Chapter 1

BAM!!! The sound of my locker door being slammed shut echoed through the small hallway. I huff, and puff, but I don't blow any houses or schools down. I shake my cascade of dark blonde hair that looks like it is touched by honey a little bit. I shake it over my right shoulder and gaze at my three friends, Whitney, Britney, and Layla. Layla gazed at me through her coal pitch black hair that was over her right eye. “Like I said before guys, I'm not going to Prom." See, all three of these girls were trying to convince me to go to Prom with them that was coming up in about three weeks. It's not that no one asked because several guys have asked me. I was half tempted to say yes to only three out of the 6(maybe) guys that asked me to Prom. There was Brad, the captain of football team and, like, really hot. There was also Kyle the star QB of the football team, and there was Jonathan. Now, Jonathan's story is no so different from your average hottie or jock. He is straight a kid, really, really hot, and currently looking a girlfriend. I was sort interested in him but every time I saw Jonathan, he would remind me of the new kid. The new kid was a completely different story. No one knew anything about him. Usually when we meet or get new kids, they pretty much wear their life story. But this guy is very different. He's human. It's his attitude and everything emotion, facial expression that is different. (Let me describe him so you don't have to guess.)The new kid has sun-kissed hair that looks like someone dropped a few drops on golden honey on top of his head. Eyes that were sparkling blue, that when you looked into them it feels like your swimming in the ocean. I don't know what it is about him that makes him so interesting to me. The whole time I was thinking about this, I was staring at my friends with vacant expression on my face. It soon dawned to me, that they were talking to me and I didn't hear a single word they just said. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in my left arm. That of course shook me out of my revere. Rubbing my shoulder, I gritted against my teeth. I glared at them. "WHAT THE F**CK WAS THAT FOR??" I exploded at them. Britney, the honey-hair colored one, answered me with a shrug and “You weren't listening to us so, we found other means of getting your attention." I finally stopped rubbing my shoulder. "What did you say that I didn't hear?" "Well..." Britany looked at the others before speaking. "What I said was, Why not the new guy? He seems to have caught your attention." I blushed and they all started to giggle. Speaking of the devil, the new kid walked by as we stood there. I glanced at him to see him watching me. I blushed and looked away. My friends started giggling around me. “No way. I can’t even approach him and we have several classes together.” Layla looked at me. “Do you even know his name?” I nod. “It’s Dylan.” She smiled. “Okay, so you know his name. Start by saying hi to him and find something to talk about…” “Easier said than done.” The bell rang at that point. I sighed and hitched my bag onto my shoulder. “And that is my cue to get to class.” As I headed to English, I turned around and looked at Layla. “Talk to him!” she yelled as she ran to class. I ran the opposite way to English, unsure of what I was going to say. I arrived at the front door just as the bell rang.

*~*~*

I glanced over at the front door as the bell rang, surprised to see someone there. It was the same guy I walked passed in the hallway. As he spotted me looking at him, he looked away quickly, making his way through the isles to his seat. In the back. Right next to mine. When he sat down, he kept making glances at me. I finally looked over when he did. He looked up at me and blushed. Looking away, he pulled out his notebook and pen and started writing. I smiled to myself and looked at my own desk.

*~*~*

‘I can’t believe he saw me looking at him. I can die now…’ I thought to myself as I looked back over to my own personal space and started working. About half way through the class, a note landed on my desk. I slid it over and hid it under my book. Waiting till the teacher wasn’t looking, I unfolded it.

Why were you starring at me?

I blushed and glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, before replying.

I didn’t mean to. Sorry.

I passed the note back to him and copied the notes that were written on the board. Suddenly, the teacher said, “Let’s see how well you were all paying attention. I’m going to pair you up and you can see what the other knows about this day in history.” A series of groans echoed through the classroom. “If everyone would turn to their right and meet your new partner for the rest of the year. I turned to my right and died inside. I tried to smile at him. “So….” I trailed off, unsure of what to say. “I’m Dylan.” He said with a smile. I smiled back and tapped my pen on the desk. “I’m Jezzabelle. But everyone calls me Jezz.” He nods and we both started to work. “So… How you liking school so far?” He glanced up at me with a small smile. “I don’t know… I don’t really know anyone here. Except you now…” I laughed, a little nervous. The teacher made her way around the room, checking and talking to the other students in the class. As she walked by us, she looked over our shoulders and smiled. “I see that Jezz is catching you up. Good. She is one of our best students.” And with that, she left to yell at a pair of kids goofing off. I looked over at Dylan and looked away, blushing. “Please don’t take me for a nerd or anything. I just really like history.” He shakes his head, smiling. “NO. I would never think that about a pretty girl.” I blushed at the ‘pretty girl’ part and smiled. “Thanks. Glad to know that someone doesn’t think I’m a complete nerd.” He leaned over my desk and wrote something on my paper. He sat back down and nodded towards my paper. I looked down and saw a number written there.

