by Jenn
Rachel turned her head away from the rest of the group, so no one would see her rolling her eyes in annoyance. That was such a Melody thing to do. Only Melody would have the guts to do something like that...
Rachel smiled to herself as she fondly remembered all the crazy things that Melody had done to guys who had tried to pick her up. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into. These poor men saw a stunning blonde who appeared to be sweet as honey, but one wrong move, and Melody had a tendency to sting like a bee. Rachel had seen it one too many times before. Another loud chorus of contagious giggles interrupted Rachel's thoughts, and she sighed as she turned back towards her friends and attempted to clue in on the discussion at hand.
Karen was rambling incoherently about some mistake that Mr. O'Connor, their old and incompetent science teacher, had made when grading her project on "quadra heptane sodium benzene peroxide". . Rachel sighed dramatically and propped her right elbow up on the lunch table, resting her chin in her hand. It was going to be a looong lunch hour....
Rachel gazed around the bustling cafeteria of Summer Hill College. Her eyes lingered on a table of guys, resting on one in particular. His green eyes twinkled as he laughed at something, causing a beautiful grin to spread across his already perfect face. Seeing him smile made Rachel beam with happiness. All it took was the sight of his cute 'lil dimples, and Rachel practically melted into a puddle right then and there.
"Oh no, guys, just look at her!" Melody pointed drastically at Rachel, who was gazing dreamily at Matt, the longtime object of her affections. "Rachel?" Melody snapped her fingers together in front of Rachel's face, with no response. "Yo, girl snap out of it!!" Rachel continued to gape at the boy, a goofy smile planted firmly on her face.
"Oh my..." Elizabeth, the sensible one of the group, shook her head back and forth, causing a cascade of soft blond curls to bounce daintily. She could never understand what the point was of wasting�precious time and energy loving someone who was obviously unachievable, and clearly a jerk. Elizabeth followed Rachel's stare, just in time to see Matt chugging down Pepsi like a barbarian while his buddies rooted him on.
"Now that " Elizabeth said while pointing towards Matt and the gang, "is exactly why I do not waste my time on teenage boys. I prefer my men, and I stress the word MEN, mature." A few of the girls nodded in agreement.
"Aw, c'mon, they aren't all that bad.." Melody stated. Everyone's mouths dropped in shock. Melody never, EVER, had a good thing to say about the male species. And she had plenty of experience to back up her opinions.
"What makes you say that?" asked Elizabeth brashly. Liz may have been practical, but damn, was that girl ever opinionated. All her friends knew that.
"Well, take him for example." The girls turned to see who Melody was talking about. "He has been sitting like that the entire time. Cool, calm, composed...and cute. Isn't he cute girls? Who is that fine young specimen?"
"That's Mark!!" Liz and Karen answered simultaneously. They giggled, and then called out in unison "Touch your nose or you won't get married!!" The two then proceeded to tap their noses gently, while laughing hysterically.
"Chimps. I'm working with chimps here!" Melody chuckled at their superstitious antics, while glancing back towards Mark. She wondered why she had never noticed him before, and made a mental note to try to talk to him later. Melody also observed that Mark was sitting with Matt&Co., which meant that getting to know Mark may result in a way to hook-up Rachel with Matt. Excellent...Melody looked at Rachel, who was still wrapped up in her own world. She was obviously smitten with lust. Melody had to admit that Matt was quite a hottie, but she knew he had a horrible reputation, and she had always refused to allow herself to get involved with scum like him. Even if the scum was gorgeous....
"So, then I told him that if he thought I was cute when I danced, he should see the rest of my moves!" The girls at the table burst into laughter as Melody delicately raised her middle finger, demonstrating the moves she had been referring to.
"What, this?" Matt looked up innocently, waving the ketchup bottle in the air. He held it up in front of Shane's face, and then proceeded to dangle it in front of his eyes, swinging it back and forth slowly, like a hypnotist.
