Just Breathe [EDITING]

Chapter 1

Today is the first day of my Senior year in high school. I can't say that I'm looking forward to today or this year, but I also can't say that I'm not glad it's close to being the end of high school, altogether. It's a scary thing to think about.

"Adeline," I say to my sister, wiping the sleep from my eyes. "Get up and get ready. We have to leave soon."

My sister gets out of bed, groggily, and marches straight to the bathroom. I walk back to my bedroom to get dressed. I pick out a white striped shirt and blue skinny jeans. After I finish getting dressed, I put on deodorant and then cologne.

As Adeline finishes up in the bathroom, I walk in there to brush my teeth and fix my hair. And when I'm done, I walk downstairs to find my sister eating a bagel at the breakfast bar.

"You ready?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I guess so." She gives me a sideways look and makes her way out the door. I can't help but laugh as I grab a banana and make my way out the door.

———

When we arrive at school, my sister jogs off to all of her friends and then I lock my car doors, going straight in the building to go to my locker and to find all of my friends; which, by the way, were nowhere to be found. I have no friends, to be honest. I'm mostly a loner at my school.

When I arrive at my locker, there was a new guy next to mine, putting all his stuff in his locker and getting the necessary things for his first mod class.

"Hey," I say to him. "I suppose you're new here?"

"Yeah." He says a bit shy.

"If you need any help finding a classroom or anywhere else, I'm here to help."

He smiles a genuine smile at me and then closes his locker. "Well, I do need help finding my first mod class."

"What is it?" I ask, getting closer to him, trying to take a look at his schedule.

I must say, he is very cute. His teeth are so white that he could blind me with them when he smiles. He has beautiful tan skin—I'm guessing he's Italian—and has curly  dark brown hair. It's so dark that it could be mistaken for black, but in the sun you can tell that it's brown. And to make matters worse, he has honey-brown eyes that make me want to melt. He's all-around perfect, and he's making my heart play Ring Around the Rosie.

"Geometry." He says, shrugging his shoulders and staring at me.

"That's my first mod also! Come with me, I'll show you." I can't believe that we have first mod together. It's as if it's meant to be.

We walk to Geometry and I sit down. He sits beside me and smiles.

"Do you mind. . ?" He asks, a bit shy.

"No, not at all." I smile at him, being polite. I wouldn't want anyone else to sit beside me; let alone be mad that he took the seat beside me.

We sit there in silence for a good couple of minutes. As my heart is beating in my chest, I work up enough courage to start to talk to him.

"So, what's your name?" He asks me. "I forgot to ask."

"Alex." I reply, smiling. "Yours?"

"Jonah." He

"Nice to meet you, Jonah." I say, holding my hand out.

"Same to you." He says, shaking my hand.

There's something about this boy that seems different. I have a really big crush on him already, and I'm scared to know how long it'll be before he tells me he's straight or something along the lines of me being too ugly for him.

Before I could get any farther into my own thoughts, Mr. Brown walks in and begins class.

———

The day flew by pretty fast for me, honestly. A little too fast for my liking.

When class was over, I go to my locker and put all of my stuff away, grabbing my jacket. I see Jonah putting his books away in his locker, then grabbing his hoodie and backpack.

"Hey," I say, smiling.

"Hello." He smiles back. Damn, I can get used to that smile of his.

He just stands there awkwardly at first, then turns to me. "Do you mind giving me a ride home?"

I smile. "Yeah, that's totally fine. Where do you live?"

"On Oakfair road." He looks really nervous for some reason. But then again, asking a stranger for a ride home can be pretty scary.

"I live on that road, too!" I say a little too excitedly. Jonah smiles at me and it looks as if he's as surprised as I am.

"Really?" is all that he says back to me.

"Yeah!" I laugh, then tell him we have to go and meet my sister at the front door. He nods his head, following me as I lead the way.

———

When we arrive home, we all get out of the car and my sister, Adeline, runs straight in the house, probably wanting to call her friends to gossip or even finish her homework.

Jonah looks at me and smiles. "Thanks again. I really didn't want to ride the bus home, and you were the only person I actually talked to today."

"No problem." I reply, smiling. I can't believe that I'm the only one he's talked to today. I thought that he would at least have all of the girls flirting with him.

Jonah goes to walk off and then he turns around and walks back towards me.

"Here's my number," he says, "text me sometime to hang out, study, or anything you want." He writes down his number on a piece of paper and hands it to me.

"Will do." I say as I take the paper from him. My heart is beating fast inside my chest. Is this real life? Did Jonah just really give me his number?

He walks away, going into his house. I walk inside my house, slowly, trying my best not to look back at his house.

Once inside, I begin taking my shoes off at the mat inside the door. I throw my backpack down by the door, also, and then walk into the kitchen to get a bottle of water.

"I think someone has a crush!" My sister says, smiling like a dork to me.

"I barely know him, Adeline." I retort back. I hate how she's always right. It's like she can read my mind, I swear.

"So what?" She says. "It could be love at first sight. Love works in mysterious ways."

I giggle. "You're a true weirdo, sis."

She giggles and leaves the kitchen.

I sit down at the table and start thinking about what Adeline just said. Did I like him? I couldn't really tell. I just met him, and plus, I don't even know if he is gay or not. I'll just let time tell.

Trying to get her words out of my head, I head up to my room and start working on my homework.