anticipation.
âHis name is Anthony,â I said.
Andiâs brow furrowed with confusion. âDo we have an Anthony in our class?â she asked, tucking a blond strand behind her ear.
âDark, curly hair?â I said.
Lindsey nodded. âAnthony Rucelli.â
Andi crinkled her blond eyebrows like she still wasnât sure. âWait, is that the guy who eats lunch in the library every day?â She nodded to herself. âThatâs right. I know who youâre talking about. Aidan sat next to him in trig and he texts his mother like fifty times a day. And he chews his pencils. Whatever.â She sliced her hand through the air as if dismissing the thought of him.
âHe seemed nice,â I said. I felt like I made some kind of mistake, like with the soup.
âHe may be nice,â Andi said. âBut heâs never at any parties, and at school he just kind of fades into the background.â She stood up with determination. I noticed her take on the school uniform included a cute khaki skirt rather than pants and that her hunter green top with tiny detail on the cap sleeves was unbuttoned at the bottom like sheâd just thrown it on one second ago. She really did look like a Guess model. I felt a little awed just to be in her presence. âCome on, after everything youâve been through, you deserve to meet the real guys .â
We walked across the room toward a table near the patio doors. As we crossed the cafeteria, Andiâs hand flew left and right, like a flight attendant pointing out the exit doors.
âThatâs Walker Montgomeryâhis dad works at NBC studios. Travis Martinâhis parents are the defense attorney team from that huge murder-dismember-mob case last year. Helena Lenderâas in the bagel. Lucas Baileyâhis dad runs a hedge fund downtownâincredibly rich.â
We stopped in front of the patio doors. âAnd these,â Andi did the flight attendant hands again, âare the guys.â She looked around. âWhereâs Owen?â she asked no one in particular.
Two guys sat at the table, casually joking and eating burgers. Both had perfect faces with shiny white teeth.
Note to self: Get some Crest Whitestrips.
The guy with shaggy brown hair jumped up and pecked Andi on the cheek.
Andi turned to me. âEmily, this is my boyfriend, Aidan.â
He nodded. âHey.â He pushed his hair away from his eyes.
Lindsey put her hand on my shoulder. âThis is Emilyâs first day.â
The lanky guy stood up, reached over for a few napkins, and balled them up. He flexed his wrist and shot the napkin wad halfway across the room into the garbage can.
âSwish,â Aidan said, giving the beanpole a high five.
âThatâs Ethan,â Andi said. âOur resident basketball star. Heâs being recruited by every college in the country. Even the NBA has contacted him.â
Ethan did an exaggerated bow before sitting back down.
Then, out of the blue, like flowers stirring in the breeze, all heads in the cafeteria turned. Through the doors walked a guy. And even in this room of flawlessness, he transcended perfection. It wasnât his short, blond hair, or his intense, jade green eyes. It was some imperceptible quality that made all eyes just linger and swoon. As he breezed through the lunchroom toward us, my breath caught.
Andiâs flight attendant hand shot out toward Mr. Perfect. âThis is Owen.â
O-wen. Even his name had a singsong quality that made me breathy .
He smiled at me, and crash boom âit was like someone pressed two paddles to my chest and shocked the life back into me.
âHi,â I squeaked out.
âHi,â Owen said, holding his gaze a little longer than necessary.
The electricity coursed through my veins with rapid fire. There was no doubt in my mind that if I reached out and touched him, just the slightest contact, there would be a spark.
Owen