Confront him

When linda arrived at school the next day, Luke was waiting for her outside the entrance. She was happy for the escort but wanted to try walking herself to class to test her memory of the layout. Luke let her lead, which resulted in two miss-turns and a five-minute tardy to class, but she had still gotten them there on her own, which was something.

In no time, linda’s morning classes whizzed by, and she was sitting with her newfound friends in the cafeteria, feeling like she had an actual place in the school.

"Dude, Wonder Woman is definitely hotter than Catwoman," Luke said to Miles. The two had been in a heated debate since their teacher had mentioned comic books in chemistry class.

"No way man, Catwoman is totally badass and she wears a leather costume. Leather!"

"Okay, Wonder Woman wears a bathing suit, has super human stamina, and can fly," Luke argued, mouth hanging open in disbelief that they were even still talking about the subject.

"Catwoman has a whip."

"Wonder Woman has an invisible flying plane."

"Dude, leather plus whip plus hint of evil wins every time."

Dave decided to chime in with, "Luke, I think Miles has you there."

"Ladies? Come on, help me out." Luke peered over with puppy-dog eyes. A slight pout graced his lower lip.

"Speaking as a completely heterosexual female, I have to say that Catwoman is definitely hotter," Kira spoke up, hoping to end the completely absurd debate. "Now, here’s a real question—Batman or Superman? I have to go with Superman every time."

At that, Miles spit out his drink. "You have got to be kidding me."

Linda laughed and let the new debate continue now with male subjects who were of much more interest to her. But when Miles and Luke began spitting words at each other, most likely forgetting to breathe, she tuned them out.

Letting her gaze wander over all of the different groups around the cafeteria, Linda eventually allowed her eyes to slip out the window to the one person she was secretly searching for. But when her view landed on the misfits' table in search of Evans, all four of them were looking at her. Jerome, John, and Diana held their gazes for a moment before looking away, but Evans continued staring.

Linda’s breath caught. She didn’t understand or want their interest. Well, she secretly wanted Evans but not the others. She smiled at him, trying to change his sort of gloomy stare for a flirtier one. But he just looked away, confusing her more.

Luke nudged her, pulling her gaze from the window. "Come on, it’s time to go to class."

They walked together, winding through the sunlit hallways, and sat down quietly until Mr. Bell walked in, flustered. Hastily, he started to lecture.

During class, Linda looked over her shoulder to catch all of the misfits staring at her once more. She held Evans’s eyes again, only breaking contact when Luke tapped her shoulder to pass her a note. He sufficiently distracted her with funny notes for the rest of class, but the hairs on the back of her neck remained standing for the entire period.

"Luke, why do they keep staring?" Linda asked as they followed everyone out of the room. She had definitely had it up to her limit and she definitely doesn't want that discomfort anymore

"Don’t worry about it. It’s just because you’re new. I’m sure it will wear off soon."

But despite his reassurance, it didn’t.

Every day for the rest of the week, Linda was under scrutiny. The misfits would only look away when she finally turned to meet their gazes. Linda was confused, but more than anything, annoyed.

"I’m going to confront them," she told Luke after school let out on Friday afternoon. Her first week was complete, but she felt like things were only just beginning.

"Linda, leave it alone." He shook his head, exasperated with the conversation they had had every day this week. "The more it bothers you, the more they do it. They’re jerks. If you ignore them, I’m sure they’ll stop."

"I can tell from your voice that you don’t believe what you just said. Do you know what’s going on?" Linda made Luke stop walking before they reached her car, which was only a few steps away. She wanted to delve deeper into what Luke was obviously hiding from her. She suspected something was up and obviously want to be in the know of what was bothering him

"Nothing, it’s just who they are." He turned away, unable to meet her eyes, and continued his stroll.

"Well, we’ll see next Monday. If I catch them staring again, I’m going to talk to them. I’m not really one to stand idle when I’m annoyed."

"I’m starting to realize that," Luke said in a resigned voice and leaned against the trunk of her small car. "Do what you want to. I doubt I could stop you anyway."

Linda laughed. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Luke. We are definitely starting to understand each other."

He put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against the car, and smiled. The playful mood finally returned to their conversation, the way it always did. "Hey," he said, as though suddenly remembering something he forgot to tell her. "You have to come to the beach with us tomorrow. Apparently, it’s a school tradition. The entire senior class goes to Folly Beach and has a sort of picnic-type event."

"Sounds great."

Linda  jumped from his grasp and dug through her purse for her car keys. When she found them, they said their goodbyes, and Linda stepped into her car, more than ready for a mellow Friday night with the family. She was so happy to and couldn't wait for the next day