Page 11 of Find Me
“Knox is your oldest brother, right?” I asked.
Colt nodded.
“I’ve met him. He didn’t seem as bad as…” I snapped my mouth shut before I could say more.
Colt snorted and Creed turned around with an ominous smirk. “Bad as what? Me?”
Getting a little tired of his attitude, I squared my shoulders. “Yes.”
He appeared surprised yet delighted by my honesty. “How long did you interact with Knox?”
“Briefly,” I answered. “And during those brief interactions it didn’t escape my notice that he had a prickly personality. But at least he wasn’t an outright jerk.”
“Ah, you think I don’t like you,” Creed said with a look of understanding. “Why, because I said you keep me up at night?” He moved up in the line where the trays to collect your lunch were. He grabbed one and held it out to me. “I don’t know you enough to dislike you, but I don’t know you well enough to like you either. As for this morning, I was tired and I’m not nice to anyone when I’m tired.”
Half of me felt guilty and the other half wanted to snap at him for making assumptions about me. At odds over what to do, I said nothing, and I took the tray from him.
He looked at Colt, who had been quiet during mine and Creed’s exchange. “Happy? I made up with our hot screaming neighbor.”
Colt sighed as Creed turned to grab a tray for himself. “I was until you ruined it by putting your foot back into your mouth.”
I snorted. They were polar opposites. Like Shayla and me. The thought sobered me, and I chastised myself for constantly comparing us to them. I had to stop doing that. Colt was sort of becoming my friend. I wouldn’t be able to be his friend if every time I looked at him and Creed, I became overwhelmed with sadness. So no more.
The food here was set up kind of like a buffet. I pointed at what I wanted from the different selections laid out under the glass cover and the cafeteria lady piled it onto a plate. I chose a pre-made sandwich, a bag of carrots, and a water bottle.
“Thank you so much for sticking with me today,” I said to Colt. “I’ve never had to start somewhere new and alone before.”
“No problem. How are you liking it so far?” Colt asked.
“So far it’s been alright.”I’m not looking forward to gym.
“Why? Don’t you go running every morning?” Colt asked, making me realize I had said my thoughts out loud.
I bit my bottom lip nervously. I didn’t want to lie but I didn’t want to tell him the truth either. “Uh… stupid reasons.”
Thankfully, he let it go. We paid for our food and I followed them over to a table Ethan and a few others were already sitting at.
“Shiloh!” Ethan shouted my name when he saw me walking toward their table.
Startled, I jumped, almost flinging everything on my tray in the air. My cheeks burned. Pretty much everyone in the entire cafeteria looked my way. I had the urge to hide and I inadvertently ducked partly behind Creed, who happened to be closest. He peered over his shoulder at me as I fixated on the sleeve of his black T-shirt while trying to reel in my embarrassment. I didn’t like having this much attention. Shayla had been a magnet for it. I’d always liked to fly under the radar.
“Ethan, cool it, man,” Colt said.
Ethan looked from Colt to me. He took in my flushed appearance and chuckled.
I was determined to put myself out there a little more to make friendships. In order to do that, I’d need to get past my insecurities. I exhaled before squaring my shoulders and walking out from behind Creed to set my tray down on the table across from where Ethan sat.
“You don’t like to be the center of attention, do you, Shiloh?” he teased as I sat down. Colt took a seat on my left and surprisingly, Creed sat in the seat on my right.
“No,” I answered honestly.
“I think I need to move to Alaska,” Ethan said.
One of his jock friends snorted and asked him why.
“Because I think that’s where the rest of the girls as adorable as Shiloh are hiding.”
“Not everyone likes to be the center of attention,” I said as I opened my sandwich.