by Bryna Butler
Chapter 2: Mystery Loaf with Cheese
The first day of school at Valley View High was like many others. The rain of the night before had already evaporated in the late summer heat. It now held in the air, making it muggy and thick. Inside everything smelled new. The classrooms were freshly painted; the floors freshly scrubbed. The school was alive with the squeaks of new sneakers and excited chatter of friends catching up after the long summer.
Colby’s mom gave him a ride to school. Keira, on the other hand, was forced to ride the bus. After a rather uneventful morning, she spotted her best friend in the hallway at his locker, his nose deeply immersed in a map of the school.
“Hey, if it isn’t Uncle Hayes. How have you been, dear old man?”
“Quite well, Miss Ryan,” Colby grinned as he threw the map into his locker and shut the door.
“Walk me to lunch?”
“Are you sure that you don’t want to weasel your way to your sweet William’s table?”
“Ooh. My sweet William. I like the sound of that,” beamed Keira as she took Colby by the arm. They started down the hallway. “I’m sure that we can find the perfect spot so that I can stalk…I mean, keep an eye on, William and you can drool over…I mean…well, I was right the first time…drool over…Brooke.”
“Very funny, but I’ve got my own plan.”
“You don’t mean…”
“I’m going to do it. I’m asking Brooke to the Fall Ball,” Colby said as he dropped her arm to push through the doors at the end of the hallway.
Now, please understand, the last time that Keira witnessed Colby showing this type of social confidence was in kindergarten when he rescued her lunchbox from Jumper Johnson. The only time he ever spoke up was in class, and even then, only when called on. Colby could barely utter a ‘hello’ to a girl that he liked, let alone ask her out.
Shocked by her friend’s new-found assurance, Keira couldn’t help but let out a quiet gasp at his declaration. “And I thought you were going to say that you would try to sit near her at lunch.” She gathered up her shock and patted him on the back. “This is a huge step. I’m proud of you.” Really she was just thinking one thought; I hope he doesn’t puke on her shoes.
The duo made their way across the crowded commons area and into the lunch line. “Yipee! Honors chem and mystery loaf with cheese. High school rocks!” Keira yelled. Colby closed his eyes, slightly embarrassed by her outburst, but not surprised.
Round tables occupied by the geeks, the jocks, the carefree, and the cool, covered every inch of the commons area. The noise of clattering trays seemed to fill the space not taken by tables. Teachers gently pushed through the gobs of students shouting orders like ‘Don’t cut in line’, ‘Only take what you’ll eat’ and ‘No horseplay’. Their guidance was the only clarity in the total chaos. However, there was an oasis amidst the pandemonium, a wall of windows on the north side. The windowed wall made the whole space feel warm and open. Typically, Keira would choose a seat there so that she could stare at the sunny sky and daydream about being free from school. Her eyes certainly drifted that way, but a loud laugh from the object of her obsession lured her back into her mission.
Keira glanced quickly to make sure that she was not the cause of his spontaneous laughter. No, at least not this time. It was probably just a joke or some juicy gossip. She scanned the room and spotted gal pal Ann Martin eating solo at a table within a few feet of William and his friends. “Jackpot!”
Colby may have been Keira’s best friend, but Ann was her best girl friend. The independent and clever Ann Martin was more level-headed than anyone Keira knew, often dispelling that old myth about the temper of girls with red hair. Best of all, Ann had a penchant for gossip. Actually, it was much more than that. Ann had a gift for getting to the truth fast. She loved hunting out a story, which made sense because she long held dreams of becoming the next Katie Couric.
Keira clearly spent more time with Colby than with Ann, but she devoted a certain amount of that time trying to set Colby up on a date with Ann. That’s what Colby thought this was.
Half pulling, half dragging Colby with one hand and balancing her lunch tray with the other, Keira made her way through the commons in a beeline for Ann’s table. By the time she reached the table, none other than the infamous Jumper Johnson had pulled up a chair. Keira dropped Colby’s arm and plopped down beside Jumper. Ann was on his other side watching Keira anxiously. She had seen that look in Keira’s eye far too often. Colby knew that look too. It was the same one that caused butterflies in his stomach. Keira scooted her chair close to Jumper with a wide grin on her face.
“Jumper, how strange, I was just thinking about you,” Keira sweetly whispered. She lifted her hand and gave him a flirtatious stroke on the cheek.
“Really?”
“Oh yes, Jump,” she said, her hand now running through his hair. “I just can’t seem to get you off my mind.”
“Now, Keira, I’m just not into you like….”
“Hush darling. I know our tragic love was never meant to be.”
Ann and Colby busted into uncontrollable, howling laughter. Every student within four tables distance turned to find the source of the commotion. Keira could see a red wave wash up Jumper’s neck and face to his dusty brown hair. The sight reminded her of a boiling thermometer.
“You told her already,” Jumper surmised. “Real funny, Ryan. You’re such a pain.” He shifted his chair further from Keira, as close as possible to Ann.
