My Imaginary Boyfriend

My Imaginary Boyfriend *Believe

"Hello."

I decide that this is the right time to talk to Alex. If I won't make the first move, nothing will happen. I doubt he'll just talk to me.

"Hi," he says, looking me up and down. Is he checking me out? Of course not! No one ever checked me out. And if he does, he'll find me boring like everybody else.

Taking a deep breath, I say, "I'm Annalise."

He nods. "I'm Alex."

I don't know what else to say. I'm not the kind of girl who can easily find a topic to talk to. A frustrated sigh escapes from my lips. If only I'm sociable, I can think of anything. But I'm not that kind of person so I shouldn't pretend.

At least I made a progression – I talked to him. And he knows my name now. I just hope he will not forget it.

When Mrs. Dorothea finishes the seat plan, she goes to the front of the room.

"Because you have a new seatmate, I want you to know more about each other. You'll have a lot to do now that you're partner. This is Music class so I want you to talk about your favorite artist and what genre you listen to," our teacher says.

Excited chatters and murmurs fill the room. They're all eager and excited to start.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Dorothea isn't quite finished yet because she says, "I want you to work quietly with it. You'll pass it tomorrow as your first homework. Get started."

Turning in my seat, I face Alex.

He looks at me and asks, "What is your favorite song?"

I don't have a favorite song because I listen to every kind of genre depending on my mood. But I know I have to give him only one song so I say, "Ordinary Day," which is the story of my life.

"What about you?" I ask.

"Stolen," he answers.

"By Dashboard Confessional?"

"Yeah," he says, clearly surprised that I know the band. They're pretty good, so I listen to their songs.

"Are they your favorite band?"

"No."

My eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Alex asks curiously.

In the corner of my eye, I see Kamille watching us. When she sees me, she gives me thumbs up.

Looking back at Alex, I tell him, "I thought because you like Stolen, Dashboard Confessional is your favorite band."

"Why, is Vanessa Carlton your favorite singer?"

"No," I say.

"Why are you surprised with my answer then?"

"Most people's favorite song comes from their favorite artist."

"I'm not most people," he mutters.

"I see," I murmur, looking down in embarrassment. I don't know what came to my mind to say that. I'm ruining my chance to talk to him.

"I guess you're not either," he says matter-of-factly.

Does he really think that? That I'm not like everybody else?

Alex clears his throat to get my attention. "My favorite band is Boys Like Girls."

"Boys Like Girls?" I repeat.

"Yes."

A smile forms in my lips. "I know them," I say. "They collaborated with Taylor Swift in Two Is Better Than One."

He grins, showing his perfect white teeth. "I bet Taylor Swift is your favorite singer."

"She's good."

"She's not."

I have no doubt my face looks disappointed. To my surprise, he laughs.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Your face!"

Did I say something funny? Last I checked, I'm not humorous. Not that I don't have a sense of humor.

Suddenly, the bell rings.

"You're going to pass your assignment tomorrow," Mrs. Dorothea instructs. "You can leave the room now."

Alex stands up swiftly from his chair. "Nice talking to you," he says, amusement lighting his blue eyes.

I don't know if that's a compliment, or not so I just say it back to him.

He walks to his next class without looking back.

Kamille waits for me in the hallway. "What's up?" she asks enthusiastically.

I shrug.

"Nothing?" She says incredulously. "I saw the guy laughed! I can't even believe it, even if I saw it with my own eyes. He laughed in the company of Annalise." She grins cheekily.

"Thanks," I mutter, walking towards the History room.

"I was just kidding," she teases.

Is it joke day today? Why is that a lot of people says that they're just kidding?

"Okay, whatever," I mutter.

She moves in front of me, blocking my path.

"Hey!" I protest. "I'm going to be late in class."

She rolls her eyes and puts her hands in her hips. "Lise," she says, ignoring the look on my face that says I hate that stupid nickname; just call me by my whole name. She just calls me that when she's going to say something important. "Don't take life too seriously. Sometimes you have to laugh, you know. You're one of the people that have a beautiful smile."

To my astonishment, a smile forms in my lips.

"That's perfect. You can dazzle a lot of guys because of that," she says playfully.

"Okay," I say, "but I really am going to be late if you'll not let me pass."

She shakes her head, but she's already smiling. "Okay! And uh, Annalise, I can't eat with you today," she says apologetically. She starts to explain but I cut her off.

"That's fine." I'm used to it. "I can eat on my own."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely," I say.

History class passed in a blur. Caleb and I didn't talk to each other because Mr. Tyree paid a little more attention to us. I guess he knew we didn't listen to his discussion yesterday.

When the class ends, I walk out of the room. Caleb is leaning casually at the door and gives me a nod when he sees me. I smile at him in return, remembering Kamille's advice earlier.

"Going to the cafeteria?" he asks.

"Yes," I say not too obviously.

"Would you mind if I join you?"

What did he say? He wants to eat with me in the cafeteria? I glance at him and contemplate if he's just kidding me. He looks serious so I say, "No."

"Let's go then."

He leads the way towards the cafeteria, talking about how this school is very different from his previous one. My mind isn't really focused on what he's saying because I want to ask him why he wants to eat with me. Asking him that question will make him think that I don't like his company. Which is absolutely not true.

*****

The song is called Believe in Me by Demi Lovato.

Thank you for reading my story <3