He plays it cool

What if he were nice and she shot him down? Matt couldn't stand that idea so he decided to play it cool. He stared straight ahead hoping that his mysterious air would compel her to sit beside him to unravel the mystery and learn more about the new kid.

He could hardly believe it when she simply stepped by and went to sit by herself. She could have sat with him, unraveled the mystery... and instead she'd just walked on by. It seemed hard to believe that the man of mystery ploy had failed so badly. Could it be that she already had a boyfriend? Or maybe she was a lesbian who had no use for males.

Whichever it was, Matt was stuck sitting by himself as the bus trundled its way around the Hill, finally pulling in front of the sprawling campus.

That had not been the start his new life that Matt had been hoping for. Still, maybe the redhead was a bitch or something. Matt wasn't big on blaming himself for his failures but it was barely possible this was a time when self-blame might be in order.