Chapter 27

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I smiled as I knew exactly who it was. I turned around and looked at Tamara.

"Hey," she said with an adorable grin.

"Hey, yourself," I replied, causing her to chuckle.

"So," she spoke as she rested her head in her hand, "what do you do for fun?"

"I just screw around mostly," I replied.

"Oh yeah? With who?" she smirked and rolled her eyes as she laughed. "I'm only playing. You know, I've always wanted to talk to you and maybe even get to know you better."

I was pleasantly surprised as I asked, "Really?"

"Mhm. It's just that... you always seem really bored or just uninterested to want to talk."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Actually, I've been trying to open up more lately."

Her eyes lit up with excitement. "That's awesome! ...'Cause, really, I've always thought you were... kinda cool."

"Wow," I remarked in genuine surprise. "You think boring me is pretty cool, huh?"

"Mhm," she replied with a giggle.

"Well, I think you're pretty cool, too," I remarked. Her lips spread into another adorable grin.

"Thanks," she softly said.

Tamara was so sweet and so enjoyable to be around. I really liked the pleasant moments I was already starting to have with her. Getting to know her on a deeper level was something that I readily welcomed.

Not long after, second period ended and it was time for me to head to my most favorite class. I got up and slung my backpack over my shoulder.

"See you tomorrow, Anthony," Tamara sweetly said. I smiled and casually waved to her.

"See ya," I replied, heading for the door. Luckily, this time there wasn't a mass of students clogging the doorway so I was able to smoothly transition out into the hallway.

As I headed down the hallway, I was suddenly and very roughly pushed from behind which caused me to stumble forward a bit. I quickly turned around to see none other than Elizabeth being her usual rough-and-tumble self with a cocky smirk on her face.

"What's the rush?" she asked. "You don't think about being polite and walk a girl to class?"

I smirked as I retorted, "Since when do you need to be walked to class?"

"Since I saw you talking to that Tamara girl," she replied as the two of us headed down the hallway together. "I never saw you talk to anybody. What's the deal? You two fucking or something?"

I laughed. "No, we barely know each other."

"Hmph. Hasn't stopped anyone from fucking before." I really loved how straightforward she was. No games, always saying what she feels.

"That's a little extreme, don't you think?" I asked, grinning slightly. "What, two people just say 'hello' and climb into bed together?"

"Yeah, pretty much," she nonchalantly replied. "I've seen it happen before."

The two of us made our way into the stairwell and walked up along with the other droves of kids.

"So," she spoke up again, "What about you? You gotten laid yet?"

"That's very nosy of you," I replied, opening the second floor door for her. She looked at me with a smirk as we headed down the hall.

"Damn right I'm nosy. Don't you ever notice me talking to everyone?"

"There's a lot about you that I notice," I replied with suggestiveness in my voice.

She laughed. "Easy, tiger. Don't start thinking want to fuck you just 'cause I asked you about sex."

"Well, don't you want me?" I asked with a sly grin.

She responded with her own sly grin, her voice sultry as she replied, "I like guys a little taller than you."

"Ouch," I remarked with a laugh. "You hurt my feelings."

"Don't worry about it, papi—you're actually pretty cute. I'm sure you'll find a cute girl to score with."

"Yeah, maybe," I replied, happily keeping any personal details to myself.

The two of us then headed into class and almost immediately, someone caught Elizabeth's eye and made her gasp in surprise.

"Ai!" she exclaimed before going off on a gleeful, rapid-fire tangent in Spanish that I could not follow. She ran up and eagerly hugged some girl I wasn't familiar with. I shrugged and looked over at the front table nearest the door, spotting the lovely Talia. She had a big grin as she waved cutely at me with her fingers.

"Hi!" she greeted me in a very friendly, yet hushed voice. I smiled and laughed, waving back to her just the same which caused her to giggle.

Just a moment after I sat down, Eve walked in and our eyes met for just a moment. She smiled at me before taking her seat at the table in front of mine, shared with her good friend Lila.

Lila was a cute girl, too, though she was pretty indifferent towards me. And, by 'indifferent,' I mean she'd probably love it if I was in a completely different class. She'd been on the receiving end of my antics more than once, just like Jennifer had. It got to the point where Lila just tuned me out and was satisfied with pretending I didn't exist.