Standing by my locker, I clung to my books like a life raft, trying not to drown in the sea of people pushing me back. In-between two girls' shoulders, I saw today's usual parade: the hometown celebrity Justin, walking hand in hand with his queen bee honey Heather. As usual, he was just smiling and waving while Heather scowled and foamed like a rabid pit bull.
If only Heather would smile; she was always that much prettier when she did.
It took close to five minutes for the crowd to disperse. Something gripped and tugged at my heart as I watched the other students disperse, finding their friends and collective cliques. Everybody seemed so...happy. They all had somebody to confide in and talk to. How badly I wanted to walk up to somebody. Anybody, really.
Would it be so bad if I said a simple "hello" to somebody? Just the thought made my knees start to wobble dangerously. I could manage hello, but I couldn't strike up a conversation to save my life.
It was as if I were toxic or diseased in some way....
Fourteen years of my miserable life spent here in Cress and I didn't even have one friend. Everybody who'd even kind of gotten close to me had moved away. Almost as if the hand of fate had some sort of demented vendetta against me...

In a lot of my classes today I'd heard a bunch of girls squealing and cooing over the new guy.
Finally got to see him, in the flesh, in English class. He's tan, tall, and muscular with pale green eyes and shoulder length brown hair. In a way, he's cute, but at the same time, he's a shameless flirt. But...I'm not really looking for a boyfriend. I'm looking for a friend, even if it is just a casual one. Some part of me relents at the fact that I'd shiver and melt like the girls he's flirting with if he just called me "friend"; not even him, but just anybody. Anyone in this cruel world.
I practically spent the entire class hour contemplating whether or not I even wanted to talk to him. It was so pathetic, playing out every worst scenario in my head. As soon as the class bell rang, I decided to just take the risk anyway. I was so close to being depressed about my situation I needed to do something, right?
Outside of the classroom, I caught up to him and lightly tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey!" I said, with a bright smile and a small wave. "I'm Zoey."
He caught me completely off-guard when he reached out, took my hand, and lightly kissed it. "Mucho gusto," he said, smiling in a charming way. "Me llamo Alejandro."
Even if I didn't quite understand what he'd just said, I could feel myself blushing. I blinked a few times, confused, and the lump in my throat just grew bigger.
"Forgive me for being so forward, but you're very pretty," he continued.
I knew he was a flirt, but I hadn't expected him to flirt with...me?
"Thank you?" My tone made it sound like a question. I was crashing and burning. Badly!
"You can't be unfamiliar with compliments, chica," he went on.
I couldn't help wondering why he was flirting with me. I had watched people enough that I could tell when guys were flirting with girls; I'd even been unnaturally jealous a few times. But I'd never expected anyone to flirt with me. Why me? Why now? The questions made me silent. He quirked an eyebrow.
"Are you alright, Zoey?" he asked.
Hearing him say my name made my cheeks light up like Chinese lanterns. "Yeah," I replied, smiling at the sudden light spreading inside me.
"I'd like to continue our conversation, but not here," he said, hand resting on his hip. "Care to join me for lunch today?"
"Sure!" I nodded.
He led the way, trying to keep up casual conversation. This was the first time I'd ever had a real conversation with anybody for the longest time! I tried not to look like an idiot, but even when I did, it didn't seem to bother Alejandro too much. We ended up spending the entire lunchtime together; he was so interesting and so charming he consumed my full attention. By the end of lunch, I knew that both of his parents had been diplomats at one point, that his favorite food was Spanish rice, and that he'd been the South American skateboarding champ.
He was so out of my league. Some part of my brain kept nagging at me that this was too good to be true, but I wanted to believe in reality so badly, I made my doubts shut up. I felt like I'd just found a good friend! The sheer thrill of it kept me blushing and my heart pumping. When the next bell rang, my head was swimming. Oh, I really didn't want to stop talking to Alejandro!
Apparently, he felt the same way. "I'll see you at lunch again tomorrow, Zoey?"
"Definitely!" I replied, nodding for extra emphasis.

That night, I found myself crashing into a slew of feelings I never thought I'd experience. No matter how hard I tried, Alejandro's smiling face just kept appearing in my mind, over and over and over. The way he respected me, the way he carried himself; just everything about him. Within the course of mere hours, I was seeing what all of the other lovesick girls saw in him. And, even if I had lots of competition, from the way he'd focused so intently on me with those eyes...
Delusional. I'm so delusional. I fell asleep, hugging these bizarre feelings close to my heart.

I imagined myself opening my locker, pulling out my books. Then, as silent and unexpected as the Phantom of the Opera, he appeared behind me. When I turned around again, I gasped, then smiled.
"Hey Zoey," he said in his kind, polite voice. "Can I walk you to class?"
"Sure!" I smile and nod, starting to take off. But before I can take another step, he takes the books out of my hands.
"I'll carry these for you," he said.
We walked, side by side, to my first hour class, talking about my favorite band of all time, The Beatles.
Unlike most of the kids I'd overheard talking about music, his favorite musician wasn't a rapper or a generic pop star. It was Elton John. And his favorite song of all time was "Someday Out of the Blue."
"What's your favorite song by The Beatles?" I asked, curious.
"Let me show you," he replied coyly as he reached down and grabbed my hand. My heart stirred, unfolding like the silken wings of a butterfly. As I expected, my hand barely fit in his bigger hand, but for some reason it felt warm and just right being there.
Way too soon, we'd reached my class. Kindly, he escorted me in and placed my books on my desk top. When I looked up at him, I frowned, wishing he was in this class just so I could talk the hour away with him about anything and everything. As I sat down, I looked up at him and just his facial expression was enough to reveal that he was thinking the same thing I was.
"I'll see you again at lunch," he assured me, smiling softly.
"Okay!" I cheered, wearing a megawatt smile.

================================

You can find the rest here: [link]