A and D

A and D (3)

I didn't know what else to do, because she wasn't saying anything, so I just left her there and went over to where Alyson was seating. The students in the cafeteria were all wondering what Annabelle and I talked about because we had our little conversation quietly. And it was very obvious that they were also wondering what I said to Annabelle to make her glare like that at me as she sat on their table.

I ignored them and turned to Alyson, who was eating her favorite ice cream sandwich. She was looking at me weirdly or might I say curiously.

"Care on telling me what's gotten into you?" Alyson asked, grinning broadly.

"Starving is what happened to me," I answered, tiredly.

She nodded. "People do strange things when they're hungry."

"Ok, fine," I said impatiently. "That witch is getting on my nerves and I didn't have time to be mature about dealing with her because I'm starved. So can we please drop it and eat, Allie?" I added, begging Alyson.

She nodded again, with an amused reaction.

"Thank you."

Just as I was devouring my quarter pounder, Aaron went by our table.

"I'm gonna have lunch with Annabelle today," he said, smiling.

I guessed he would. I mean, it was the first day. He and Annabelle hadn't seen each other all summer. Of course, they'd spend time together on the first day of school. But it was still a bit heartbreaking to think that he was smiling about spending time with that witch.

Hmmm... I wondered if Annabelle was going to tell Aaron about our chit-chat.

"See you at class," Aaron told me, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I think there's something wrong with your eyebrows," I said seriously, frowning a little.

Aaron rolled his eyes. "And I think you've grown fifty years old since this morning. C'mon, lighten up. You're a nerd. You should be happy that school's started."

"Oh, yes. I'm very happy that those witches can torture me again. Wee... I'm jumping for joy," I said very sarcastically.

"Here," Aaron said as he placed a plate of sliced apple pie in front of me – my favorite food of all time. "Now, can you lighten up?"

I knew my eyes glowed after seeing that food. I slowly pulled the plate toward me and started eating it.

"What, got nothing to say?" asked Aaron, because I ignored his question. He widened his eyes in mock surprise. "Wow. That's a first."

"Ssshh. I'm trying to lighten up. Go away," I added, still focused on my apple pie. Man, this was freaking delicious.

I think I saw him smile widely in amusement as he left.

"You're welcome," I heard Aaron say over his shoulder.

I glanced at him for a moment. I'll thank him later, I thought.

"He's really sweet," Alyson blurted out, thoughtfully. I quickly looked at her. "To you, especially. Being mean to him, that's your defense mechanism. You may think it's a way of hiding your feelings, but the truth is, it is way obvious, girl. Why do you think Annabelle's been nasty to you all this time?" she added, raising an eyebrow.

"Huh. I thought she's just plain evil."

"Or maybe, she's just plain jealous."

I stared at her in disbelief. "What could she possibly be jealous about?" I paused for a moment. Then I said in realization, "Oh."