“Relax, Jump, I’m only kiddin’. I love it that you two are dating. I never thought about it before, but you and Ann are good for each other.”
“I think so,” said Ann with a grin. She gave him a peck on the cheek.
“Yeah. Ann is smart, kind, beautiful, and funny. I guess opposites do attract, huh Jump?”
Jumper glared at her. “Oh, you are so gonna get it. You won’t know when or…”
He stopped in mid-sentence as the double doors burst open. A confident smile spread across the face of Brooke Banes as she strode into the room. Her playfully short turquoise dress showed just the right amount of her lean body and flawless, sun-kissed skin. Long blond curls bounced at her shoulders as she walked. Brooke didn’t look like your average freshman girl. She was like a real, live Barbie doll…ridiculously perfect. All eyes were on her; just as they always were.Colby was never the type to fall for appearances. Still, Keira couldn’t help but notice him, noticing Brooke. She knew he was a teenage boy, but couldn’t quite understand his infatuation with Brooke, and it was definitely infatuation. More than a passing crush, he was actually working up the nerve to ask Brooke to the dance.
Colby spoke of no other girl. What do you think she’s really like? Do you think she’s as cool as everyone says? These were just two of the hundreds of questions that Keira had quickly found tiresome. After all, he only knew her by reputation since Brooke didn’t attend their middle school.
Keira liked to think that his interest was based deeper than appearance. After all, this was Colby. He wasn’t into that artificial stuff. He was better than that. She preferred to assume that Brooke’s recent drama had endeared her to him. Her family moved to town last spring. No one really knew her until she started dating Bobby Crimson.
Bobby was the guy at Valley View High. A competitive skateboarder, the bleach blonde bad boy was well on his way to being the next X-Games star. He and Brooke broke up in a very public fight at the Independence Day fireworks. She had accused him of cheating on her with one of his skoopies (Ann coined the word as a combination of skateboard and groupies). Bobby had nearly twenty skoopies. They followed him from competition to competition and even stalked him at school.
Anyway, Brooke accused him of cheating and he denied it. Her distrust was more than his monster ego could take. “You better back up and rethink. You need me, not the other way around. I can get a dozen more just like you. Just say the word, baby; set me free,” Keira remembered him screaming at her in fr
ont of everyone. Brooke ran away in tears. A month later, Bobby went missing. The FBI was still in pursuit of the lead suspect, a meth-ravaged drifter that was spotted in the skate park earlier that week. Keira couldn’t begin to imagine the regret that Brooke must be carrying. There hadn’t been any boys in her life since the breakup, which sadly meant that a soft-spoken bookworm like Colby had zero chance.
As Brooke passed the gang’s table, she smiled at Colby. To Keira’s surprise, it was not just any smile, but an intentional, lingering gaze. However, it didn’t even last long enough to break her stride as she kept moving until she reached her final destination…the cheerleaders table. As she sat down, the commons slowly returned to its pre-Brooke state.
Ann leaned over the table toward Keira to interrupt her gaze. She had completely zoned out, thinking about Colby and Brooke. Ann lifted her hand to cover the side of her face as she spoke.
“Did you see you-know-who sitting right over there?” Ann whispered, nodding toward William’s table.
“Oh, you know, that I know, where the who-that-you-know is.”
“For crying out loud, we can hear you. Is that even English?” Jumper asked with disgust. The girls just ignored him.
Keira’s eyes were now set on him. William Swift was seated just a few feet away at a table with five other players from the varsity football team. He was wearing jeans and his white practice jersey which complemented his dark complexion. His muscular arms moved gracefully into huge gestures as he talked. His eyes were wide with excitement in the story he was telling. When he smiled, the dimple in his cheek showed. When he laughed, Keira felt weak in the knees. She was staring at his spiked, black hair, wondering what it would feel like if she could reach out and touch it. That’s when he caught her gaze. He returned it with a quick smile, then shook his head and turned his eyes to the floor shyly.
Keira breath stopped. She quickly looked down at her tray and smiled to herself. After a few moments, when they were sure that he was no longer paying attention, Ann and Keira squealed with delight. Their voices hit a register that the guys were sure only dogs could appreciate. For the remainder of the lunch period, the girls plotted out the best possible scenarios for matching up Keira and William. All too soon, the bell rang and students quickly dissipated into the halls.
“Catch you later, Hayes. Ready, babe?” Jumper asked. He picked Ann up to stand on her chair and turned around, offering a piggy-back ride. She jumped on and they galloped out of the commons. Colby could have sworn that he heard Jumper whinny as they pushed through the doors.
Colby walked straight to his locker and started fishing out his books and the crumpled school map for the afternoon. A few moments later, Keira wandered by and rested against the neighboring lockers.
“We’ve got English together this afternoon, right?” Keira asked Colby as he started to hurry away.
“See you there, troublemaker heartbreaker,” he replied as he tripped spilling his books on the floor. She drifted down the hallway to help.