"MATT!!!" Shane yelled as he attempted to grab the ketchup bottle, with no avail.
"Feehily,CATCH!" Matt hollered as he hurled the plastic container across the table like a football. Mark, who was in his own little world, was not prepared when the bottle hit him smack on the head, and went tumbling to the ground.
"What in the frig..." Mark looked up, confused, rubbing the spot on his head where the container had targeted him. "Ya deutz!!" Mark yelled. "Whatta ya doin? I mean honestly, who throws a bottle of ketchup? Who does that?" The guys laughed at Mark's reaction. Shane scrambled to the ground in search of the bottle of ketchup. He spotted it a few tables over, where it had rolled and landed beside the shoe of pretty girl.
Mark had also noticed where the container had noticed, as he had been staring at that girl for the past half hour. Mark felt a twinge of jealousy as he watched Shane walk over to the girl's table and say something to her. Something that made her laugh, revealing a beautiful smile. Mark watched as she tossed her long auburn hair over her shoulders, and he cringed as Shane kneeled down beside the girl and rescued the ketchup bottle from beneath her foot. He couldn't help but wonder why Shane got all the luck....
"What's with with you Feehily?" Mark came back down to earth as he realized that Matt was saying something to him.
"Huh? Oh, nothing, I guess that bottle did more damage then I had thought. What do you think Shane?" Mark asked, as Shane returned to the table, waving the bottle triumphantly in the air. He was about to sit down and finally put some long-awaited ketchup on his chips, when Mark visciously snatched the container from his hands.
"Heeeeyy!!! I worked long and hard for that damn ketchup, I-" Shane was interrupted by a harsh whack on his head. "FEEHILY!!!" Shane yelled, as Mark threw the bottle to his friend Kian, laughing. Kian caught it easily, and passed it to Greg, who was sitting to Shane's left. Shane frantically tried to catch it, but he was much too slow, and the plastic container was thrown yet again,. infusing a game of 'Shane-in-the-middle". Or rather, 'Shane running back and forth like a friggin maniac trying to get a stupid bottle of ketchup when lunch is over in two minutes', as Matt appropriately named it.
Mark spent his last spare minutes gazing forlornly at the girl. She was also staring, but not at him unfortunately. Mark would have had to be blind not to notice her drooling over Matt. She had been doing it all hour. Mark wasn't surprised, he had learned to get used to it. Matt had been his best friend his whole life, but the two were so different. Matt was really popular with the ladies, he never had any trouble getting who he wanted. Girls practically fell on top of Matt, and sometimes he couldn't resist, helping him earn the title of Mr.Bad Boy Playah of Summer Hill. But Mark knew Matt was harmless, he just couldn't help himself. He loved women, and they definitely returned the love. Mark on the other hand....he tended to admire from afar, rather than take chances. This girl for example...Mark strained his ears to try and hear any of the conversation that she was having with her friend, an equally pretty blond.
"Melody, are you crazy? No. No way. No way!!" the girl was saying.
"But Rachel...!!" Melody quickly picked up her books and followed Rachel, who was walking hastily towards the exit.
Mark watched until she was out of sight. Rachel. So that was her name. "Well Rachel, " Mark thought to himself, "for once, I'm going to do something. The next time I see you..."
"C'mon Feehily, we gotta go. Hey, do you wanna skip the rest of the afternoon?" Matt looked at him with a devilsih grin on his face.
"Nah, I really shouldn't..." Mark paused, and decided to ignore the nagging feeling that was developing in the pit of his stomach. "Ok man, let's do it!" Mark announced.
"Alright!! Let's go find ourselves some fine young things!" Matt said, leading Mark out of the school.
"Where?"
"Oh, the possibilities are endless my friend. We shall see what we shall see."
"Oh, shut up, ya eejit!" Mark laughed. Matt always helped him forget about his problems. But even as he headed out for an afternoon of anything but intellectual stimulation, Mark couldn't help but think about Rachel.