Operation: KYLE

23

Just then, I felt a tug on my arm. I looked over, Lizzie was staring at something with curiosity while squinting her eyes. "Yeah?" I asked. She took a moment to open her mouth, but hesitated on her words. Then- "Do you know that blond guy?" She inquired suddenly. I blinked. My eyes followed her's. Then, they landed on Trent Boyett, holding a basketball with a harsh wrinkle on his forehead.

He was eyeing us, too. Well, me, to be exact. Why? I cringe, taking a step back with a shiver down my spine, startled. Lizzie sucks in her teeth. "That's one hell of a glare, man. Do you know him, Kylie?" She says that silly nickname, again. It reminded me of my 'Jersey name'. Once Trent noticed us staring at him, he turns his entire head away. I take a short pause, then shook my head, still keeping an eye on him. "No, I don't... think so." There was a hint of doubt in my voice.

"Well, did you do something to him that made him stare at you like that?" She questioned, like an interrogator. I shake my head, again. "Not that I know of...?" Again, uncertainty. She stares at me, looking minorly offended, and I stare back. "You don't sound too sure." Lizzie observed, think I'm not telling the whole truth. I bite the inside of my lip. "I mean, his name sounds familiar, but I'm not sure where I heard it from." I admitted.

"Did he go to your elementary, or middle school, or something?" Jacob interjected. "I don't think so, I think I would remember a guy that tall." Then, Smitty joins the conversation. "Maybe he got a growth spurt." He says. "Possibly." Followed Mikael, tossing a chip in to his mouth. Crunch. Jacob watches him enjoying a brand of chips that I couldn't recognize. Probably a New York chip brand, or something. "Why are you eating that right now?" Asks Jacob. Mikael turns his head towards him, looking slightly annoyed. "What? I can't enjoy my chips during lunch?" He grumbled, throwing another chip in his mouth.

"I don't think you're supposed to eat in the gym." Says Tolkien, his eyes darting towards the chip, then back at Mikael. Mikael rolls his eyes, sighing, making Tolkien instinctively twitch his eyebrow. Lizzie scoffs. "Yeah, Mikael, you're not supposed to be eating in the gym." She grinned, repeating Tolkien's words with a more assertive tone. Eventually, he drudgingly listens to Lizzie, and aggressively crumbles the pack of chips in his pocket. Lizzie smiles in satisfaction. Mikael turns away, with pink dust silently creeping up to his cheeks. Not from embarrassment, but from something else, and it seemed like nobody else noticed, except me.

I felt like I've saw something I shouldn't have seen, so I turned my attention towards the basketball in my hands, and kept my head down. I blink frantically. The guys were talking to each other, and re-introduced themselves, but I just tuned out at some point, since everyone here already knew me. I was washed over by my thoughts. Mikael's ears were red, like, really, really red. Is that normal? My mind flashed back to his ears. I lifted my head up again, and found Mikael's ears weren't red, anymore.

I blink, feeling absolutely stupid right now. Am I... did I hallucinate that? I pause. My eyebrows furrow. What am I doing? I should be focused on my one on one with Trent right now. I shouldn't be swept up by useless thoughts, again. I gently slap myself in the cheek repeatedly with my right hand. David notices. "What are you doing?" He asks, eyeing me as he ignored the guys– mostly the New York kids– bicker with each other.

Underneath my thoughts, I wondered if David had some magical ability to sense things, especially with me. It's kind of scary, to be honest. I put on a blank smile. "Oh, just... slapping myself back in to reality." David looks at me, dumbfounded, but doesn't really ask. His then eyes narrow, glancing around at the floor. "You know, it's not too late to call it quits." He says. My lips curls up in to a vacuous smile, oblivious. "Call what quits?" I ask, genuinely confused. He pressed his lip together, then shyly rubbed the back of his neck.