561-259-2206

I looked at him, confused. “It’s my number. It case… You know… You ever want to hang out or something.” He explained. “Oh, Thanks. I’ll definitely call to hang sometime…” Then the bell rang and kids started rushing out of class. “Why are they rushing out of the room?” He asked as we packed up our stuff and made our way to the exit. “Lunch. You know how some people get.” We laughed. “Where do you sit for lunch?” I looked around the hallway, which was almost empty. “Sometimes I sit by myself in the courtyard or I sit with my three friends.” He nods. “Do you…. Do you want to sit with me?” He looks at me sideways. “You don’t mind?” I shook my head as we got in line to grab our food. “Thanks. “ I smiled and walked out of the cafeteria and through the courtyard to a shady spot under a tree. I tossed my bag down and sat down while balancing my food in one hand. He tossed his bag next to a tree and sat down next to me. We smiled at each other and dug into our lunch. After a moment, he asked “Why do you sit here by yourself?” I chuckled. “I like the peace.” He leans against the tree and closes his eye, nodding. “I agree. Peace is nice.” I blushed slightly and ate my lunch.

Later that day when I go home, I decided that I was going to text him.

Me: Hey you.

I sent. A few minutes later, I got a message.

Him: Hey! what’s up?

Me: Just wanted to see what your plans were for this weekend.

Him: Nothing much. Why?

Me: I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out. J

Him: I’d like that. How about Saturday? Pick you up around noon?

Me: Perfect. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.

Him: Bye Jezz.

And just about every day after school, we would talk. About school. Our friends. Things we had in common. Anything. It was nice. Ok, I’ll be honest. It was better than nice. It was amazing.

It was Saturday morning and I had no idea what to wear. Granted, I don’t want to be TOO dressy, but I wanted to look nice. I stood in front of my closet, debating on what to wear. And then… It came to me. ‘I know exactly what to wear today!’ I thought to myself. I dug through my closet until I found it. The Perfect Shirt. It wasn’t too dressy and it was casual enough that I would look like a fool. I dug through my drawers until I found my jeans. Pulling on a pair of flats, I took out the ponytail in my hair and let my hair tumble down my back. Checking the time on my clock, I left my house and made my way towards the park where he said he wanted to meet. I hummed to myself as I walked down the street. I didn’t see Dylan when I got to the park, so I walked around. I spotted a boy carving into a tree and walked closer to him. I got close enough to see that it was Dylan. I stood there for a while, watching him. Then when I realized that he was almost done with his carving, I tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped and turned around. “Jezz. Hey.” He cast a glance over to the tree and back towards me. I smiled and gave him a little wave. “Hey yourself.” I looked over to the tree and back to him. “What were you carving?” “Huh? Oh, nothing really.” I could have sworn that he blushed. “Okay.” By then, we had started walking through the park. “So what are we doing today?” I bumped his shoulder and grinned. He did the same thing to me and grinned back. “I was thinking we would have lunch here and then go to this awesome fair that is in town.” I nodded and smiled. “I like that idea.” He escorted me over to… what looked like a little picnic set up for 2. I sat down and looked over at him. “You plan thoroughly.” He looked a little uncertain. “Do you like it?” I nod and look at what he brought. I saw potato salad, egg sandwiches, chips, fruit, and two bottle filled with a dark liquid. I shook one of the bottles and laughed as it fizzed up. “Soda.” He popped a grape into his mouth and smiled. “Grape soda actually.”

Walking around the park was a blast. We talked about anything and everything. It wasn’t awkward like I thought it would be. I hummed as we walked. He looked at me at smiled. “I like that song.” We laughed and I gazed at him. “You listen to rock?” he nodded. “What are your favorite bands?” he sat down under a tree, the sun shining behind him. “I have so many it’s hard to keep track of them.” I sat down next to him. “Name just a few then.” He nodded and looked at the ground, thinking. “Well, my all-time favorites are Three Days Grace, Green Day, Nickleback, and Daughtry.” I nodded. “I like them too. Along with a couple hard metal bands like Slipknot, Korn, Metallica…” I trailed off, laughing self- consciously. He grinned at me. “I absolutely love Metallica… They are the best.” “I completely agree with you.” We laughed and he pulled out his phone. “What are you doing?” he held up a finger, scrolling. A few moments later, “One” by Metallica started playing. He looked up at me and a smiles spread across his face. “What do you think?” Swaying slightly with the beat and bobbed my head along. “I love it.” His smile grew wider and sut off hisphoe,cutting the song off at the end. We could hearthe faint sounds ofchildren and peole screamingand laughing coming from down the road. "I love the fair.." I told him as we grew nearer to the entrance. He nodded in agreement and pulled out his wallet,enough that we go the express  wrist band for all the rides. I watched him as he thanked the  the lady and walked inside before turning to face me."Hold out your wrist so I can put on your bracelet." I blushed and held out my right arm so he could tape it on.

Chapter 2

I bit down on my lower lip, watching him as his fingers brushed against the inside of my wrist.  Glancing up at him, i smiled softly, hoping he didn see my blush. "There you go. It isn't too tight, is it?" I shook my head and wiggled the bracelet down my wrist. "Just right actually." Nodding, he leading the way in, his bracelet already on his wrist.

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Publication Date: 01-27-2012

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