Chapter 2
MANDY
(Eighth Grade)
Mandy stood next to Mrs.
Snyder's class, waiting for Luci, who was discussing some sort of science
project. On the brick wall opposite, hanging from a bulletin board, was a flyer
for the Eighth Grade Winter Formal dance. She and Luci were going, either with
dates or with each other. Jessie Harper already asked Haylee, and they were all
pretty certain Scott Williamson would ask Simone. Not that they wouldn't still
be together in the dance. Luci had hopes of Jeremy Van Allen asking her, but he
was already taking Mellissa Trument, so she'd sworn off dating for now. Mandy
tried to point out she needed a first date of any kind to swear it off, but was
promptly told to shut up. Mandy had no prospects, as far as she could tell, but
that was okay. She couldn't wait to go to her first formal dance, even without
a date.
She moved to peek her head into
the doorway to see if Luci was about ready when Wyatt came walking towards her.
She immediately perked up. Though they rarely talked, hardly ever saw each
other, she still thought of him as her Wyatt. She wished she had a chance to
primp herself up, but it was too late now. He wore a Star Wars t-shirt, and she
tried to come up with some sort of saying from it so he'd think she was cool, but
nothing came to mind.
"Hey, Mandy."
"Hi, Wyatt." She felt
her face heat up. "Haven't talked to you in a while."
He looked at his shoes.
"Yeah, elementary school was easier, wasn't it?"
"Uh-huh." Why had she
listened to Simone and Haylee that first day of seventh grade? Social politics
were stupid if she couldn't be with who she wanted. She smiled, hoped it was
her best, and wondered what brought him over. She could sense the nerves
pulsing off of him, and her heart caught in her throat. Maybe he was going to
ask her to the Winter Formal. She almost blurted out a "Yes!" but
that would have been stupid since he hadn't actually said anything yet.
Before he could speak up, Alex
Jacobs's voice sounded behind her. "Hey, Wyatt, how's it going?"
"Uh, hey, Alex."
Bad timing, but there was never
anything wrong when Alex was around. He was only the hottest guy in school. She
sat next to him in Pre-Algebra, and they got along well. A few minutes ago,
though she never imagined it would happen in a million years, her dream was
that he might ask her to the dance. But, if given the choice, she'd choose
Wyatt. Assuming, of course, that was why he was here now, which, once she
thought about it, was a very un-Wyatt-like thing to do.
Alex put his hand up to give
Wyatt a fist bump, which he awkwardly returned. Mandy had to repress a giggle
because it was so cute. "Thanks for the help in science, man. I owe you
one."
"Yeah, sure."
"Hey, do you think you can
give us a minute? I need to ask Mandy something."
Wyatt opened his mouth, looked
as if he may protest, but then clammed up and nodded. "Sure, Alex. See you
later, Mandy."
No, wait. But if he was going to
ask her out, he would have tried harder than that, right? Even if he was so
timid. Maybe he was only going to ask her a school question. They both had Mr.
Miller for Language Arts/Social Studies block, but at different times. Yeah,
that was probably it. She turned her attention back to Alex and flashed him a
smile.
No comments:
Post a Comment