Read Online Carnelian by B. Kristin McMichael - Free Book Online Page A

knives at me. If looks could kill, I would
have been dead steps ago. It was the sophomore brunette from the
first day and I was pretty sure the very one throwing herself into
Seth’s arms just a day ago. I looked to go around her table, but
there were students and bags everywhere. Though I didn’t want to, I
was going to have to walk right past her.
    “I don’t think your
girlfriend likes us having a meal together, friend .” I emphasized the word
“friend”.
    “I don’t have a girlfriend,” Seth replied
again. He kept denying the girl I saw kissing him.
    “Then you sure have a strange way of
greeting friends,” I added to myself. I don’t know if he heard me,
but I was going to hope not after it came out of my mouth.
    I walked near the table and kept an eye out
for the girls. The first girl I passed pushed her chair back as I
neared. I just walked around her. The next pushed her bag out into
the space between tables. That was easily avoidable also. All the
girls at the table seemed to completely support the brunette. She
was the last one I had to pass. As I neared her I kept my gaze
elsewhere, pretending not to see her. On my last step by her, her
leg shot out to trip me, carrying a tray full of food,
none-the-less. I easily jumped her leg, and for once appreciated
that I was extremely coordinated. Ignoring the group of girls, and
the one that had now stopped Seth, I walked over to the table Seth
had suggested. I sat down so that I didn’t have to see the others
and began to eat my food without him. I was tempted to, but I
didn’t, steal a glance back. He had to deal with his girlfriend on
his own, especially if he planned to two-time her.
    She must have had a lot to say to him. By
the time I was half-way through my sandwich, Seth finally sat at
the table with me.
    “I’m sorry for Melissa’s behavior,” Seth
said. I didn’t look at him.
    “Melissa?” I asked. It wasn’t one girl who
tried to trip me up, but three. I assumed he was naming the one I
saw him kissing before, she was the most obvious.
    “The one who tried to trip you,” Seth
replied, oblivious to the other girls.
    “What you and your girlfriend do is your own
matter, but maybe you shouldn’t try to date other girls and she
wouldn’t act out,” I answered. It was common logic that a
girlfriend didn’t want to see her boyfriend with another girl.
    “My girlfriend? Melissa?” Seth asked,
surprised. “I haven’t dated her since winter of last year.”
    “Really? I don’t think she feels the same
way,” I assessed. Either he was leading her on, or she just wasn’t
getting the hint. I didn’t care either way. Well, maybe I cared a
bit, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
    “I told her then that we could only be
friends,” Seth replied, still baffled.
    “I’m not sure she heard you correctly.” I
glanced to my left and saw her seething at me because I was sitting
with Seth. I hated girls like her. I really wanted to smile and
give her a little wave, but I knew she was mad at us for what she
thought we were doing. I didn’t want to add fuel to her anger when
I planned to only be friends with Seth.
    Seth scratched his head. “I have told her
many times that I need to move on. She keeps coming back, and I
keep telling her no. I’m pretty sure she hears what I say. I don’t
know how I can be any more clear.” Seth didn’t even notice their
table. He was only looking at me.
    “And yet just yesterday I saw you kissing
her. That isn’t exactly saying you need to move on. You have to
have a little interest, if you’re willing to kiss her. As a friend,
since you want to be friends, I’ll tell you it isn’t good to send a
girl mixed messages.”
    Seth pondered this a few moments as we both
ate in silence.
    “So, friend,” he began, elongating the word
friend. The way he said friend was enough to make me want to blush.
How could he do that? “Can you explain to me why you won’t go on a
date with me? Friends can tell