“I heard it from Leslie, who heard it from Cindy. Today’s his first day. OMG, he’s supposed to be GORGEOUS. As in drop-dead. He transferred here. Nobody knows from where. He’s from, like, a super-rich family. They’ve got this huge mansion on the river.”
“I heard something about him,” Becca said. “Darlene was talking about him this morning. She said he’s a senior. Tall, really hot.”
“I heard he already has a girlfriend,” chimed in Maria.
“That’s not true. Cindy told me he’s definitely single,” Jasmin said.
“Won’t be long until he’s snatched up,” Becca added.
“My God, do you think he’s going to the dance? You think he already has a date?”
“You kidding? He just got here. How could he? But he will. I hear Vivian’s crowd is already trying to snatch him up. They’ve like already invited him to parties and one of them already asked him—”
Suddenly, the murmuring in the cafeteria grew quiet. Everybody in the room turned, looked towards the door.
There, walking alone through the double doors, was the most beautiful boy Scarlet had ever seen. About six feet tall, with broad shoulders and long-ish brown hair, he had a proud jaw, a straight nose, and large, gray eyes. He had such a proud, noble face, like an ancient Roman warrior.
As he strutted into the room, Scarlet felt like he was royalty or something.
He looked too glamorous to be in this room, like he belonged on the cover of a magazine. And he walked with such confidence, he looked like the only man in a room full of boys—though his face looked young, ageless. In fact, there was something to his face, something mysterious, other-worldly. His skin was so polished, so perfect, it looked radiant.
“O—M—G,” Maria whispered to the others, as the chatter in the room slowly picked up again, as the boy strutted across the room, to the food line. “That is BY FAR the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. OMG,” she said again.
As Maria turned back to the table, Scarlet could see she was so flustered, her face had turned bright red. She was sweating. She reached up and wiped her forehead with her hand, then waved herself as if trying to get air. “I think I’m dreaming.”
“You’re not,” Becca said. “I saw it, too.”
“He’s mine,” Maria said. “There is my date.”
“Are you kidding?” Jasmin said. “Every girl in the school’s gonna want him.”
“What are you saying, I can’t compete?” Maria shot back.
“No—I’m just saying—I mean, like, good luck. You might be up against everyone.”
“I’ll find a way,” Maria said.
“How do you know he doesn’t already have a girlfriend?” Becca asked. “I mean, he looks older than everyone. Maybe he’s like dating someone outside of school. Maybe like someone in college or something.”
“I don’t care,” Maria said. “Am I dreaming, or have you never seen a guy that hot in your life?” They all nodded in agreement, looking over and watching him at the food line. Scarlet could see in their faces they all wished they were dating him, too.
As Scarlet sat there, watching him at the food line, she couldn’t help but feel the same way.
There was something about this boy: every move he made, every gesture, was so graceful, so noble.
So proud. The way he moved, it was so smooth, so different from everyone around him. And when he smiled back at the serving people, she saw rows of gleaming white teeth, his perfect jaw line, and the most beautiful smile she’d ever seen. For a moment, all thoughts of Blake left her mind.
As he reached the register and paid, he picked up his tray and surveyed the room. Scarlet could see hundreds of eyes staring back at him, then quickly looking away, pretending not to look.
For a second, Scarlet saw him look their way, at her table. And then, for the briefest moment, she thought they locked eyes.
She couldn’t believe it. Her heart started pounding in her chest. Was this really happening?
“Oh my God,” Maria said, “he’s looking at me. Do you see him? He’s looking at me!” Maria was sitting close to Scarlet, and Scarlet felt certain he was staring at her, not at Maria. But she didn’t have the heart to say anything. And besides, Maria had made it clear how much she wanted this boy, and Maria was her best friend.
So, as smitten as she was, Scarlet forced herself to look away, to look anywhere but at him. She prided herself on being a loyal friend, no matter what.
The boy slowly crossed the room, walking past their table.
“OMG, he’s heading this way,” Maria said, flustered. Scarlet had never seen her that flustered before. She was acting as if she were in the presence of a celebrity.
He walked past their table, and Scarlet made a point to look away, to make sure that their eyes did not meet again. After he passed, she waited several seconds, then glanced over, and looked to see where he went. He sat at an empty table, at the far end of the cafeteria, by himself, his back to all the others.
“Okay, now’s your chance,” Jasmin said to Maria. “He’s sitting there, all alone. Make your move.”
But Maria was totally flustered.
“You crazy?” she said. “Everyone’s watching. I can’t just like walk over there by myself and try to pick him up.”
“Why not?” Jasmin said. “You just said you wanted to.”
Maria slumped.
“What if he like…says no?” she asked. Scarlet could hear how scared she sounded.
“Chicken,” Jasmin goaded.
“I’m not chicken,” she said.
But at the same time, Maria just sat there, frozen, a shade of crimson, too terrified to cross the room and go to him.
Scarlet couldn’t blame her. The entire school would be watching her, and if she got rejected, she would never live it down.
Scarlet couldn’t bear to turn and look at the boy, either. But for a very different reason.
Because, for the first time in her life, Scarlet knew she had just seen the boy that she was destined to be with forever.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Caitlin sat at her breakfast table in the large house, late in the morning, all alone, trying to will her life to return to normal. It was not easy. She was still shaking inside, and had been ever since she’d dropped Scarlet off at school. She just couldn’t bring herself to work today, and had called in sick. Ruth alone had kept her company, Caleb long gone at work. Not that his presence here would have given her much solace: since their big argument in the hospital, they were hardly on speaking terms.