Page 27 of Unexpected Prejudice

“Hey…” I nodded in her direction and was about to escape when she spoke again.

“It’s Jordan, right?”

“I prefer Jordy.” I guess my voice came out too flat because she looked disappointed. I felt kind of bad, so— “But Jordan’s my name, so you weren’t wrong.”

The corner of her mouth curved up, and her eyes sparkled with what looked like relief.

“Oh, okay. So, I’ll call you Jordy. I’m Laura. Laura Myers,” she offered. “We’re in the same biology class.” So that was where I knew her from. If I wasn’t mistaken, she sat a couple of seats in front of me.

“Cool.”

“You played well today, but you always do. I mean… I’ve seen you play before.”

I just stood there and waited for her to finish. Honestly, I didn’t know what to say, mostly because I felt she was hitting on me. For obvious reasons, I wasn’t interested in her at all.

“Do you plan to play in college, too?” Her cheeks tinged pink when she asked.

“Yeah, I do, actually.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. Do you know which college you want to go to? I want to try and get into some acting school. I love the arts, you know? I’m in the drama club, actually.”

I looked down at my empty soda cup and wished I hadn’t finished it all. At least then, I would’ve had something to keep myself busy with while Laura talked about herself. I wasn’t trying to be intentionally cold. My lack of interest in girls wasn’t the only thing keeping me from talking to her. I just really didn’t want to talk to anyone.

“I guess I’ll leave you alone now,” she suddenly said with disappointment. Her fingers played with the hem of her dress as she apologized. “I didn’t mean to bother you. I just saw you standing here all alone and thought I’d come and—”

“Your dress is pretty,” I interrupted.

Looking up at me, her big eyes sparkled, and her cheeks flushed. “Really? You think so?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled shyly. “It was a gift from my mom.”

I chuckled at her honesty. It wasn’t common for teens our age to speak about their parents in a positive way.

“My mom also bought me this shirt. Moms have good taste. Don’t they?”

She laughed and nodded. “Yeah, they really do.”

Feeling the mood was good enough for me to cut the conversation and walk away without any feelings getting hurt, I tossed my empty cup to the garbage and rubbed the back of my neck.

“Well, it was nice talking to you, Laura. I’ll see you in class.” I attempted to move when her little hand touched my arm.

“Do you maybe want to go out sometime? If you’re not busy or anything.”

I looked down at her, surprised.

“Oh! Was I too forward? I’m sorry,” she mumbled, her cheeks bright red. “I’ve just wanted to ask you out for a long time and finally got the courage. Now I feel like a complete idiot.”

“You’re not. Trust me.” I grabbed her hand and gently removed it from my arm. “You seem like a really nice girl, but there’s someone I like.”

My gaze instinctively found Shay-Lee. He still hadn’t moved from where he was sitting when I left the team. The fireplace that burned beside them colored his skin with warm shades, making him look dazzling in the dark night. The sight made me think of a campsite I went to once. It was in the desert and had a panoramic view of the mountains. I loved how the rocks were painted red as the sun slowly set behind them, leaving us surrounded by the empty desert. I wished I could take him with me one day.

“Well, whoever she is, she’s a lucky girl,” Laura said, jolting me back from my fantasies. Yes. That’s what those hopeless thoughts were—fantasies.

I looked back at her and gave her a weak smile.

Pressing her palms together, she returned the gesture. “Well, I tried, didn’t I? Maybe next time, I’ll have more luck.” She said goodbye and walked over to a group of girls, leaving me alone.