From The Start (1st Draft)

Chapter 5

A week of nothing passed by. We all became really close, and we hung out for a little bit every day after school. We hung out in the woods and they showed me a lake that we could swim in if we wanted to. We passed on that one. They also showed me a cliff that was above it, and it was really scary. Jake didn't talk to anyone, only to his friends, and we all know they're just using him for his money. He's doing drugs again; well at least I think he is. I feel it in my heart that he's giving in to the peer pressure.

I woke up on a Monday, and decided to throw on a jean skirt and a pretty pink t-shirt. I ran to school with Jake because we were going to be late, and for some reason he cared. I got a late pass because we didn't make it on time. We were five minutes late, so what? I was at my locker trying to go as fast as I could until my textbook fell onto the ground, which really aggravated me because I was wearing a skirt. I obviously couldn't bend over without someone seeing my underwear.

Without me realizing it, suddenly, I saw the boy walking towards me from down the hall, which made my heart race. I couldn't believe that I was finally seeing him again. This time he didn't ignore me. He walked right up to me as I stared at him, mostly in shock.

He picked up my textbook and held it out to me. "You dropped your book," he said, an intense look in his eyes.

I was so nervous that I had no idea what to say. "Um, yeah," I finally answered.

"Here," he said, as I took it from him, not saying anything for a while.

"Thank you," I eventually whispered, wondering why I wasn't embarrassed.

"You're welcome," he softly spoke, not looking away from my eyes.

"I'm so clumsy..."

He smiled at me and shook his head. "No," he stated. "You're perfect."

And then he walked away, leaving me speechless. Did he really just call me perfect?

That had never happened to me before.

I purposely dropped my book this time, right when he was walking behind me, hoping this would give me a reason to have him talk to me again. People were in the hallway, just about five girls staring at me. Before I knew it, I turned around and saw him standing there holding my book, smiling.

"You dropped it again," he easily told me.

I took it from him silently as he looked at the girls around us. "Yeah," I said, biting my lip.

"You're welcome," he smiled at me.

"Thank you," I whispered softly.

He slowly nodded.

"Now I feel even clumsier," I said, as he immediately walked away.

Without stopping I heard him say something. "No. You're still perfect."

And then he was out of sight.

The next day was really weird, and it almost made me confused. Stephanie was standing with me and the hallway was completely crowded with students. I saw him walking towards me from in the distance and then suddenly his eyes shifted to Stephanie, as he stopped dead center in the hall. She was looking in her bag for something while I stared at him suspiciously. He moved his eyes back onto mine, shook his head, and I was about to smile at him until he turned around and walked away. He didn't say a word.

"Are you alright?" Stephanie asked me, a little worried, not knowing what was going on.

I could no longer see him anymore at this point. "Yeah, I'm fine," I told her.