Silent by Sara Alva

friends already?” I highly doubted a girl like her was unattached from a social crowd.
    “Oh, I have plenty of friends…but I’ve been told I also have a thing for the charity cases.”
    “I didn’t ask for no charity.” I turned away, knowing my glare was back and not wanting to give her another thing to laugh at.
    “’Course you didn’t. I didn’t say I liked the needy types.”
    I was out of things to say that made any sense. Could she really have picked me out of a crowd just to flirt with? I mean, I knew I was attractive enough, but this seemed a little out of the ordinary.
    “Well, anyhow, I’m gonna go back over to my friends.” She pointed to another table. “But maybe I’ll see you around.”
    She left abruptly, and I watched her curvy rear as it swayed away. On second thought, she was more than just ‘not bad looking.’ Pretty, actually.
    I ate one more soggy tater-tot before switching to the apple for a better texture. Chewing thoughtfully, I considered taking the opening Laloni had given me. I had to admit it was possible I could establish a new life for myself at this school…but did that mean I was giving up on my old one?
    Shit, not my old one. My real one.
    Still…being less of a loser at school wouldn’t hurt. Maybe it’d make me feel more like myself, and help me get a grip on what it was I should be doing to make things right in my life again.
    And Laloni was hot, which could only help my reputation. I’d also never been with a black girl before, though I didn’t think my mother would’ve been too pleased.
    If she only knew the half of it.
     
    ~*~
     
    As it turned out, I didn’t have to wait very long to meet up with Laloni again. I caught sight of her leaning against the light pole in front of the school that afternoon, one knee turned in like she was posing for a picture. A few guys passed by to talk to her, and she tilted her hips, swinging her braids around as she laughed at whatever it was they were saying. With that level of easy confidence, no doubt the girl knew she looked good.
    Conflicting emotions rose in me immediately. Did I really want to start another pointless relationship? And even if I did, should I make contact again so soon? It might seem a bit desperate, and I’d kind of wanted to talk it over with Seb and a cigarette before taking any action.
    Then I shook my head violently, trying to clear the cobwebs from my mind. Talk it over with a retarded mute? That was the kind of behavior that was contributing to my loser image in the first place.
    “Hey, Laloni.” I called out to her, keeping my hands in my pockets and walking over slowly.
    “Hey, Alex,” she responded with a knowing smile. It kind of unnerved me, but I figured it was just because I was out of practice.
    “So, uh…you a freshman?”
    Brilliant conversation-starter. Of course she was a freshman, since we shared a lunch period.
    “Mhm. I think I have English after you…saw you leaving the classroom late the other day.”
    “Oh.” I shrugged. “Why rush out of class? Only losers do that.”
    She laughed. “Whatever you say, Alex.”
    I was striking out here, and I knew it. I didn’t usually have to work this hard to get a girl interested. Maybe since I’d never really wanted a girl interested in the first place.
    “So…uh…I just moved here. Neighborhood seems kinda lame. What do you guys do for fun around here?”
    When she laughed, the ribbons on the ends of her braids danced back and forth. “Hang out with friends, mostly. What was so great about the neighborhood you came from? They had some kind of under-eighteen club or something?”
    “Uh…” I kicked at a white scuff on my Keds. “No. We’d throw our own parties, I guess.”
    “And there’s a rule that says you can’t do that here?”
    There was, actually. Ms. Loretta only allowed birthday parties, and mine wasn’t for another few months.
    “Oh, guess you’d need friends for that,” she added, her face straight but