My Lucky Charm (4 page)

Brandon

If Leah
didn’t stand out from her hot looks, I wouldn’t have recognized her. She changed her hair since school today. At first glance, I was sad to see her light colors gone, but after getting a better look, that red is sexy. She is sexy, and she’s going to think I’m a stalker if I don’t stop staring at her.

I’m
jealous at how close Jarred physically is to her. Maybe Parker was wrong, and Jarred and Leah are on a date. I look away, trying to calm my anger.

When I look back a few minutes later, she’
s gone. I search the room, and see that she’s talking to a much older dude that’s leaning against a wall. They appear to be arguing, but it seems she’s letting him have it way more than the other way around.

Leah’s
tough, and I find myself wanting to know everything about her. Surely, she doesn’t like this guy. He has to be way too old for her. Maybe he’s her brother.

Storming off with her arms crossed, she
goes back to her friends. I look over, and the dude is glaring at me. I’m so confused. Damn, maybe he’d seen me staring at her earlier.

“Is that
the new girl Cole makes fun of?” Anthony asks, pointing toward Leah.

“Yeah, that’s her.” I face the stage where the main band is getting ready to start. I can feel Anthony’s eyes going between Leah and me.

“You brought me here so you could see her. Didn’t you?”

How is he that observant? “Why do you think that?”

“You were taking up for her the other day, and I’ve seen you staring at her in the cafeteria. Conveniently, she’s here.”

I look at him and run a hand through my hair.

“OK, I knew she’d be here.”

“Is this band even any good?” he asks.

I chuckle. “Yeah, I really did listen to them online.”

“
Damn, man. Why don’t you just say hi to her at school?”

“I don’t know. Don’t tell the guys. Cole will never leave it alone.”

“I won’t say anything, but you need to get the nerve to speak to her instead of behaving like a stalker.”

I look
back to Leah again, but the lights are down now, so I can’t see her. She saw me here, so I accomplished what I wanted, which was for her to think we might have something in common. Now, I have to figure out what to do next.

Leah

Paul is so annoying! He was worried Brandon is stalking me all because he looked at me for longer than a second. He should be more worried about Jarred who keeps managing to brush my ass with his hand every five flippin’ minutes.

Paul had to go and ruin everything, so I had to tell my friends that he’s my big brother.
The lies are beginning. I hate it. I don’t want to lie to anyone, but I’m trying to protect myself from further pain.

I g
uess the good thing is he could pick me up from school now if he’ll stay in the car. Of course, then I have to explain why I have such a nice ride. I’ll say it’s his.

T
he lies. This stinks. The concert ends, and I buy a CD and t-shirt from the last band, Circling Dundrum. Without even thinking, I purchase the guys and Sierra a CD, too. I’m not used to having to pretend that I don’t have money.

Luckily, they don’t
make too big a deal about it. Paul makes it a point to be behind me on the way out.

“Can you wait in the car?” I ask him.

“No, and you know this.”

“Fine
.” I turn to my friends. “I have to get going. I guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

T
hey take glances at Paul, who’s looking around for suspicious behavior. This is going to be a problem. Sierra hugs me, and the guys give me a wave before I walk away.

I sense
a bit of disappointment from Jarred that we have to part ways, but he might as well get used to it. He’s cute, and we have stuff in common, but the attraction is not there.

I don’t feel
the same tingle all over that I get when I see Brandon. He was actually here listening to the type of music I like. Maybe we have something in common, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a jock and has jerk friends.

Leah

I go to my third class, which is
calculus. It’s also the period that the mean girls are in. A couple of them are in other classes, but this is where they monopolize, so they feel they can gang up on me.

Their snide remarks and snickering is on my
last nerve. I think it eats at me more since I used to hang around girls like them. I was never a bully other than by association, but now I see that counts.

Class e
nds, and Jarred approaches me.

“Don’t sweat it
, Leah. I can tell you’re pissed, but everyone else knows how they are.”

“I can’t let it go. I
refuse to be bullied.” I march out of class, and the girls fall in behind me. 

“Wow. Look at that hair. I guess she’s trying to w
ork in all the holidays. It was Easter colors, and now we have Christmas red. You’d think she would’ve fit Halloween orange in first.”

