boy just leave me
alone? Doesn't he get that I didn't ask for, nor want any of this
attention. I'm completely content with being the unnoticed
wallflower.
"Lise?" He called out in confusion. "What's wrong? Did...did I do
something to upset you?"
Great, I could feel the entire class watching our every move as I
continued to act like he wasn't there speaking to me. He kneeled
down next to my desk so that he was eye level with me. Using his
thumb and forefinger to gently grab a hold of my chin, he
forcefully turned my head to face him. I tried with all my strength
to fight against him, but it seemed like he had more power in his
thumb and index finger than I did in my entire head!
"What happened?" Tristan asked, his voice full of concern. Then he
got a good look at me as I glared at him hatefully. It seemed as
though he visibly swallowed a huge lump in his throat. "You've been
crying." He stated extremely pissed off. "Who did it?"
My eyes looked away from him towards the front of the room. I took
notice that Mrs. Johanssen our Anatomy teacher still wasn't here
yet. What does it matter who made me cry, why does he even act like
he cares? He's the reason why I'm an emotional mess.
"Tell.Me.Who.Did.It!" Tristan growled angrily, emphasizing each
word as a separate sentence. It seemed that he was experiencing
difficulty controlling his anger.
Giving him the dirtiest look I could muster up, I grumbled "You
did." Snatching my head out of his grip I turned to face forward
just as Mrs. Johanssen entered the classroom. From the corner of my
eyes I could see Tristan still kneeling there with a shocked
expression on his face. His mouth slightly ajar from what I just
disclosed to him.
"Mr. Evans would you care to take a seat so I can begin class or
shall I wait until you're done harassing Miss Foster?" Mrs.
Johanssen said looking up from her attendance list. Mrs. Johanssen
already knows who I am, considering she taught me tenth grade
biology. It was just this year she decided to teach twelfth grade
Anatomy.
Tristan stared at me for another Moment before mumbling a "Sorry."
I wasn't sure if the apology was directed towards the teacher or me
as he stood up straight and headed back to his seat next to Luke.
Thank the high heavens Anatomy was short and painless. Seeing how
my seat is the first one next to the door, as soon as the bell
sounded I hightailed my way out of there.
"Lise...wait!" I heard him yell out through the crowded hallway,
but I kept right on moving. Running as fast as my little legs could
carry me to my locker, I spun the dial with precision. Damn it, I
knew I shouldn't have given him my combination.
Now I have to worry about him breaking into my locker and playing
pranks on me. Would he be that evil to do such a thing? I was
finishing up shoving all the books I needed in my locker when he
appeared right beside me. He grabbed a hold of my elbow softly as
if to hold me in place. Those darn electric sparks sent tickling
sensations down my arms.
"Can we talk?" His voice broke slightly; he sounded so upset,
causing me to hurt also. Why? I haven't the faintest clue. When you
figure it out please, be sure to let me know.
Ripping my elbow from his grip, I slammed my locker door shut and
turned on my heels heading towards the exit. I faintly heard a low
grumbling noise that sounded an awful lot like a growl with each
step I took away from him. I plan on ignoring him for as long as it
takes; maybe he'll just leave me alone.
Ha, no such luck on my part...I thought as I walked my usual way
home. I had a grand total of three peaceful minutes of walking
before I was so rudely interrupted. Three minutes it took him to
beat the traffic out of the school parking lot before he all but
followed me home.
"Get in the car, Lise." Tristan pleaded as he continued driving
alongside me. "We need to talk." He begged for the hundredth
time.
Talk? Talk about what? What could there possibly be left to talk
about? I mean it's not like he has to explain himself to me. We
aren't in a relationship; I'm not his girlfriend. Hell, come to
think of it I can honestly say we aren't even friends.
We've only hung out a couple times, hardly enough to categorize him
as more than an acquaintance. Besides, it's best if we leave things
the way they are now. There's absolutely no need to complicate the
situation any further. Not knowing what to say in response to his
pleas, I just continued to ignore him.
He crept down the road at turtle speed. What? I'm trying my best to
walk as fast as I can, but let's be realistic here...he's in a car.
Horns blared from behind him as he held up traffic, while cars
swerved around into the oncoming lane to pass him. I heard a few
colorful strings of curse words thrown at him as people drove by
and threw him the finger. Wow, road-rage much people?
As soon as we reached the end of our block, Tristan zoomed ahead. I
could faintly see him pulling up and parking in his driveway. Good,
maybe he finally gets the hint to leave me alone. I took my time
strolling along the sidewalk admiring the nice weather. Now that
he's not pestering me anymore, I don't feel the need to rush home
and lock myself indoors. I can take my time and relax.
My happiness came to an abrupt halt as I noticed someone sitting on
my porch steps. He was blocking my entrance to the front door. A
scowl immediately came over my face, my shoulders sagging in
despair. Is he not going to give up until I finally speak to
him?
