8 Finnegan Lets Her In a Little More

She had told her mom last night that she had another project to do with Finnegan, and that they had to work on the worksheets and write an essay. When she asked if she could go to Finnegan's house after school, her mom's face went dark.

"You're going to that boy's house?" Elise's mom just stared with composed rage.

Shrinking back a little, Elise ventured to explain, " His parents will both be there. The project is a salad dressing, and I'm going to show how to make a heterogenous mixture stay a homogenous mixture for longer. They offered to let me stay for dinner, and then Finn will drive me home." She was a little breathless when she finished and she wasn't sure if she made any sense at all.

Her mom just looked at her, and her rage seemed to subside. A little. "His parents will be there?" Elise nodded. Her mom thought for a minute. "Ok, but you call me as soon as you get there." Relief flooded Elise's body.

"Ok."

"And, I want you to come home by 8:30."

"Ok, I will. Thank you, Mama!" Elise hugged her and ran to her room to get ready for Monday, from start to finish.

Monday morning, Elise got up before her alarm went off. She dressed in white leggings with a denim, pleated skirt and white fitted shirt with the image of a unicorn cat riding a rainbow on the front. Elise spent a long time last night laying out this outfit. She wanted to try to wear something black, but she really didn't have anything except for a dress that was meant for funerals or other special occasions. It was too fancy to wear on a regular day at school. She didn't even have a pair of black socks.

Finnegan said he had everything they needed for the salad dressing at his house, so he would meet her at her locker after the last bell.

"I can't believe he's meeting me at my locker and after school! What if I see him at lunch too? This is a dream. Can I ever tell him how I feel? I'll wait until after the science project is over before I decide." Elise thought all this to herself on her way to her First Period.

The First and Second period of the day dragged on. Elise finished her assignments for those classes while the teacher was giving a lecture, and all that was left was to finish her English paper, which she was almost finished with anyway. All she had to do was type it up, which she planned to do in Library Aide today. The lunch hour came, and as Elise was putting her books away in her locker, she saw Cheyanne walking toward the cafeteria with Jennifer and Miley. Elise closed up her locker and headed to the bathroom.

What a horribly cliché place to hide and cry. There were other girls in here, so I'll just go in a stall and wait for them to leave. They finally all left, but according to the clock on my phone, I only had 30 minutes left for lunch. Deciding I wouldn't cry anyway, I picked up my stuff and went to the cafeteria. After going through the lunch line. I tried to find the table I sat at last Friday. Before I could make it all the way across the cafeteria, Finnegan came up to me, surprising me so that I nearly tipped my tray all over my front. Thankfully, he reached out and steadied my tray in time.

"Hey, Elise. We're done eating, but you can come sit with us while you eat, if you want." He wanted me to sit with him. And his friends? I looked around me, stupidly trying to feign an excuse. I didn't have a reason not to. This was amazing! But my anxiety started to make me question if I would fit in. I mean, I didn't even have one article of black clothing. Finnegan might be nice, but the others might not be so accepting. I finally decided that if Finnegan was inviting me, he would keep his friends from picking on me.

"Uh, thanks," I said and followed him to where they were sitting. Weston and the other two girls were leaning across the table whispering to each other. When I sat down with Finnegan, they sat back and looked back and forth between us.

"Elise, this is Ashley, Kimber and Weston," Finnegan said pointing them out in turn. They all gave a half-hearted wave or "hey."

Noticing that it was becoming a little awkward, Finnegan tried to encourage conversation. "Elise and I got partnered up for Science."

They kind of murmured something to the effect of "Oh, ok," or "Ah," to themselves. I didn't really know what to say, so I started to eat my lunch.

The girls, Kimber and Ashley stared at me, while Weston stared at Finnegan. Finally, Weston broke the silence. "Dude, what gives?"

"Hey, don't be rude!" Finnegan chastised him.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't heard from you all weekend, and suddenly you invite this random girl to hang out?"

