Chapter 8

First, we went down town, and we "Robbed the mall." In other words, we stopped at the mall to say hello to Jarod's friend Rob. He works at the Mall Information Desk, and Andrea thinks that he is really cute, so we try to find a reason to stop at the mall every time she and I go out together.

Of course, Rob likes Andi too. I mean, he's a guy, right? I have never yet met a guy who doesn't have a crush on my little sister. Rob is definitely not an exception to the rule, even if she does keep insisting that he is "obviously" hooked on me. I don't think that it is very obvious! Not that I want him to be interested, of course. Rob is nothing more than a friend.

Rob is in my chemistry class this year. We have exactly one class together every year. This year, it's chemistry. Last year, it was world history. Before that, it was algebra. It's kind of funny how it always works out that way, every single year.

In fact, we almost didn't have any classes together this year. On the first day of school, I was surprised to find that Rob wasn't in a single one of my classes. But as luck would have it, they accidentally put Rob in the wrong math class, and he had to change his entire schedule to fix the error. When they finished rearranging everything, lo and behold, Rob was in my chemistry class!

Of course, I had to tease him about it. "Gosh, Rob, are you stalking me or something? I think it's pretty fishy that the one time we didn't have a class together, you had to change your schedule and suddenly here you are in my chemistry class!"

Rob grinned. "Yeah, you've got me. It was all an elaborate scheme so that I could make sure I had some chemistry with you." He laughed. "I mean, so that I could have chemistry class with you." He winked at me, and I felt myself blushing. Why do I get embarrassed so easily?

"It's entirely your fault you know," he teased. "Last year, you wouldn't tell me what classes you were going to sign up for this year, so I had to take drastic action. I purposely signed up for the wrong math class so that I would have an excuse to change my schedule after I found out what classes you had this year."

"Really?" I asked. I couldn't believe that he would actually go through that much trouble just to make sure that we had another class together!

Rob laughed loudly, and the entire class stared at us. "What? You thought I was serious?" He grinned. "Man! You've got quite an ego, little girl!"

Rob always teases me about being stuck up and egotistical. Usually, I shrug it off and ignore him, but sometimes, it bothers me. Am I really as self-absorbed as Rob says I am? Is that why I'm so unpopular? Is that why no one ever asks me out on dates?

I guess Rob's opinion shouldn't really matter to me, but it does. You see, he is good friends with Shane, and I know it's important for a guy's friends to like you, or you never stand a chance. Since Rob and Shane are such good friends, it's imperative that I don't completely alienate Rob.

I don't know how close Rob and Shane are, but I figure that it's better to be safe than sorry. I know that Rob and Jarod and Shane all used to hang out together back before the big fight between Jarod and Shane. I don't know how much time they spend together anymore.

I never see Shane and Rob together outside of class or anything, but they are practically inseparable in chemistry. In fact, they team up to pick on me absolutely mercilessly every single day! I managed to snag Shane as my lab partner, and Rob sits at the table right in front of me, so the three of us have lots of opportunities to talk.

We usually have some pretty fun conversations, but sometimes, I really wish that I wasn't such a geek. I always wonder what they're saying about me after the bell rings. Of course, they probably don't even think about me at all, and I suppose that's a good thing.

Rob and Shane like to steal my diary out of my bag and try to read all of my innermost thoughts. Usually, I can get it away from them before they read too much, but they have managed to read enough that now I write my most personal thoughts in code. At least, that keeps me safe from the biggest embarrassments, but sometimes, it is absolutely humiliating!

A few weeks ago, I spent my entire lunch period watching Shane with Rachel and writing in my diary about how I wished that she would disappear. Luckily, I didn't really mention Shane's name that time, because Rob managed to steal my diary in chemistry, and he read that page to Shane before I could get it away from him. Shane spent the rest of class trying to find out what I had against Rachel. Of course, I couldn't tell him the truth!

"I don't know," I hedged. "I guess I just feel like such a nobody next to Rachel. She is so pretty and perfect. I could never compete with that. So sometimes, I wish that she would go away."

"She's right," Rob announced. "Man, your girlfriend is hot! No doubt about it – she's a ten! How did a loser like you ever score a babe like that anyway?"

Shane sat back and ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair. "I guess it must be my charm and my rugged good looks. I make all the girls swoon." He winked. "Right, Laina?"

"Oh yeah," I teased, batting my eyelashes and trying to look like I wasn't entirely serious. I guess that is one good thing about the guys reading my diary. Sometimes, it gives me a perfect opportunity to flirt by simply playing along when they make fun of me.

"Shane, you are so gorgeous," I breathed. "I don't know how I will ever survive if I can't make you mine." I leaned on him and pretended to swoon.

Shane wrapped his arm around my waist and laughed. "See, Rob? It's easy when you're a stud like me." He gave me a little squeeze and added, "You know, Laina, what Rachel doesn't know won't hurt her. There's enough of me to go around."

Rob huffed. "Hey, pal, back off." He walked over and pulled me away from Shane, then stood between us. "You already have Rachel. Isn't a perfect ten enough for you? Tell you what," he grinned. "I'll take Laina off your hands. I mean, she's no Rachel, but she's probably got something to offer a guy. Besides, you can't take all the girls. You've gotta leave something for the rest of us!"

Of course, I laughed and played along. I mean, it doesn't really bother me so much when Rob picks on me like that, because he's kind of a casual friend. So it doesn't really matter that he only sees me as some sort of consolation prize for a guy who can't get one of the really pretty girls. Not really.

But I am still hoping that, one day, Shane will see how perfect I would be for him, and then I won't be just his nerdy lab partner. I try to tell myself that the guys don't really mean anything by it when they pick on me, and I guess any kind of attention is better than being ignored, but sometimes I wish I could be like Rob's lab partner, Stella. They never pick on her at all. They are super polite and nice to her. They never tease or make fun of Stella at all – probably because she is so pretty.