I already know it’s Nicole’s sneering voice since I’ve been listening to it for a month now.
She has auburn hair and hazel eyes, and is very pretty, if you find witches to be pretty. I’ve had all I can take. A few days suspension won’t kill me.

I spin around and grab hold of her
long ponytail that I fantasized about removing during class. Bending her head over to the side, I pull her close to me. “Listen very carefully, Nicole. I’m only going to say this once. If you say another word about my hair, I will cut yours off.”

I give her ponytail
a hard yank downward before I let her go. She squeals and huffs as her eyes fill with tears. As soon as I let her go, I look around and lock eyes with the Brandon, who’s walking down the hall. He gives me the broadest grin.

For some reason, he approves of my terrible behavior.
I thought he liked this girl since he sits with her every day at lunch. I’m lost in his smile, but it’s short lived since a hall monitor who witnessed the whole event is approaching me.

I don’t think I’m getting off easy this time.
Jarred shakes his head at me and chuckles as I walk away with the teacher. Why do guys love chick fights so much?

The secretary in the office
makes us sit in separate areas. Nicole is taken back first, and it seems she’s only in there for a few minutes. I’m finally called into a different room by Mrs. Grove.

I walk in, and my breath catches when I real
ize there are three staff members present. The principal is behind his desk, a lady I don’t recognize is in a chair next to the desk, and Mrs. Grove takes a seat on the other side. I hope I’m not getting kicked out.

“
Ms. Lane, please sit,” Mrs. Grove says.

The only empty chair is right in front of the principal’s desk, so I take a seat.

“Ms. Lane, I’m the principal, Mr. Stewart. Could you please tell us what happened between you and Nicole Reagan?” Mr. Stewart is tall and almost bald. He has on glasses and a suit. He’s even wearing the jacket.

“She and her friends torment me every day. They tea
se me about my hair, my clothes and my shoes. I’ve had all I can take.”

“I want to introduce you to Ms. French. She’s the school counselor.”

This lady is young. I’d say late twenties. She’s wearing a plain Jane dress, nerdy glasses and is blonde. She’s very pretty in her own plain way. The difference between Nicole and me is I wouldn’t tell Ms. French what I think about her horrid style.

“Ms. Lane, w
e did a thorough look into your school file, and we know who you are,” Mrs. Grove says nervously. “Your enrollment papers are filled out as Leah, but the records from your old school say your name is Leeza. I asked the counselor to be here, so we could address why you’re going by a different name.”

“Do you honestly
need that spelled out for you? No disrespect, but if Maxwell Lane was your father, would you want anyone to know who you are?”

The school counselor gives me a faint smile, and I
see that she’s going to speak next.

“
Leah, all of us can understand why you’re doing this. The question I have for you is what do you plan to do when the students of this school discover your identity?”

“I guess sin
ce I’m a senior, I was hoping no one would figure it out before graduation.”

“
I looked at many photos of you online, and I see that your style is different. Maybe if you’d be yourself, you’d fit in. Your peers might surprise you and be more welcoming than you expect,” Mrs. Grove says.

“This is who I really am. Before
Mr. Lane humiliated our family, I was not my true self. I was a lot like Nicole only nicer. I’m now dressing the way I want.” I take hold of my red strands. “This is how I like my hair. I have no desire to be who I was before.”

“Y
ou need to be prepared for the fact that someone is going to figure out who you are. We recommend you tell people the truth. Starting friendships based on lies will only hurt you and others in the long run. Also, any physical violence is not tolerated at this school.

“We feel with your intelligence, suspension would be
a waste of valuable time, so instead of that as a disciplinary measure, we’re going to have you tutor a student after school three days a week for several weeks,” Mr. Stewart says.

“I’ve never tutored before,” I say anxiously.

“We’ve seen your grades and test scores, Ms. Lane. You’re highly intelligent. It’s something else that you seem to want to keep under wraps. Your teachers report you’re making perfect scores but don’t offer anything extra in the classroom,” Mrs. Grove adds.

“I know. I don’t want attention drawn to myself.”

“Then fighting is probably not a wise idea, either,” says Ms. French.

I let out a groan
. I’m not getting out of this.

“Fine. I’ll tutor.”

