The library wasn't that far. It was a fact which Lily was thankful for. It was also not bloody when she passed the halls on her way there. She half expected it to be the case as what Jean and Duncan joked about.
Several stares and whispers were directed at her, true, but she stood her ground and survived the supposed bloody "protest" against her which she didn't care about--maybe a little if only she was honest--but it was not like she desperately wanted to be in the List. Sighing, she was relieved no one asked her about her and Ray Carter. I would have shrinked from embarrassment and left for dead right on the floor after being stepped on a tousand times, she thought to herself, dreading the image.
Spring Dance Queen? She was flattered, she guessed, though being called that was already a long reach. Her, the Spring Dance Queen? It was unthinkable. Worse, it was laughable.
But the school's cutest couple with no other than Ray Carter? Now that was another story, the worst kind. A miles and miles and miles long reach. She wouldn't have minded it if she was the school's cutest couple with Dan Pierce. But Ray Carter?
Even the possibility of her being paired with Dan, she thought, would also be too much. Her on the List with that label was so not going to happen ever to her with anybody at all even in the wildest of wild dreams.
She liked Dan. That was given, only to friends perhaps. She was not sure about Ray Carter.
Now that she thought about Dan, she remembered the little drummer boy her grandma was talking about. She suddenly felt like she did not want to see him anytime soon; she was so embarrassed about the List.
All is well, Lily,all is well, she cheered herself up. She didn't want to be distracted now. She needed to do another "Pee-Sick" session. She needed concentration, all the energy, and not the embarrassment caused by the stupid List.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Carroll," she greeted a lady in her fifties, the school librarian.
From her table, Ms. Carroll looked up, fixed her thick eyeglasses all right, and nodded. To tell the truth, the only time that Lily set foot in the library was when she needed books as required in classes. Most of the time, she preferred Google.
She went directly to the Physics shelves and browsed all books that had the name Physics on them. They were all the same anyway. She had to be fast, start the tutorial session, and get the hell out of there.
Just when she was about to take one book off the shelf, someone was also taking it.
Talk about a pain in the ass joke, she wanted to exclaim. It was Snow White.
"It seems like you can't get away from me after all." Ray had a smirk on his face--a face Lily had now memorized so well and thought about printing a copy and pasting it on her room's wall so she could hit it with a baseball bat.
"It's the other way around, Snow White." She grumbled, "Why are you even here?" and moved past him.
"Physics? Maybe I am a bookworm or blooming bibliophile. Or it's simply because I find myself wanting to enjoy your company again. I don't know. My feet just led me to you. I mean the library. " He was walking behind her while she was looking for a table.
"Humor me." She rolled her eyes. Seriously this guy? He could be so overconfident and carefree.
He gently grabbed her arm and turned her around. "Hey, I'm just being nice to you. Is it so difficult for you to do the same? Let's play nice. Let's be nice. Nice is good."
She could do the same if he could only just keep his hands off her, she thought, because she realized he had this penchant for grabbing her arm or hand whenever he wanted to. She was never been "touched" and grabbed by guys like this before. Ever. All this seemed so natural to him. If he was just like another cocky and swollen-headed boy, she had already hit him with the books she had in her hand.
But he wasn't just like another cocky and swollen-headed boy, is he? He was arrogant, no doubt, but he was a different kind of arrogant. He was not like any other boys. He was remarkably unique which was a realization and a newly-found awareness that bother Lily.
Hell, when did she ever think of that? Of him like that?
In Fram Hill High, Ray Carter was a big shot. He was one of the cool kids. Fancy a vintage red Chrysler Nova for a car. A Fram Hill all-original for a family name. The Carters of Fram Hill were like its aristocracy, the royal family. Ray Carter's ancestors were one of the founding fathers of the town. No matter what he would do in the future history already assured him of his mark on it.
And that got to be something to be envious about, right? Lily realized so she cautiously let her arm free from Ray's hold but stopped when out of the blue she saw Dan walking towards them. Her breath caught up in her throat.
This can't be happening! She hoped her panicking was not obvious.
"Did you find it?" Dan patted Ray's left shoulder. When he noticed Lily, he smiled, beaming even and his eyes lit up. He started, "Oh, hello there, Lily. Nice to see you today. I don't think we've ever been introduced before. I'm Dan." He extended his hand to her.
She stared at his hand and then at him. For how long, she didn't know.
This is it, she mentally pushed herself to take hold of his hand and shake it. But, she was afraid that she might not let go if she did.
"Dan, I'm sorry but she's just like that. She often drifts away to some other land. Look at that face. It fascinates me. Truly," Ray said with that all too familiar teasing smirk of his. "Earth to McQueen. Earth to McQueen."
That got her attention. She threw Ray a glare and finally took Dan's hand. "Uhm... sorry. Yeah. Lily. I'm Lily. Nice to meet you too."
Good God, I'm pathetic. She wanted to shrink to the floor and be stepped on for being such a simp.
Dan was amused because she was sure he let out a chuckle. "It's funny that this is the only time I got to finally talk to you. Did you know that we were classmates in Physics elective last year?"
Yes, she knew that. She would never forget that fact. Thinking back, she was not sure if he had ever noticed she even existed in that class or had known she thoughtlessly dyed her hair blue that one time just to attract a little bit of reaction from him. But of course, she got a totally different kind of attention from the whole school because of that. "Uhm yeah... I know we were in the same class last year."
Dan nodded and smiled.
Oh my god! Oh my god! He smiled at her. His smile just made her day a lot better--his smile an ataractic remedy. Great! Her mom's vocabulary was growing on her.
Ray coughed twice, clearly bored of the silence and the awkwardness between the three of them. "I think we need to look for a table. It's tiresome to stay standing in the library, you know." He walked past between Dan and Lily and sat on the nearest chair he could find. "Come on, man. I need to get done with the stupid session. Now, where is that kid I'm supposed to tutor?"
Lily was sure he sounded irritated. Almost.
"You can join us, McQueen." Ray tapped a chair beside him. "Sit."
He was not irritated. She thought he was a constipated despot.
She looked at Dan instead, who made a way for her and was waiting for her to decide. She chose to sit across Ray and was seated next to Dan. She didn't really want to sit close to Dan but she had a feeling that it was a better option than to sit close to the freaking Ray "Leather Jacket, Snow White" Carter which was a choice she never, ever considered before.
***