AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How could I be when my anxiety is playing its games with me?
All I can concentrate on is the curious stares from the other students flicking our way as we walk down the hall.
Daisy was right.
These kids haven't had fresh blood in this school in a long ass time, which means there was no way I would have ever passed under their radar. It only gets worse when Kyle and I enter the busy cafeteria. Kids pry their gazes from their lunch trays to gawk and stare at me. It's almost like I'm some beacon, attracting all this unwanted attention.
It's unnerving.
Kyle, however, seems to be utterly oblivious to it all.
Or maybe, he's just pretending to be.
"See? Isn't pizza better than a tuna sandwich?" he teases, placing two slices of pepperoni pizza on my plate.
I'm a little miffed that he just assumed I wanted pizza instead of anything else on display. Honestly, my anxious stomach won't be able to handle it, and I would rather have had a simple salad than greasy cafeteria junk food.
Still, instead of getting what I want, I let him pay for my lunch, making a note of only having a few bites so I don’t get sick later on.
"Hey, you're in luck. There's an empty seat at your brother's table," he proclaims excitedly, heading to a large round table at the corner of the room.
"I don't have a brother—" I start confused, then slam my mouth shut when it hits me.
He means Noah.
Fuck.
Word sure gets around here. I bet Kyle knew who I was before he even laid eyes on me this morning.
My gaze scans the table in question, and just as I suspected, Noah is surrounded by what I can only assume are his friends. Yeah, no way am I sitting there.
"Kyle!" I call out, but he's too far away to hear me.
Goddamn it!
I take a deep breath and plant the fakest smile I can muster as I follow him.
One lunch.
I can survive one lunch with Noah.
If I can survive family dinners with him, I can survive this.
I think.
"Hey, look who I found?" Kyle says when he reaches the table, me now at his heel. Everyone stops what they are doing to see what Kyle is going on about, but it's not their prying eyes that churn my stomach—it'shis.
After Kyle places his tray on the table, he grabs an empty chair for me, which to my chagrin, I have no choice but to sit in.
"Thought it would be nice if your sister could have lunch with a familiar face, being it her first day and all," Kyle adds cheerfully after he's taken the empty seat next to me.
"Haven't you heard?" Noah says, not taking his eyes off his phone. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." He then breaks his gaze away from his screen just long enough to stare me in the eye. "And that…is not my sister."
My cheeks flush crimson with the few chuckles that erupt from the table.
"Fine.Stepsister. Don't be a dick." Kyle waves him off like he's used to this type of bad behavior from Noah.
But then again, maybe he is. Perhaps they all are.
