I scanned the cafeteria for Erika. She was usually the first one to our table at lunch, but she wasn’t here yet. I finally found her running towards me, and she ran to our table taking the seat next to me.
 

 

      “Hot new kid alert!” she squealed.

 

      I rolled my eyes. It was sort of funny how big of a deal my friends made about potential boyfriends. Still, I got to wondering about the new boy. It was weird to have a new student part way through the semester.

 

      “Ali! Hello? Yes or no to shopping tonight?” Emily asked, jerking me away from my thoughts.

 

      “Sounds great,” I lied.

 

      The five of us were sitting at our usual table for lunch. There was me, Emily, Jessica, Hope, and Erika. Erika was my closest friend. Our table was scattered with the few random boyfriends here and there, and at intervals we’d be swarmed by yet another want-to-be boyfriend. The want-to-be’s were so shameless they’d attempt to flirt with even those of us who were taken. Mine walked up behind me.

 

      
      “Well look at this beauty today,” Chris said as he laid a hand on my shoulder. I brushed it off.

 

      “Still taken Chris. Get lost, or I’ll get Daniel over here.” Chris’ face paled.

 

      “No, that’s fine, I was just leaving anyways.” Chris turned and walked away.

 

      Daniel was well liked at our school. If you got on his bad side, he could turn basically anyone against you. I didn’t like hiding behind my boyfriend, but that was the only thing I’d found that could keep Chris at bay.

 

      “Hey beautiful,” said Daniel as he slid into the seat next to me, kissing my cheek.

 

      “Hey,” I said, giving him a smile. I noticed someone took the seat next to him, it was an unfamiliar face.

 

      “Who’s he?” I asked.

 

      “I am the new kid. Jason,” he butted in. I smiled.

 

      He was cute. He was slightly over six feet tall, with chestnut brown hair and blue eyes. Jason didn’t compare to Daniel, no one did. He was muscular to say the least, with his long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. He had a winning smile, tan skin, and the best part was everyone knew he was mine. Daniel was my sunshine sometimes, when I got sick of all my fake friends, he was there. Real as could be. He grabbed my hand under the table and gave it a squeeze.

        "Good to meet you," I said to Jason.