Chapter 30: XIII. Shun-2

When I saw a large figure in front of me, I jumped, nearly dropping my phone in cheese sauce. I recognised him from the game on Friday night, and the party afterwards. He was on the football team, and he wore a letterman jacket just in case you'd forgotten. He looked like a guy who spent an awful lot of time on the weight machines in the gym, and he was really large for a teenager, but I suppose if you want a scholarship, you've got to work hard. His face was youthful and cute, and his green eyes were actually meeting mine which was a nice change from today. "Hey, sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he greeted after I'd quickly composed myself. "I'm Josh." "It's okay," I replied. "I'm Sara." "I know." He grinned. He had a really cute smile, with deep dimples on either side of his cheeks. "So you and Braverman, what happened there? Are you guys over already?" I was taken aback by his question. Was that what people were thinking? I suddenly realised how it looked. I had been practically attached at the hip with Shea and his friends last week, and now here I was sitting alone like a loser who'd just been dumped. Dumped. Wow, that word was frightening. Did it apply to me? Was this how people got dumped nowadays? I mean, I had never been broken up with before, but was this how it happened? Did guys just stop texting you and then tell all of their friends to pretend like you don't exist? I shook off the thought. Shea and my mom had fought. That was the one concrete thing I was certain had happened. There had to be a better explanation for all of this. "Um." I didn't really know what to say. Shea had called me his girlfriend on Friday night. And now I was being shunned. "I don't know," I replied honestly. Josh smiled at me. "Hey, whatever went on, someone as pretty as you shouldn't be eating alone." So, if I were ugly, I should be eating alone? Jesus, Sara, don't be such a cynic. He's literally the first person who's willingly talked to you all day! I just smiled at him in return for his attempt at a compliment. Josh tucked into his burger and I made another attempt at my macaroni and cheese. After a while, I found myself enjoying Josh's company. He was as normal a guy as I had ever met. He chatted about his interests, mainly about football, and I did my best to follow along. He told me about the game this week, their opponents, and their likelihood to win. Josh explained that he played the role of Left Tackle, which is why he needed to be so big and strong. I really didn't know what a Left Tackle was but I took his word for it. I really could have talked about football with Josh for hours if it meant someone was talking to me. Who would have thought that having someone look you in the eyes after a day of being ignored would feel so good? "They're a weird bunch, though," Josh commented near the end of lunch, nodding over to Shea's table. "Always sticking together. Sometimes it's like this whole school revolves around them. Around Shea." He shook his head at the ridiculousness. I didn't say it, but I completely agreed with him. The whole school seemed to follow them. They were all certainly avoiding me today. I looked over to the table, which I had been avoiding up until now. Cece's head was in her hands, and Jamie was comforting her, along with Liza and Francesca. She really looked miserable. I felt the urge to go over and comfort her, but my sense held me back. The whole table's attention was on Cece … except for Zoey. Zoey was glaring daggers at me, as per usual. Well, at least I wasn't being completely ignored by them. "Zoey hates me," I murmured. I noticed Josh frowned when I mentioned Zoey. A mixture of emotion filled his face before he shook it off. "Zoey's nuts," he stated simply. I couldn't help but laugh. It felt nice. "Bad experience?" He rolled his eyes. "I transferred here from Newtown High sophomore year and we were immediately crazy for each other. Like insane." I could form a mental picture. I resisted gagging. "But before it could go all the way, Zoey pulled the plug and jumped on Braverman." Okay, now I had an even clearer mental picture. I wanted to burn the image from my brain. I was immediately reminded of all the Facebook pictures of Zoey and Shea together. She had dumped Josh for Shea? When I got over my nausea, I could see that Josh was actually quite affected by what had happened. He didn't look like a hormone crazy teenager who missed out on having sex with a hot girl. Zoey had really hurt him. How anyone could have genuine feelings for Zoey was beyond me, but it seemed that Josh had at one point. I stole another glance over and she was still wishing me dead with her eyes. Was she … jealous? But I found that I could empathise with Josh. I could empathise with how I was feeling over the weekend, with how I was feeling right now. Cast out, and completely cut off. "Do you have a girlfriend?" I wondered curiously. I was honestly curious to know if Josh had managed to find someone after Zoey. Josh ran his hand back through his blond hair cockily, albeit jokingly. "No, but I'm always shopping." He winked. "Look, I don't know what's going on with you and Shea, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends. I know what it's like to be the new kid." My first impression of Josh had been completely wrong. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy who was actually interested in including me. And I was not in a position to turn down friends. "Thanks, Josh. I appreciate it." "A bunch of us are going down to the beach tonight for a bonfire. We know this guy who buys us beer. You totally don't have to drink, but it will be fun." He smiled kindly. Josh had a nice smile. Sweet and sincere. The last thing I felt like doing was going to a party filled with rowdy teenagers, but what was my alternative? Hang out with Mom while she went on and on about how boys, mainly Shea, suck? Sit at home wondering if Shea and I were over before we'd even really begun? Sit at home and fixate over what the hell was going on between Shea and Mom and Cece and the whole damn school? I then realised that for the last few minutes or so I hadn't been freaking out and obsessing over what was going on with Shea. It was the first time since Saturday that my brain had had a break. It actually felt a tiny bit relaxing. "You know what?" I decided after a moment. "Sure. I'll be there." I was going to find out what was going on. I was determined to get to the bottom of it. I needed to find out what was going on with Shea, and I needed to find out if my Mom was hiding something from me. But I couldn't handle being in this damn school if I was going to spend the rest of the semester being ignored and treated as though I don't exist. If people actually wanted me around, then I was going to be hanging out with them. For my own damn sanity. Josh grinned. "Sweet. Eight o'clock," he told me. "You can't miss us." "I do have something to do before I come. I wonder if you can help me?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "I can try," he offered. "You don't happen to know where Shea lives, do you?" --- Okay, I'm going back to watch a grown up show now. I've been binge watching Lucifer and I'm nearly finished season 3 and loving it. I just want him to show Chloe his angel wings ahhhhh