Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

Noella trailed off, not wanting, or needing, to finish the sentence. Mako knew Noella as well as anyone could.
    “What about Sam?” Mako asked. “Maybe the two of you could do something together? Maybe you can finally ask him out. You don’t have to wait for the boy to ask, ya’ know?”  
    “Shut. Up,” Noella said, shooting daggers at Mako. “I don’t like him like that .”
    Mako laughed.
    Noella wished her heart didn’t beat faster every time she was around Sam. She hated crushing on her best friend. It made for way too many awkward moments. But the longer she knew him, the more she felt for him. In a world of jerks, jocks, and creepers, Sam was like no other guy she knew.
    First, he was cute, with a light complexion and a thick mop of long brown hair that matched his eyes. He wasn’t exactly a hottie, but he had the cutest dimples, kindest smile, and the best insides of anyone she knew. Sam was also artistic, with an eye for color that made Noella long to know the world through someone else’s eyes. And to round out the package, he was also funny, hysterical really, with a wry, observational wit that made Noella sigh.  
    The most unbelievable thing about Sam, however, was that despite being a nice guy, and incredibly smart and talented, he was also semi-popular. Guys as authentic as Sam weren’t generally popular, at least not in her school. Usually, being popular involved some kind of brain transplant with chimps. And not even the smart chimps, but rather the ones that spent their days flinging poop.  
    Noella was sure Sam would’ve been one of the school’s crowned elite if not for the completely ridiculous whispers that he might be gay. While his questionable sexuality didn’t hurt him in drama club, where he really shined, there was a strong undercurrent of homophobia and racism among the most popular guys. If they ever found reason to believe Sam was gay, he’d be an outcast just like Noella in a matter of hours.
    Thinking of Sam made her smile a big, goofy grin. And a big, goofy grin was as out of place on Noella as it would be on Eeyore.  
    Mako caught the grin, and laughed, “Yeah, you don’t like him at all.”
    “No!” Noella said, lying to Mako and herself.
    Not liking Sam would be infinitely easier in the long run. She’d feel less awkward. She’d feel less vulnerable. And it would remove the constant question in the back of her head: When will Sam leave me?
    She would never voice the fear out loud, but a small part of her was certain that Sam would eventually grow even more popular and turn his back on her just like Becca had done. And it was this part of her, the fear, that made her sorta glad people thought he was gay. After all, if he climbed too high up the social ladder, he’d   no longer have time for her. She felt awful thinking like that, but couldn’t help her genuine feelings.
    The bus pulled to the curb, and Noella and Mako climbed up the stairs. As they searched for seats, hisses and whispers snaked throughout the bus.
    “Lesbos.”
    “Who let her out of the psych ward?”
    “She’s nuttier than an Almond Joy.”  
    “Oh, look, Scarella crawled out of her coffin.”
    As she and Mako found a seat toward the front of the bus, pretending not to hear the venim, Noella realized she was wrong. She would much rather go to school feeling like a vagrant, with frizzy hair and a layer of filth, even being driven by Randy.  
    Almost anything was better than the girls on the bus.  

    **

    Noella opened her locker and pulled her Biology AP book from inside, then dropped it into her black battered book bag, which she swung over her shoulder. She slammed her locker shut, pretending she was doing so on one of the bus bitch’s heads.  
    Sam appeared from behind, “You seem mad.”
    Noella looked back, surprised to see him. “Not mad,” she said, “just sadly angry.”
    “Ah, didn’t notice the distinction,” Sam said with a smile.
    His charm won over her desire to stay in a bad mood.  
    Noella laughed. “Besides, I don’t do mad. I’m a happy, smiley girl. All sunshine and rainbows.”
    Sam looked at the patches adorning her backpack, skulls, broken hearts with razor blades, monsters, and other cool designs she’d gathered over the years, and arched an eyebrow and laughed.
    God, I love his smile.
    Sam said, “Do you have birthday plans for tomorrow?”
    Noella shook her head, “Not that I know of. Why?”  
    “Wanna go somewhere? My treat, and I