Mrs. Grove walks over and rests her hand on my shoulder. “OK, we’ll get it set up. We have someone perfect in mind. It’s a male student who needs help with English.

“
Please think long and hard about what we’ve said, Leah. The lies will pile up. You’re not really showing others your true self by hiding this information.”

By the time I’m
dismissed from the meeting, lunch is starting, so I go to the cafeteria and see that Brandon is already at his table. I make sure not to look his way when I pass by it.

“Leah, are you OK?”
Sierra asks, seeming concerned.

“Yes,
” I reply as I take a seat.

“You are like everyone’s new favorite pers
on around here. The entire school is talking about what you did to Nicole.”

I
glance around the cafeteria and find many people looking back.
More attention is not what I need
.
The next thing I feel is a mouth on my cheek. Parker’s arms are wrapped around me, and he’s giving me the wettest kiss ever while squeezing me to death.

“Girl, I don’t even know what to say. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Nicole is a bully, and you took her down a few notches.”

I glance to my right, and Brandon is glaring at Parker. First, I can’t imagine he’s jealous, and second, doesn’t he know this boy’s gay?

“
Sit, Parker,” I say.

“Yes, ma’am. I don’t want to get on your bad side. So, tell me all the details. What kind of trouble are you in?” Parker’s anim
ated as he rambles off his questions.

“I have
to tutor someone.”

“Tutor? Since when do they do that?” Sierra asks.

“I don’t know.”

“You must be really smart,
” she adds.

“You could say that.”

Parker pinches my cheek between his fingers.

“You are
full of surprises, chick. Is there anything else you’re hiding that we need to know about?”

“What is it with you and my cheeks today?” I ignore his question, but I’m unable to ignore the knot forming in my belly.

“OMG, we haven’t even talked about your hair.” Parker flips it with his hand. “I love it. I might have to give crazy, colored hair a try.”

I run my fingers through the side of his soft hair.

“No, keep your red. I like it au natural.”

Parker taps his finger on his lower lip. “Hmm … looks as if a few g
uys are checking you out.”

I glance around again. “Who?”

“Jarred for one.”

“Ugh.”

“What? You don’t like him?” Sierra asks, sounding disappointed.

“He’s
cool to talk to about music and stuff, but I don’t like him that way, and he was getting a little too handsy with my ass last night at the concert.”

Parker pushes my shoulder. “Sounds awesome to me.”

“Dang, I was hoping we could double date. Gabe asked me out after you left.” Sierra glances over at his table with a pouty face.

“We can
still hang out. You should ask them to start eating with us,” I say.

Parker scopes the room again. “It appears Brandon is checking you out, too, Leah.”

I look over at Brandon’s table.

“Remember, Leah?
He was at the concert last night,” Sierra says.

Parker
’s head jolts toward me. “Brandon was at Scope?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh, no reason. Did he try to talk to you by chance?” Parker is now drumming his fingers on the table and looking around the room with the guiltiest expression on his handsome face.

“You know somet
hing. What are you not telling me?” I ask.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play coy with me. Spill it.”

“Alright
, but only because I’m scared you’ll beat me up now. It’s a good thing I don’t have much hair to pull. You have to swear you won’t say anything.”

I roll my ey
es. “Yeah, yeah, OK.”

“B
randon asked me about you the other day. He wanted me to tell him everything I knew and even told me to find out more, so I might’ve mentioned you would be at Scope.”

I lightly grab what little bit of hair I can get hold of on his head and pull it.
“Parker, why are you just now telling me?” I ask nervously.

“
Ouch. Brandon and I go way back, and he asked me not to say anything.”

“Oh. I kinda
feel bad I made you tell.”

“
Don’t. He ignores me most of the time, so it serves him right.”

“Is he no
t a nice person? I mean, he took up for me one day when one of his friends made fun of me.”

“No, Brandon’
s cool, but he’s a follower. He sticks with his crowd. No offense, but that’s why I was shocked when he asked about you. You know I love ya, girl, but you don’t exactly fit into his world.”

“I know.” I tear
off a bite of my sandwich and put it in my mouth, not sure what to make of the news. A part of me feels excitement over Brandon being interested, but the reality of that going nowhere is setting in. What a bummer.