meant to be

chapter 1: mikaela

Mikaela woke up to the annoying blare of her alarm clock. Oh how she hated it. The annoying clamor of bells reverberated through her eardrums, waking her up immediately. She pressed the stop button and threw the blanket off, shivering as the cold air came in contact with her skin. She sat up and stretched, then grabbed the huge jug of water she kept on her nightstand, taking a couple of long sips. She unplugged her phone from her nightstand and glanced at it, noticing 14 SnapChat notifications, 7 messages, and 2 notifications from Duolingo reminding her to practice Spanish. She groaned, she had missed two days of the Duolingo lessons. 'One more day couldn't hurt.' She thought as she got up and headed into the bathroom.

After her shower she pinned her hair back with a claw clip and went into her closet to decide what to wear. She settled on a comfy off shoulder coral t-shirt and black leggings; basic, but oh so comfortable. She was putting on earrings when she heard her phone ringing quietly. Following the sound she located her phone and looked at the caller ID and immediately accepted the call.

"Hey, what's up Audrey?" She asked as she secured a pair of hoop earrings.

"DUDE. DID YOU SEE IT?" her best friend for as long as she could remember asked.

"See what?" She asked as she spritzed perfume on her neck.

"THE TIK TOK. WITH... YOUR BOY." Audrey said, pronouncing every word distinctly.

"What? He got Tik Tok?!" Mikaela asked excitedly, then she mentally slapped herself for being excited.

She should be over him now. Or at least trying to be.

It had been 2 months since she confessed to her crush. It hadn't gone horrible, but it wasn't good either. She replayed the memory in her head.

They were both standing in the empty school hallway. He was standing there in his normal red hoodie and black pants, eyes blank and hair gently tousled.

"I... I like you. I'm sorry." She had said to him.

"Ok." He said, and muttered a 'bye' over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving her standing in the middle of the empty hallway.

It had taken days for her to really be affected by the whole thing, but it hadn't gone away since. Gradually, she had stopped trying to make it go away.

"Of course he didn't get Tik Tok but look at the screen recording I sent you! Dave posted a video and he's in it."

Mikaela grabbed her phone and clicked the notification from Audrey. She clicked play on the video.

It was a video of him dribbling a basketball, then spiking it, making it bounce high into the air.

"I'm crying...what even IS this?" Mikaela laughed as she got out of the video.

"Remind me why you like him, again?" Audrey laughed.

"I don't even know anymore." Mikaela laughed. But that was a lie. She knew exactly why she still liked him.

ˋBecause he's perfect, and because I can't have him.'

"Anyway, the bus is pulling up. I just wanted to make sure you'd watch the video. See you in like, 20 mins, Kaela!" And with that Audrey hung up, leaving Mikaela alone with her thoughts.

She shoved aside the idea of him and grabbed a pair of socks as she headed downstairs.

*     *    *

She walked into school and headed up the stairwell and to her locker. She stuffed her jacket into her locker and slung her bag over her shoulder again, spotting a familiar head of blonde hair.

"Hiiiii!" She said as she sidled up to her best friend.

"Hey Kae! How you doingggg?" She asked as she grabbed a binder from her locker, slamming it shut with her foot.

"Im doing... fi-" She started, then, she saw it. His signature red hoodie.

"Fuck" she muttered under her breath, ducking behind a small crowd of people, Audrey trailing after her.

She glanced quickly at him... right when he glanced quickly at her. Their brown eyes met and almost as soon as they met they both glanced down.

"Kae I can literally feel the tension." Audrey said as the pair passed by the boy.

"I know, its awful." Mikaela blushed.

"Anyway, you have a game later, right?" Audrey laughed, changing the topic before Mikaela got too upset.

"Yeah. I'm nervous though, we lost our 3 last games."

"Oh Mik don't worry you'll do AWESOME! I know so!" Audrey said confidently.

"Thanks Audrey. I appreciate it."

"Oh by the way! In civics we-" Audrey was cut off by the sound of the bell. "Oop, gotta go..."

"Bye Audrey!" Mikaela called after her friend.

"Bye Kae!" Audrey called over her shoulder as she walked quickly down the hall.Mikaela turned the corner... and saw that distinct red hoodie once again.

'Shit.' She thought, turning sharply on her heel. She would just get to math a different way.

'But there's no point in taking a different route, because either way he's going to be in math.' She scolded herself as she quickly descended down the stairs.

Today was going to be super fun.

*    *    *

Mikaela was early, as per usual.

It was finally civics; the last class of the day. Relief came in waves as she realized the day was almost over, but it went almost as soon as it came, replaced by nerves. Even after class, her day wasn't done. She had a basketball game after this.

She stuck an airpod in and opened her laptop, pressing the shuffle button on her playlist and she waited for class to begin.

"Hey Mikaela" Said a voice from next to her, startling her.

"Isabella you scared the shit out of me!" She cried over Isabella's cackling.

"That was hilarious, oh my god." Said Isabella as she sat down in her normal seat next to Mikaela.

Soon after Isabella, the two other members of their table walked in side by side, laughing at something the other said. Mikaela and Isabella both looked up at the two as they both took their seats just as the bell rang.

"Hi Kaleb, hi Eddie." Mikaela said, turning her attention back to her open computer.

"Hi Mikaela." Eddie said, giving her a hint of a smile.

"Helllooooo" said Kaleb.

Suddenly with lightning quick reflexes, Eddie reached across his desk and grabbed Mikaela's airpods off her desk. Kaleb started laughing and Eddie flipped them over and pressed the restart button on the back.

"NO!" Mikaela cried laughing. "EDDIE STOP ACTUALLY!" She said laughing still, standing up and trying desperately to get her airpods back.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red out in the hallway. She fought the urge to turn her head and look and kept trying to get her aipods back. Finally, Eddie opened his hand and Mikaela snatched her airpods from Eddie's open palm and sat back down laughing. She didn't see the point in being mad at Eddie, especially since he made her laugh almost every time they saw each other.

"Hey Mikaela what did you write for number three?" Eddie asked. She noticed another flash of red out in the hallway, and she kept her eyes focused on Eddie, noticing the way his soft black hair fell into his dark brown eyes.

'Stay on track, dumbass.' She told herself.