I stopped eating and looked sideways at Finnegan, then to the others at the table. They seemed to be thinking exactly what Weston just voiced. I started to protest and say I would sit somewhere else, but Finnegan put his hand on the table which got all of our attention.

"Ok, look. I know it's kind of sudden." He turned to me. "Elise, I'm sorry, I thought it wouldn't be a problem." Turning to his friends, he said, "Elise is really nice. Give her a chance." I don't know why he was trying so hard to get them to accept me, but it was nice that he stood up for me.

"I don't mean to impose. I can go sit somewhere else." I started to gather up my bag and my tray.

"No," the girl named Ashley spoke up. "Sorry, it just took us by surprise is all. Finn doesn't usually say very much, so we didn't know how he knew you or that he'd ask you to sit with us. Stay." She looked at Finn.

He seemed relieved, but still a little ashamed for springing this on them. He rested his hand on the back of his neck and said, "Yeah, I guess I've just been in my head the whole time and forgot to mention that I had a science partner."

The mood seemed to lift a little. It seemed to me that Weston was the ring-leader of the group, but they all respected Finnegan.

I relaxed a little and decided to say something. "Thanks. I'm actually kind of glad Finnegan invited me to sit with you guys. I was worried about it, but I would have sat alone if he didn't ask. My friend, Cheyanne, left me for her new cheerleader friends." I sat bashfully for a second looking at them, then looking down.

The girls turned sympathetic. "Aww, well that's bitchy. Hey, it's no big deal," Kimber said. Ashley added, "Yeah, you can sit with us. So, do you like anime? Kimber and I were just talking about this one we've been watching called 'Black Butler."

Finnegan smiled and looked at them appreciatively. Weston leaned over and whispered something to Finnegan, but the mood was light again. I told the girls I had never seen any anime, so they talked about all the anime they watched and tried to explain. The rest of lunch passed this way. I ate, and they talked. Finnegan listened to Weston talk about a skateboarding trick he was trying to master. As I sat with them, I felt at ease. They weren't as scary as they looked.

When lunch was over and we migrated outside for the half hour recess, Cheyanne found me and asked if she could talk to me. I was walking with my new friends when she came up. I told them I would catch up. Kimber and Ashley glared at Cheyanne. Ashley patted my arm and told me where they would be. I nodded and they walked on.

"So, I see you finally got close to your crush. Did you tell them awful things about me or something?" Cheyanne crossed her arms and cocked her hip out.

"No," I said, pulling my bag on my shoulder more securely. "I never actually got to tell you what my news was, but you didn't really seem to care after you got in with the cheerleaders and the football players."

"Well those freaky girls sure gave me a nasty look."

"Hey, at least they're nice. Who cares if they have a different style. What did you want to talk about anyway because if you're just going to be mean, I'm not going to stand here listening."

"Ok, I'm sorry. I hate how we left things. I do care about your news, but I am part of a team, and I have a responsibility to bond with them and be there for practice. I meant to call you Friday and this weekend, but I got behind on my homework, so I was busy."

That sounded like such a lame excuse. "Whatever, Cheyanne. It's ok. You don't have to be my friend. My feelings were hurt at first, but, honestly, what did I expect? Even if we stayed friends, I'd barely be able to see you anyway because of practice, and I don't fit in with that crowd. Even if I could, I wouldn't want to. Go be popular, or whatever you want to be. Just leave me alone." I stood there for a minute to give her a chance to respond.

She opened her mouth to say something, and looked like she couldn't think of anything. I stepped around her and went to meet Finnegan and the others. As I was walking away, I heard her groan and storm off. I don't care anymore. People change, and sometimes they don't stay friends. This is one of those times. At least there was Finnegan, and now Weston, Kimber and Ashley.

By the end of recess, Kimber and Ashley had invited me to spend time with them on the weekend so they could introduce me to my first anime. I told them I'd ask my mom, but I'd try to make it.

The next class was Science, so Finnegan walked with me to my locker, then walked me to class. He didn't say anything while we walked, but just the fact that he was so close to me and spending so much time with me made my heart happy.