Silver Lining

Chapter 19 - 7 years ago (2)

*Riverdale High School Cafeteria*

Clara's POV

"Clara, why do you look so tired?" Dorris asked me as she sat down opposite of me with her tray of food.

"Really? I was up late last night with Veronica at Jake's party, I think that's why," I replied while yawning away, but then it could also be because I couldn't get into sleep as I got too excited about Rico. I smiled to myself at the thought of it.

"What are you smiling at? Something is fishy...Share with me!" Dorris attempted to "interrogate" me with her fork pointing at me.

I pushed her fork aside and confessed to Dorris about the wonderful guy I met last night, "Well, I met someone really nice and cute at Jake's party last night."

"Aww... Look at yourself, you're blushing already! I'm so happy for you, who is that lucky guy?" Dorris shrieked in excitement.

Just as I was aboutto tell Dorris who he was, Rico walked into the cafeteria and he immediatelyhad everyone's attention because he was just too charming to not look at.Everything was like in slow motion with the music of "At Last" byEtta James ringing in my head at that breath-taking moment when he walked intothe cafeteria, the way he walked and the way he brushes his hand through hishair.

I was brought back to earth when Dorris waved her hands hard at me, "Hello, Clara! Are you there?!"

"Yea?" I blinked hard and replied her after realising that I went into a temporary trance mode because of Rico.

"The guy who just walked in, that's him that I was talking about," I replied as I felt the heat of adrenaline rush blushing through my face.

"You mean Rico Barnes? That new guy in our school?" Dorris asked me.

"Yea, that's him, I didn't know he is new to our school, though," I replied.

"Wow... Clara, you sure you weren't hallucinating?" Dorris raised her eyebrow at me as she asked like she was in disbelief.

"No, I'm not, why did you say that?" I replied with a tinge of my pride feeling hurt when Dorris asked me that question.

"Well, don't you know how popular he is in our school right now? He is like the new sensation in our school, and it's not because he is new but because he is really way too hot to resist," Dorris explained as she munched on her food.

I understand where Dorris was coming from, I'm indeed someone out of his league. Maybe he was just being friendly with me, maybe I was just thinking too much... I sighed as these thoughts came crushing on my pride.

As I began to dig back in my food, a familiar husky voice rang by my ears, "Hey Clara, do you mind if I join in for lunch?"

I looked up and gasped at the sight of the perfect-looking Rico Barnes standing right in front of me. I didn't realise that I have accidentally squeezed the juice box in my hands out of excitement that the juice started flowing out until Dorris called out to me.

"Oh oh, sure, no... no problem!" I stuttered as I cleaned up the clumsy mess I made. My heart raced when Rico sat next to me, I couldn't believe that this was happening, neither did Dorris.

Rico smiled at us and introduced himself to Dorris, "Hi, I'm Rico Barnes, and you're...?"

Dorris stuck out her hand nervously as she replied, "I'm Dorris, Clara's best friend."

Then Rico turned his attention back to me and said, "Seems like ages since I last met you, last night was wonderful."

I had an instant meltdown when I heard him saying that, because deep inside my heart I was yelling, "Yea!! Me too!!"

At the corner of my eyes, I could see Dorris staring at me with her wide-opened eyes and she was mouthing the words, "What the f*** did you do last night?!" It was then that I realised how shady that sentence could mean, I had to explain to Dorris about this before she misinterprets further, "Yea, it was nice chatting with you over juice box last night." I let out a nervous awkward smile at Dorris while raising up my juice box to emphasise that nothing shady happened between us. Dorris heaved a sigh of relief that I hadn't done anything wrong against my morals.

Then Veronica appeared in front of us and fling her hair back in a flirtatious way as she said, "Wow... Clara, I see that you've got a new friend here, care to introduce him?"

I could see Dorris rolling her eyes at the sight of Veronica, she hated Veronica to every bit.

"Oh sure, Veronica, this is Rico Barnes. We met at the party last night. Rico, this is Veronica Cadwell, she's my roommate." I stood up and introduced both parties to each other.

"Oh you were there at last night's party? How could I miss out on you?" Veronica asked like she couldn't believe that Rico wasn't magnetised to her last night.

I know Veronica is hot that there's no man on earth that can turn himself away from her if she wants him. I could sense that she had her "claws" over Rico already. I sighed at the thought that Rico is most probably going to bewitch by her.

To my surprise, Rico replied to her in a way that no other man has ever done it to her. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be hard to miss out on me when you're too busy with them," Rico replied her sarcastically as he looked over to Jake's table. Veronica turned her head to the direction that Rico was looking at and kind of got the hint from Rico that she was a promiscuous woman in his eyes.

However, Veronica isn't like any other ordinary attractive woman, she is a smart leo woman with a large ego. She is sultry, but she ain't a loose woman. She takes on rejection more like a challenge for her to overcome. I could see the flame of determination in her eyes that she will get Rico succumbed to her at all cost.

That worries me even more because I'm definitely no match for her.

Rico's POV

After I walked into the cafeteria to grab lunch, I caught a glimpse of Clara when I scanned around for a seat. It was a delight to see her again, it felt like ages since I last met her even though we just met last night. I walked over to where she sat and saw her with another friend.

It was really intriguing to see her reaction when she saw me. Her timorous personality makes her so adorable and appealing to me. Her friend Dorris seems like a genuine person to me too, I guess she is a good person too since she is Clara's best friend, birds of the same feather flock together after all.

Just as I wasenjoying my conversation with them, a familiar irksome sight appeared in frontof us. It was the same "hot babe" that hooked up with Jake and histeam-mates at last night party. Woman of such calibre turns me off, maybe it'sbecause my irresponsible father left my mother alone to raise me up for apromiscuous woman like her. So I couldn't help being sarcastic to her when shetried to get friendly with me.