The New Boy [boyxboy]

Chapter Three

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

So school was decidedly… chaotic, today.

                Andie stayed over last night even though it was a school night and kept me up for hours waxing lyrical about Dexter. I mean, I agreed with everything she had to say about him, but even that made me uncomfortable. He’s beautiful, check. He’s funny, check. He’s mysterious, check. He’s enticing, check.

                But I have a boyfriend. A boyfriend who’s very ethos on life is to be perfect. So if I have a supposedly perfect boyfriend, why am I so drawn to Dexter? Who, let’s face it, is obviously less than perfect. Aside from his Adonis-like good looks, which are flawless, he’s a self-confessed trouble-maker. He has issues with authority figures (who I typically fear) and agrees that he needs “looking after” or he’ll get into trouble.

                Which, with my lamentable school record, is not something I should be craving to get involved with. And yet, here I am, sitting in my room on a Monday night, daydreaming about the boy next door and writing about him in my diary.

                So. After about four hours of sleep and actually falling out of the bed in shock when my alarm went off, I was in an unequivocally bad mood by the time we traipsed out the car.

                ‘I’ll get Dexter and Teegan!’ Andie chirped, who somehow was managing to look as fresh as a daisy. I had deep purple circles under my eyes and looked even paler than usual. Possibly I resembled a recently-exhumed corpse, but I had been too frightened to look in the mirror to confirm this, so I can’t say for certain.

                I slid dejectedly into the driver’s seat and slipped on my sunglasses, even though it was kind of a dull day. I could get away with it for as long as we were driving but I knew I’d have to take them off in school. I felt like I was horribly hungover; I have no doubt that’s how I looked as well.

                A few moments later the other three appeared and Andie got into the passenger seat, leaving the backseat for the Anderson siblings.

                ‘Morning,’ Teegan said in her usual monotonous voice, and for once I was glad of the absence of emotion. I was in no fit state to be handling excitement (not that that was stopping Andie, who was practically vibrating beside me).

                ‘Morning,’ I said back, my voice practically a croak. How was Andie so cheerful? How was she so happy? I felt like death cooled down.

                ‘You sound chipper,’ Dexter observed, and once again I felt like he was laughing internally at some joke I wasn’t seeing.

                ‘It’s a Monday,’ I said by way of explanation, and I caught his understanding look in the rear-view as I pulled away from the kerb.

                I had texted Gary the night before explaining that I’d meet him at school this morning instead of getting a lift with him like I usually did. I was as honest as possible, saying I had to drop in the new kids from next door, but I still felt like the worst kind of low when he replied that he understood and he was looking forward to seeing me. It occurred to me briefly that I was mostly looking forward to seeing Dexter again, but I suppressed the thought and ignored it until it went away.

                ‘So what classes are you guys taking?’ Andie asked, turning in her seat to look back at them.

Teegan didn’t even bother to reply, knowing the question wasn’t aimed at her, but Dexter smiled happily and said, ‘I’m taking Maths, Film Studies, French, and Dance.’ He seemed completely unfazed by the fact that this was the most eclectic grouping of subjects possible and unlikely to take him in any particular university course direction. ‘What about you guys?’