Anywhere But Here by JL Paul Page B

pulled into a frown.  “I wasn’t planning on it.”
    “Great.  I don’t have practice Friday night – do you want to hang out or something?”
    I prickled, instantly defensive.  Did I want this…friendship, or whatever it was, to move so quickly?  Wouldn’t it be best if we just talked at school and let things go from there?
    But his earnest face was my undoing.  And what would it hurt?  It wasn’t like he was asking me to the prom or anything.  “Yeah, I guess.  What do you have in mind?”
    “Nothing fancy,” he said, delighted.  His face turned mysterious.  “You’ll have to wait and see.”
    “Oh, no,” I said, pushing away from the locker to stand in front of him.  “No.  Don’t pull that crap on me.”
    He chuckled and ruffled my hair.  “Sorry, but I’m not saying a word.”
    “Wonderful,” I groaned.  “Is it too late to back out?”
    “Most definitely,” he grinned as he nudged me into walking down the hall.  “Don’t worry – it won’t be too bad.  I promise not to let you have too much fun.”
    “Sure,” I grumbled good-naturedly.  “That’s what they all say.” 
    He laughed and the sound did funny things to my insides.  I didn’t want to like him for anything more than a friend but I could already feel the electricity flowing between us as we strolled down the hall.
    He was taller than me - my head barely clearing his shoulder – and his legs were long.  But he adjusted his stride to match mine as he teased me, making me laugh.
    We walked in a square, just meandering and talking before the warning bell, and I barely noticed the pointed looks of the other students - until we passed Gina and her friends.  She glared accusingly at me and I remembered telling her that I didn’t care if she and Fin eloped.  My heart clenched in my chest as I glanced at his profile.  No, I did care even though I hadn’t wanted to in the past.
    My morning classes seemed to take forever – the clock refusing to lend a hand and speed up a bit – but finally, the lunch bell rang and I hurried to my locker to deposit my books before meeting Fin.
    I grinned wryly as I thought about how my feelings had taken a one-eighty in such a short time.  What was it about him that made me suddenly eager to be in his company when just last week I’d thought him an arrogant pest?
    Maybe because Roberta is right – you really need someone.  You need someone to yank you out of the despair and gloom of your family life.  You need a real, true friend.
    I pondered that thought as I stood before my open locker.  Maybe I did need a friend.  Sure, I had Damon and his buddies, but I couldn’t see myself confiding in them.  I wasn’t ready to confide in Fin, either, but I could see the potential.
    “I thought you didn’t like Fin,” a voice growled behind me. 
    I shoved my stuff in to my locker, shut it, and turned around slowly.  “Excuse me?”
    Gina, alone for once, stoo d before me, her spine rigid, her eyes filled with fury.  “You said you didn’t like him yet you were all over him this morning.”
    “We’re friends,” I said.
    “What changed that?”
    Rolling my eyes, I jutted my left hip out so as to rest my balled fist on it.  The anger-demon was frothing at the mouth, ready to let her have it.  “I don’t have to explain anything to you.  Fin and I are friends now and that’s that.  If you don’t like it, sorry for your luck.”
    “Are you dating him?”
    “No,” I said too quickly, but my mind turned to our plans for Friday night.  Was it a date or just two friends hanging out?  “And so what if I did happen to date him?  What are you going to do – threaten me again?”
    “No,” she said, her eyes mere slits.  “I just want to know what he sees in you, that’s all.”  To prove her point, her eyes roved up and down my body.  Mine followed.  I wasn’t dressed as fashionably as she was as I’d chosen to wear my usual jeans and sweatshirt with my