Free Paper Airplanes by Monica Alexander Page B

sarcastically, and I felt like a complete jerk.
    He lived in my neighborhood. How the hell was I that obtuse? True, I didn’t really drive by this end of the street very often, and I didn’t really run all that much, contrary to what I was doing that morning, but still, how did I not know who he was? We’d moved in at practically the same time.
    I started to open my mouth to say something, but he just mumbled, “Typical,” and turned and walked away from me.
    My mouth was left hanging open, and I wasn’t exactly sure how to close it. I should have responded to him in kind, but I was too stunned. He was so rude. So I didn’t know him, and I felt bad that I didn’t, but this wasn’t exactly the kind of neighborhood where people brought over pies when new people moved in.
    It was a neighborhood of well to-do people who worked a lot and played a lot, but mostly in their landscaped backyards or out on their boats. And I didn’t exactly hang out in the street making friends when I was home. It was also quite possible that I might have lived most of my life with tunnel vision, but I was opening my eyes now, and I was trying to be friendly. But Jared wasn’t giving me an inch.
    Well maybe later at work I’d give him a piece of my mind. He needed to know he couldn’t treat me like I had t he plague. I wouldn’t allow it.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
    Jared
     
    I stood at the servers’ station drumming my fingers on the stainless steel countertop. I’d gotten to work early so I could have a little peace and quiet before Cassie Witter showed up and I had to deal with her. I was still irritated about our interaction from earlier that morning. She was trying to be all friendly, but I didn’t trust her. Girls like her weren’t friendly to guys like me, and I wasn’t sure why she was all of a sudden paying attention.
    I’d lived around the corner from her since I’d moved into the neighborhood before our senior year of high school, but I remembered seeing her for the first time three years before that. She’d gone to a different elementary and middle school, so we didn’t go to the same school until ninth grade. It was one of the first days of high school, and Scott and I were leaving to walk back to his house since he lived less than a mile away. I remember walking past one of the picnic tables out front of school where Cassie sat with Nicole Daniels, a girl I’d known for years who I couldn’t stand.
    I noticed Cassie first because she was really hot, and she was sitting there wearing little red shorts and a tiny tank top, and my fourteen year-old hormonal brain shot into overdrive. I heard them talking about cheerleading tryouts as we walked past, and Scott babbled on about some superhero movie he wanted to see that weekend. I was looking at my shoes, paying more attention to the conversation I could hear than what Scott was saying. When I heard her laugh, I chanced a look at Cassie. I liked her laugh. She made eye contact with me for a few seconds, but then she sneered at me like she was offended that I was even looking in her direction.
    Scott stopped short, and said, “Hey Cassie!” and waved.
    They had a class together, and he’d been talking about her at lunch and how hot she was. It wasn’t until he said her name that I realized she was the girl he’d been talking about. He’d described their conversation in detail, and he didn’t even realize that she’d been a total bitch to him. Scott was so good natured that he never thought the worst of people until they hit him over the head with their unkindness. It was almost what made it so much worse when people were mean to him. It was like kicking a dog.
    When Cassie’s gaze shifted to Scott who was smiling and waving, she l ooked surprised and then slightly horrified that he knew her name. She opened her mouth to say something, and I braced myself for how harsh it would be when Nicole called out, “Keep walking, losers! There’s nothing for you