For a second I considered walking past my house, but I thought
about it and decided that wouldn't be such a good idea. I had
nowhere else to go. Besides, this is my damn house! Tristan was
seated comfortably on the top step of my porch with his legs
sprawled out long way so that he took up the entire walkway. His
eyes skimming over my own. Coming to a halt in front of him, I put
my hands on my hips and stood in a stance that asked
'why the hell are you on my
steps?'
"Why are you ignoring me?" Tristan inquired as so many different
emotions passed through his eyes in that split second. I could see
hurt, anger, and something else. "Tell me what I've done wrong,
please?"
My stupid body was betraying me. It was feeling all warm and tingly
hearing the despair in his voice. It was taking everything I had in
me to not throw myself into his lap. "Listen...Tristan." I began
with a blank expression. I’m so dang proud of myself for
suppressing the true amount of pain from showing. "Please just stay
away from me and I mean it this time."
Inhaling a huge breath my entire body tensed up, I wanted to cry so
badly. I could feel the tears threatening to come out again as I
blinked rapidly trying to will them away. Deep down inside I didn't
want him to stay away from me. I wanted to actually believe that he
liked me for the person I am deep down inside. That he saw past the
awkward anti-social nerd and was still interested in getting to
know the real me, but I guess that was too much to ask for.
"I need a reason why you want me to stay away." Tristan said
seriously, standing up from the porch and taking a step in my
direction. "Give me a good valid reason and I'll think about
granting your request." Why is he so stubborn? It would be so much
simpler if he just did as I asked without demanding an
explanation.
"What are we doing?" I asked waving my hand between the two of us.
"It's obvious we come from two totally different worlds. Guys like
you don't hang out with girls like me. You hang out with girls like
Jewel." I left my sentence open-ended; maybe he'd realize what I
was insinuating at and fess up to the spending time with Jewel. Am
I giving him way too much credit?
Do I even want to hear about them being together? No, I don't, but
I know it would put my mind at ease hearing the truth from his
mouth. A look of realization caused a sparkle in his eyes as
something dawned on him. His eyebrows scrunched up a bit in between
his eyes like he figured out what happened to me.
"Did Jewel say something to you at lunch today?" Tristan asked
taking another step closer to me. "If she did I swear..." His jaw
was clenched tightly as his fists balled up as his sides. What
difference would it make if she said something to me? If it weren't
for her, I would have continued being delusional in thinking all
this is real.
Is he upset she spoiled his fun, I bet he's mad he didn't get to
embarrass me in front of the entire school and make me out to feel
like the village idiot. He probably lost the bet and a lot of
money. The palms of my hands began to sweat; suddenly I began
feeling like an innocent little animal being hunted by its
prey.
Shaking my head slightly, I answered. "No she didn't even talk to
me." I confessed with a slight stutter. "Why are you so upset for?"
I asked defensively glaring at him in the process. "Mad she ruined
your fun?" I accused angrily shoving him in the chest. Tristan
didn't expect my little outburst so it threw him off balance a bit.
My anger level reached the boiling point. "Just admit it
Tristan!"
"Admit what?" He asked baffled grabbing a hold of both my wrists
from shoving him again. His body was pressed dangerously up against
mine as he stared at me in surprise.
"Admit it!" I screamed loudly not able to hold the tears back any
further as they began trailing down my cheeks.
"You were with Jewel and this is all some kind of sick joke to you!
I know you spent Monday and Tuesday with her."
While I was home thinking of nothing but you
, of
course I didn't admit that part though.
"Joke? You think this is some sort of sick joke? It's far from a
joke." Tristan bellowed in my face. "Nice to know you think so
little of me!"
My voice broke as I tried to continue, "Why? Why couldn't you just
leave me alone?" My heart felt like it was going shatter into a
billion pieces. Tristan looked at me with a sorrowful expression; I
could see his Adam’s apple bob up and down nervously. He probably
didn't expect me to have a mental breakdown in front of his very
eyes.
"Yes, I was with Jewel Monday and Tuesday, but it's not what you
think. Our parents had business to attend to with each other."
Tristan admitted with a pained expression. "I told you there's a
lot I need to tell you when the time is right and you already know
it's impossible for me to stay away from you."
He let go of my hands and grabbed a hold of my face, wiping away my
tears. "Please, don't cry." Tristan consoled placing gentle kisses
on each of my cheeks, trying to kiss away the tears. "It's killing
me to see you hurt. I just need you to trust me..." Tristan
pleaded. "Please Lise, I care about you so much. Do you trust
me?"
Do I trust him? The look in his gray eyes resembled the angry sky
on a stormy day. Blinking a few times to clear my thoughts, I made
up my mind. I don't like seeing Tristan so upset and technically he
hasn't lied to me yet, as far as I know of.
So, I nodded my head in agreement, "I trust you Trist." My voice
came out in barely a whisper. Before I even finished saying his
name, Tristan's lips connected with mine. This time around it was
gentle and filled with raw emotion. This time around, it felt so
right and I wasn't angry that he kissed me.